Indianapolis Star review
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"Here Comes the Zoo," Palm Pictures. <br><br>Reviewed by staff writer David Lindquist
Three Stars-***<br><br>
Scott Lucas can't shake his incurable allegiance to rock 'n' roll.
The Local H mastermind lost a drummer (the only other job in his duo) and major-label affiliation after the release of Pack Up the Cats, a surprising firestarter of an album from 1998.<br><br>
He returns with Here Comes the Zoo, a sweaty slab of perseverance that burrows deep into the traditions of AC/DC and the Stooges.<br><br>
Zoo is an unabashed sequel to Cats, which can be interpreted in a couple of ways. Either Local H really appreciates AC/DC's career-long example of not tinkering with a winning formula, or Lucas is mailing it in. ("You know me, I've got nowhere to be," he sings during Zoo track Son of 'Cha!')<br><br>
Let's go with the former, because the album as a whole burns too brightly to be the result of half-heartedness. Lucas also dabbles in new effects -- piano and strings on Hands on the Bible and a female guest vocalist on 5th Ave. Crazy -- that signal an honest effort.<br><br>
Momentarily lifting his head out of rock's gutter (his favorite songwriting muse), Lucas observes working-class stiffs (Half-Life) and "relationships" (Keep Your Girlfriend and Baby Wants to Tame Me).<br><br>
Of course, Lucas tells the most truths when he writes what he knows. He skewers an industry that doesn't care (Rock & Roll Professionals) and offers empathy (or self-pity?) for musicians who care too much (What Would You Have Me Do?). Both tracks appear on Zoo's expansive second half, which rides the lightning between grunge and stoner rock.