Scott Lucas likes The Rock, and let no one argue it. But if you've actually bothered to dig into
Local H's back catalog, you'll notice that his taste is more eclectic than the average survivor of the Grunge Scare (you do know
Local H did a
Guided by Voices cover for the
Sling Blade soundtrack, right?), and
Lucas offers an intriguing perspective on a few of his current fave songs on
Local H's Awesome Mix Tape, Vol. 1, an EP in which guitarist/bassist/vocalist
Lucas and drummer
Brian St. Clair tackle eight tunes written and initially recorded by others. Since
Lucas and
St. Clair like to hit hard, the presence of numbers by
the Jesus Lizard ("Puss"),
Winnebago Deal ("Spider Bite"), and
Agent Orange ("Blood Stains") isn't likely to surprise anyone, but you might not have guessed they'd open with a song by
TV on the Radio ("Wolf Like Me") or turn
Concrete Blonde's dysfunctional love song "Joey" into a big, bruising testament to all sorts of hurt.
Local H twist
Pink Floyd's "Time" into a slow, metallic slog with lots of noisy guitar and enough extended soloing to take all the mellow away, and they take the opposite approach on
the Misfits' "Last Caress," with
Lucas delivering a solo acoustic performance as
Glenn Danzig's homage to sex and violence becomes something you'd hear at an open mike night at your neighborhood coffeehouse. All of this is to say that
Local H take a handful of songs that have already had interesting lives and transform them into something very much their own, and outside of "Last Caress," there's no trace of a joke in these interpretations.
Lucas and
St. Clair show us what they hear in these tunes on
Local H's Awesome Mix Tape, Vol. 1, and as it happens, what they hear are great tunes that rock out with intelligence and power. And that means they're just right for
Local H. ~ Mark Deming