#15
Local H - Here Comes the Zoo
Released: February 5, 2002
Members:
Scott Lucas - vocals/guitar/etc.
Brian St. Clair - drums/percussion
Personally Acquired: November 2002
Summary
Neo-grunge at it's very finest. Scott Lucas prooves he means more to centralized alternative rock than people like to give him credit for with this album. This album is full of stinging cuts of hard alternative and heavy grunge. There's barely any slow tracks on this album as it aims to keep the focus on intensity. It does the job very well, especially with Brian St. Clair manning the set. You can easily tell the difference between his drumming style and former drummer Joe Daniels' style. It adds more bite and attitude to the album, moreso than Joe would be able to deliver. The album starts off with the dark twisted prayer of "Hands on the Bible". Scott plays a creepy one-note intro while he eerily sings the first verse. The song continues to grow into a massive puddle of rock until the big dismount at the end. The only single off the album, "Half Life", follows. I remember thinking that the powerful guitar slab should've been the theme to the video game Half Life (way back when I actually played that game). The electric "Son of 'Cha!'" and ballbusting bomb "5th Avenue Crazy" continue. The latter of which has a grinding dancehall beat that'll make you want to beat your head against a wall. Also houses a very singalong-able chorus (care of guest vocalist Shanna Kiel); "Oh my god, I love you so/And that's all you need to know/Gimme money, gimme blow/Don't slow down 'cause red means go". Only 2 and a half minutes long, but it kicks ass. Closing out the first half of the album is the first of two enlongated raptures. This one, a 9 minute pseudo bass-ridden slug entitled "(Baby Wants to) Tame Me", is an amazing track. The nearly 4 minute instrumental outro is probably a minute or so too long. But even though it's slightly repetitive, it never gets boring. Listen for the amazingly conceived chorus as the key point of the song. Josh Homme lends his vocals and guitaring to the first-person sellout band mockery "Rock and Roll Professionals" while the Misfits' Jerry Only guests on the fruitful "Keep Your Girlfriend". After the garagey "Creature Comforted" is when the album enters its dismout. Starting with the adrenaline-tempo smack in the face of "Bryn-Mawr Stomp" (cleverly named after the Led Zeppelin song "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp", though the songs are absolutely nothing alike). Ending the album is the awesomely constructed masterpiece "What Would You Have Me Do?". 15 minutes of magic, and by far the best track on the album. To put it into words wouldn't do it justice. This whole album, while at a shortened 10 tracks, is hugely underrated, much like how the band as a whole is grossly underrated.
Four Good Tracks: "What Would You Have Me Do?", "Hands on the Bible", "5th Avenue Crazy", "Bryn-Mawr Stomp"