Album Review: Local H 'LIFERS'

A follow up to their 2015 album 'Hey, Killer', Illinois rock duo Local H (vocalist/guitarist Scott Lucas and drummer Ryan Harding) returned for their ninth studio album 'LIFERS' (AntiFragile Music) after five years. "It feels kind of weird to have a record coming out while all of this is happening [COVID-19 pandemic]. The only thing that I’ve ever seen that’s been anything close to this is 9/11. Our fourth record was supposed to come out that month in 2001, but after THAT day it got pushed back to the following year. Tour dates got canceled. A bunch of s**t got shut down. At the time, those delays and setbacks felt like everything. Like it was the worst thing that could happen to us," mentioned frontman Lucas.

Local H celebrated LIFERS with an album release party on Thursday where they played the entire album live on all their social accounts. With the album out, Lucas explained the genesis of LIFERS, “When the re-release of the White Album (The Beatles) came out a few years ago, I became re-obsessed all over again. One aspect that really hit me about it was how it’s not really a concept record — but it feels like a concept record. I wanted to do that with LIFERS. This might be a concept record about the end of the world. Or it might just be a party record with loud guitars and cowbells.”

LIFERS is indeed a loud ambitious record engineered by the legendary Steve Albini (Cheap Trick, Nirvana, Pixies, Bush, Chevelle). The eleven-track album will have listeners headbang or mosh in their own rooms with extreme rock-filled energy. Tracks like "Patrick Bateman", "Demon Dreams", among the rest could have fans air guitar or drum with intensity. LIFERS has a variety of sub-genres in the mix. Their fifth song "Winter Western" takes Local H back to their classic 90s grunge roots, whereas, "High Wide And Stupid" is more of a hardcore country-punk song. Harding's drumming in "Farrah" gives off a metal vibe and Lucas settles down with a softer acoustic ballad in "Sunday Best". Their tenth and longest track "Defy and Surrender" sounds like two distinct experimental songs merged into one. "Turn The Bow" and "Beyond The Valley Of Snakes" shows the evolution of Local H into modern progressive rock sound on LIFERS.

Their exuberant, riotous third single "Hold That Thought" revamps Local H's signature style and tone. Lucas further discusses, "I was getting into that first Love record and thinking how great it would be to cover 'My Little Red Book'. Of course, then I realized it WAS a cover — and that it had been covered many, many times. So what choice did I have? I had to rip it off." Changing the lyrics of the original song by Manfred Mann (1965) and altering the same beat/riff, Local H stylistically and uniquely made it their own. Local H's first single "Innocents", which was released over a year ago, is the perfect finishing touch of the album.

Although a two-piece group live, Local H is able to create a full band sound on LIFERS with musical contributions from singer Juliana Hatfield and Deer Tick's frontman John McCauley. LIFERS is a heavier chest-pounding album with guitar distortion, pummeling drums, frenetic screaming vocals, hooky chorus, punchy verses, and plenty of melodic aggressive noise rock. Local H are celebrating their 30th anniversary as a band releasing LIFERS and the duo are still living the rock life since their 1996 hit "Bound for the Floor".