Local H (Photo by Julia Simone Paul)
Alt rockers Local H release LIFERS this Friday, April 10, via AntiFragile Music. Scott Lucas and Ryan Harding shared “Hold That Thought,” a new single, in advance of the album.
LIFERS contributions by an array of respected friends and guests —including Juliana Hatfield, John McCauley of Deer Tick, and legendary rock engineer Steve Albini — LIFERS is the first album from Local H in five years, and the release coincides with the group’s 30 year anniversary.
Watch Local H perform “Hold That Thought” live in the official music video for the song on YouTube:
Scott shared this thoughts about releasing new music during the coronavirus national emergency.
“It’s feels kind of weird to have a record coming out while all of this is happening,” Scott said. “The only thing that I’ve ever seen that’s been anything close to this is 9/11. Our fourth record was supposed to come out that month in 2001, but after THAT day it got pushed back to the following year. Tour dates got cancelled. A bunch of shit got shut down. At the time, those delays and setbacks felt like everything. Like it was the worst thing that could happen to us. It was childish and more than a little selfish — and I’m ashamed to admit that I even felt that way.”
“And now, even MORE shit has been shut down. More people are going to be directly affected. And what’s worse, we can’t gather together and try to make sense of it — not in the way we used to be able to. We can’t go out and see our friends. Most of us can’t even visit our families. On top of that, people are losing their jobs. People are losing their LIVES. So once again, I’m a little ashamed. I’m ashamed to ask anybody to pretend that our little fucking record means anything in this time of great and collective tragedy.”
“But you know what? If nothing else, sticking to the schedule and insisting on releasing this record on time has certainly helped keep us sane. All the small mundane tasks that go into promoting a new record — the bios, the interviews, the FaceStagram updates and TwitTube posts (ESPECIALLY when we can’t play live in front of actual people!) — that’s been a lifeline for us. It’s given us a reason to get out of bed. Maybe it’s not much, but it’s something. And we’re grateful for it. We’re also grateful for the feedback that we’ve received and the sense of connection that it’s given us. Even if it’s been transmitted through a screen — it’s felt real. (And we surely can’t be the only band out there that’s felt like this.)”
“So yeah, it’s weird and it’s silly and it can seem like none of what we’re doing actually means anything. But I’m glad we have a record coming out while all of this is happening.”