Local H

About Local H

Local H has been making the same basic argument since 1990: two people can sound like more. The band started in Zion, Illinois, a small town between Chicago and Milwaukee, when Scott Lucas and Joe Daniels decided they didn't need a bass player. Lucas would handle guitar and bass simultaneously through a split signal setup, while Daniels played drums. What could have been a gimmick turned into a grinding, surprisingly heavy sound that's carried them through three decades.

They spent the first half of the nineties building a following in the Chicago area, releasing their debut "Ham Fisted" in 1995 on Island Records. The album didn't make much noise, but it established their template: loud guitars, sardonic lyrics, and a two-piece setup that somehow filled every available sonic space. Lucas wrote songs about frustration and dead-end situations with enough specificity to feel personal but enough distance to avoid therapy-session confessionals.

"As Good as Dead" arrived in 1996 and gave them "Bound for the Floor," the song with the chorus that goes "you're just as good as dead." Alternative radio played it constantly. The track caught that specific mid-nineties frequency of ironic detachment mixed with genuine anger, and it pushed the album to gold status. They were suddenly touring with everyone, playing festivals, doing the whole major label circuit. The rest of the album held up too, particularly "Eddie Vedder" and "High-Fiving MF," songs that made it clear they had more than one move.

Then Daniels left in 1999, right as they were working on "Pack Up the Cats." Brian St. Clair took over on drums, and the band kept going. That's been the pattern ever since. Lucas remained the constant, the voice and the split-signal guitar rig, while the drummer spot turned over a few times. St. Clair stuck around for over a decade before moving on, replaced eventually by Ryan Harding, who's been with Lucas since 2013.

They never chased another radio hit. Instead, they became the kind of band that tours relentlessly and puts out albums every few years without much concern for trends. "Here Comes the Zoo" in 2002, "Twelve Angry Months" in 2008, "Hallelujah I'm a Bum" in 2012. Each one sounds unmistakably like Local H, which is either comforting or monotonous depending on your disposition. Lucas kept writing songs about American decay, small-town claustrophobia, and personal disappointment, always with that same sardonic edge.

They're still at it. Recent albums like "Hey, Killer" and "Lifers" prove the formula hasn't gotten old for them. Lucas is still splitting his signal, still writing songs that sound annoyed but not defeated. They tour constantly, playing to crowds who remember "Bound for the Floor" and younger fans who found them later. It's a modest career by design, built on showing up and being consistently loud.

Lucas plays guitar and sings while moving constantly, like he's personally responsible for everyone's fun. The sound is somehow bigger than two people should produce. Crowds get loud during "Bound for the Floor" but also pay attention to the deeper cuts. No phones out, mostly. People actually watch.

Known for Bound for the Floor, All the Things You Do, Hands on the Bible, How to Fall in Love, Eddie Vedder

See Local H Live