Local H
As Good as Dead

THE REVIEW

"As Good as Dead"".

"As good as it is, it's dead."

We are in 1996 and in Illinois a duo of semi-unknowns give life to Local H, a project born almost as a pastime and inspired by the decidedly more famous Pearl Jam and the already defunct Nirvana. I believe that many, after this introduction, will consider Local H a priori as yet another nauseating attempt to drag a genre, grunge, also into the second half of the '90s, in a nutshell "riding the wave" as much as possible until reaching the shore. Yes, once again, I have to go against the grain because there is no other way, I must because grunge, ("as good as dead", "as good as it is, it's dead"), has survived albeit with a different aspect from what is commonly known, and I am not referring to the radio-friendly versions in fashion.

Close to Eddy Vedder (so much so as to dedicate a piece to him) and to Cobain, the album begins with a melancholic intro (already atypical in itself) that opens to the blasting "High-Fiving MF", where MF stands for "mother - fucker" and where the guitars start only after a funny verse where probably the leader Scott Lucas talks about the attempt to purchase a person for purposes easily inferred from the title of the track. It continues with the super-hit "Bound For The Floor", the band's flagship which will be identified by media and fans (not that many) precisely in the same piece. The chorus is pounding, but what is striking is the ability with which 4-5 simple notes placed there can become a real earworm ready to be placed in any TV commercial or radio. The climactic end vaguely reminds of "Rape Me" by Nirvana and its 'as good as dead' Cobain. Unfortunately, the hit will become famous again years later, shortly after the terrorist attack of 09/11, frankly I can't explain to you the real reasons for this, perhaps related to a reflective and almost self-destructive anger-laden text, a discourse (that of living off misfortunes) that has touched, for example, System Of A Down.
Moving on, noteworthy is the grit of various tracks like "Lovey Dovey" and "I Saw What You Did And I Know Who You Are", both very close to the "Nevermind" sound.

In the middle of the work, there is just enough room for a good acoustic, "No Problem" indeed breaks the tension before entering the dedication to the aforementioned Eddy Vedder, a true icon for the band, who like Pearl Jam themselves, has always preferred to stay a bit in the background from the cold money circle, so much, too close to the music world. Continuing without being verbose, worth mentioning are the melancholic "Freeze-Dried (F) Lies" and the light "O.K.", a good closing to an excellent album. The cover depicts two children, one smiling and the other "blinded by money" which, in my opinion, can represent the murky correlation between happiness and money, a combination in an America "as good as dead".

By the way, without having too many "mental hang-ups", the album title is taken from the track "Eddie Vedder", ("You go ahead, as good as dead, coming to a head, you're as good as dead").

To each their own conclusions.