Local H, Twelve Angry Months

It’s said that hindsight is 20/20, and as many musicians age, it often seems to be the case. Musician Scott Lucas started off angry at the Chicago suburbs on 1995’s Ham Fisted, slammed relationships and unwanted fans on 1997’s As Good As Dead, then railed against the record industry on 2002’s Here Comes The Zoo. The band showed more maturity on their last studio release, 2004’s Whatever Happened to PJ Soles?, but while Lucas may have mellowed over the years, his anger hasn’t abated much. Twelve Angry Months is a concept album based on the aftermath of a bad breakup — each month gets its own track, and Lucas treats each song as an outlet for venting.

From whining about stolen albums on “The One With ‘Kid'” (“Where’s all my Kyuss records? / You never liked them before you met me”) to ranting against his ex’s new fling on “BMW Man” (“She can’t really care for you / just another flake who drives a BMW”), Lucas purges his feelings and seems to come to terms with it over the course of the album (“You know we’d never make it anyway,” he sings on “24 Hour Break-Up Session”).

He doesn’t make excuses for his feelings (“I’m allowed to break, when my shit’s wrapped too tight / And though it all seems strange, this compulsion to die,” from “The Summer of Boats”), and thankfully he never comes off as trite — though he comes close with a line like, “Only a groupie would want to love me.” Throughout the album, listeners get a sense his anger is legitimate — we’ve all felt it before — and drummer Brian St. Clair adds to the mood by creating pummeling beats to accompany Lucas’ powerful Zep-heavy riffs and Floyd-y melodies that propel each song to a near slamfest.

Lucas has a good outlet in electro-rock side project The Prairie Cartel (http://www.myspace.com/theprairiecartel), but it’s nice to know that after nearly 20 years, he can still crank out relevant music with Local H. A weeklong sold-out residency at Chicago’s Beat Kitchen this month proves that fans are still interested in hearing what he has to say.