Released on April 10, 2020, LIFERS is the highly anticipated ninth studio album from iconic alt-rock duo, Local H. It’s their first full-length record in five years, and coincides with the band’s 30th anniversary. Produced by the legendary Steve Albini (Nirvana, Cheap Trick) and the band’s longtime accomplice Andy Gerber, the record features mixing by J. Robbins, and contributions by an array of respected friends and guests, including Juliana Hatfield, John McCauley (Deer Tick), and John Haggerty (Naked Raygun, Pegboy).
On the genesis of the album, frontman Scott Lucas explains, "When the re-release of the White Album came out a few years ago, I became re-obsessed all over again. One aspect that really hit me about it (this time) 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."
Local H is known for their blistering live shows and for pioneering the two-man band set-up -- frontman Scott Lucas covers both guitar and bass through an extra pick up in his guitar and drummer Ryan Harding pounds out the rest of the sound. While they have earned praise in the past for their catalog of clever concept albums, Local H were forgoing a singular theme on their previous album - Hey, Killer (2015, G&P Records) - turning out a non-stop blast of straight-up, hooky, guitar-heavy rock songs -- each one catchier than the last.
Locall H’s discography includes seven other studio albums, a live album, and a bunch of EPs. Harding joined Local H in 2013, after years spent playing in Minneapolis bands Left Brain Heart and Bruder, and fit right in. His first recording with Local H was a heavy, rocking reinterpretation of Lorde’s “Team,” title track of the EP released in 2014. The band’s widely praised 1998 concept album Pack Up the Cats earned a spot in SPIN magazine’s top 20 albums of that year. The band was named “Chicagoans of the Year” by the Chicago Tribune for their 2008 break-up album, 12 Angry Months, more than a decade after their breakthrough hit “Bound for the Floor” ruled the Modern Rock charts.