posted 09/10/2005 (Sat) @ 10:42 pm
>>> Music Reviews
Local H - Pack Up the Cats (1998)
Siamese Dream
- All-Right (Oh, Yeah)
- “Cha!” Said the Kitty
- Lucky
- Hit the Skids or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rock
- 500,000 Scovilles
- What Can I Tell You
- Fine and Good
- Lead Pipe Cinch
- Cool Magnet
- She Hates My Job
- Stoney
- Laminate Man
- All the Kids Are Right
- Deep Cut
- Lucky Time
“The soundtrack of youthful aggression.” That’s rock music right there, and if a story of meteoric rise to fame followed by a harrowing plummet into obscurity and disintegration doesn’t strike you as rock ‘n’ roll, you probably still listen to Michael Bolton.
Grimly prophetic — “Pack Up the Cats” could have been Local H’s breakout record, but hopes were dashed by corporate tomfoolery, and a lack of promotion sent these cats packing back to Illinois to regroup — this is the H’s best record to date, no contest.
Stack it next to “Dark Side of the Moon” — “Pack Up the Cats” is among the greatest concept albums ever made. It’s that simple. The songs bleed into one another via unexpected bursts of guitar squelch, recorded phone conversation, and other bits of found sound that add to the cohesively unusual feel of this album. It’s something familiar and far out at the same time.
Tracks like “She Hates My Job” are enhanced by simple yet expertly placed blues slide guitar, and there are a couple riffs, such as the opening electric guitar hit of “Fine and Good,” that rank among the best moments in rock guitar for sheer head-nodding power.
Even transition pieces, like the slow burning “Stoney,” which takes on a cool, sinister vibe before seguing into the Sex Pistols-by-way-of-”Back in the USSR” clang of “Laminate Man,” are, for once, an indispensible component of this album. Rather than mere throwaway “breaks,” they’re an integral part of what ends up being one long and excellent song. Once the brazen whollop of “All Right (Oh Yeah)” hits your ears, you’ll be hard-pressed to want to turn this record off.
Tags: cats, hard rock, local h, nirvana, rock
