Local H are ringing in the holidays with a special treat for their fans–and for fans of another band, prog-rock legends and soon-to-be Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Rush.
“Attention all planets of the solar federation! In honor of the Winter Solstice, the end of the world according to the Mayans, and, uh, Christmas, Local H humbly offers you this gift of song,” Local H frontman Scott Lucas says. “The band has been playing this opus live since last New Year’s Eve and decided to record it properly this fall. With the help of producer Andy Gerber at Million Yen, they’ve gotten it together just in time for 21/12. Rush on over to click play below to hear it. And in the words of Tiny Tim: ‘A Merry Christmas to us all; and Neil Peart bless us, every one!’”
You can download the song at Localh.com.
Local H will ring in the new year with two nights of shows at Chicago’s Beat Kitchen. The December 30th show is early (8 p.m.) and all-ages, while the December 31st show is late night and 21+. A handful of tickets are still available for each night.
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Chicago alt-rockers Local H released their new double album, Hallelujah! I’m A Bum today, as well as kicking off a US tour in support (see tour dates below). They’re also premiering the music video for new song, “Cold Manor,” directed/compiled by Local H frontman Scott Lucas. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments.
Local H fall tour:
9/18 Chicago, IL The Bottom Lounge
9/19 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
9/20 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
9/22 Tempe, AZ The Sail Inn
9/23 San Diego, CA The Casbah
9/24 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour
9/25 Fresno, CA Fulton 55
9/26 San Francisco, CA Brick & Mortar Music Hall
9/28 Portland, OR Dante’s
9/29 Seattle, WA El Corazon
9/30 Spokane, WA Carr’s Corner
10/2 Fargo, ND The Aquarium
10/3 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club
10/4 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
10/5 Dekalb, IL Otto’s In Dekalb
10/6 Champaign, IL High Dive
10/12 Pontiac, MI Pike Room @ The Crofoot
10/13 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
10/14 Stanhope, NJ Stanhope House
10/15 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
10/16 Hartford, CT Arch Street Tavern
10/17 New York, NY Wesbter Hall (Marvin Room) – CMJ
10/18 Brooklyn, NY The Bell House – CMJ
10/19 Pittsburgh, PA Hard Rock Cafe
10/20 Indianapolis, IN Radio Radio
It’s Tuesday–the day that music comes out–and this one sees shit from Down, Vision of Disorder, Becoming the Archtype, Devin Townsend, and more hitting stores. Check out the list of releases below and let us know which ones you have already or are planning to pick up.
- All Human – Catholic Guilt or the Queerest of Thoughts
- The Amity Affliction – The Amity Affliction
- Bad Powers – Bad Powers
- Becoming The Archetype – I Am
- The Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud
- Down – Down IV Part I – The Purple EP
- Ensiferum – Unsung Heroes
- Fear and the Nervous System – Fear and the Nervous System
- haarp – Husks
- Hexvessel – No Holier Temple
- James Iha – Look to the Sky
- Letters from the Fire – Rebirth
- Liv Kristine – Libertine
- Local H – Hallelujah! I’m a Bum
- Lowtalker – The Marathon
- Norska – Norska
- Projected – Human
- Rabbits – Bites Rises
- Rival Sons – Head Down
- Ufomammut – Oro: Opus Alter
- Vision Of Disorder – The Cursed Remain Cursed
The three men of Chevelle—brothers Pete and Sam Loeffler and brother-in-law Dean Bernardini—are proud sons of Chicagoland. It’s where the troupe, whose hometown of Grayslake is about 40 miles north of the Miracle Mile, cut their musical teeth and developed the heavy-hitting, drone ‘n’ roll that can be heard on Chevelle’s 1999 debut Point #1 and beyond. The group’s sixth studio album, Hats Off to the Bull, hit stores yesterday, so it seemed like an apt time to get singer-guitarist Pete to list his five favorite fellow Chicago rock bands (Styx and stones may break their bones…).
The Smashing Pumpkins
“When they did Siamese Dream, not only was it an amazing album, but it hit me at just the right time. I was 16 years old when I heard that album. It was heavy and yet it was emotional—and we’re all a little emotional. When I was 16, I was going through a lot of shit. My parents were about to possibly get divorced, I was dealing with a lot. Everyone deals with shit when they’re 16, but that was a great album to help get me through it. I actually have yet to meet Billy Corgan. I have all these friends who know him, and I’m a huge fan, so hopefully someday…”
Disturbed
“They have that first album [futureusgallery2000's The Sickness], which was huge for them. There’s only a few musicians that I talk to a lot, and David Draiman is one of them. We’ve always kept in touch, probably because we started around the same time in Chicago so we have that same sort of kinship. Neither of us ever fit into a clique of any kind, so we’ve always bonded over that. We used to play a lot of shows together in small venues, and we’ve kind of grown up with them.”
Ministry
“I love them. We used to cover their song ‘Thieves’–that was always fun to play. We have a lot of mutual friends, too. They’re a band that, at another point in my life where I was trying to find out what I was into, my older brother brought them to us to show me what he was into at the time. You just can’t deny it–when you hear a lot of those guitar riffs and the driving rhythms, it just pulls you in. Whenever we have parties at home, we’ll throw on some [futureusgalleryMinistry] or bands that just have that same kind of thing going. It’s a great party band. And it’s funny, too, when you hear the early Ministry that was full-on ’80s pop—but it’s great. I love it all.”
Local H
“They’re from up by us—they say Zion [futureusgalleryIllinois]—and we’ve played a lot of shows with them over the years. When we used to go to punk shows, we’d usually run into them, at legion halls in our area, or driving into Wisconsin at a shitty bar, or down in the city, in Chicago, too. They’ve always been a solid band and intense, and I see Scott from time to time. We have a lot of stories in the past, good times and rough ones. We kicked ‘em off the bus once—my girlfriend at the time, who’s now my wife, did. Scott was just shitfaced and it happens, so what are you gonna do? We’ve all been there.”
Filter
“We have a huge past with Richie . And he was cool enough to bring us out on our first album, when they were supporting their second album, and it was just us and them and it was a great, crazy show every night. We were out with them this year, and to connect with them 10 years later was really cool. Richie’s sober now and cool as shit. He’d be the first one to tell you that he’s a lot happier, and that’s great. More power to him. We haven’t hit that point yet. We’re dabbling, but things are good.”
As told to Gary Graff
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Chicago two-man grunge monster Local H dropped their first ever greatest-hits collection, Local H: The Island Years (Universal), last week. And the band, led by frontman Scott Lucas—who handles both guitar and bass duties via an extra pick-up on his guitar while drummer Brian St. Clair plays beatmaster—kick off their latest U.S. tour on Thursday. In celebration of these current goings-on, Lucas kindly put together his list of the best-ever power duos—besides his own, of course.
Flat Duo Jets
“The first two-man band I was ever aware of.”
Chickasaw Mudpuppies
“The band that made me think I could do it.”
The Spinanes
“The first band—that I knew of— to do it without being blues-based.”
The White Stripes
“Well, we all know what they did.”
Death From Above 1979
“I was at their Beauty Bar-turned-riot show at SXSW and it was awesome —and I didn’t even actually see the band…not through the tear gas.”
Photo by Annie Bangs
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