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F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “There are no second acts in American lives.” The way to prove him wrong is to never have a memorable first act to speak of in the public eye. So while post-Nirvana bubble-grunge acts like Candlebox, Seven Mary Three, Days of the New and Eve 6 blew up for 15 minutes with Top 40 albums, only to melt away in the spotlight, the rock roach Local H endured in the dim light of the periphery. Despite a mainstream sound—that of Kurt Cobain’s cuddlier kid brother—the Zion, Illinois, duo became a hip cult act.
Founder-singer Scott Lucas tenaciously plowed ahead through label woes and band breakups: After failing to find a bassist, he threaded some bass strings on his guitar. Over six albums, his lyrics weave a narrative of a struggling rocker: from As Good As Dead’s dead-end-town dreaming through Pack Up the Cats’s shot at the big time and 2004’s ode to failure, Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? The upcoming 12 Angry Months continues into a fourth act: dealing with a breakup with the fed-up girlfriend.
Over a weeklong residency, Local H devotes an entire night to each album—including an evening of B-sides and rarities. It’s a feast for the group’s only fans: the die-hards. Lucas once sang “If I was Eddie Vedder_/_Would you like me any better?” Lovers of disgruntled power-pop certainly think not; they have their secret grunge club. A hit could end it all. Though Lucas’s ex-girlfriend and accountant might disagree.
