Pack Up the Cats
Template:Use mdy datesTemplate:Infobox album Pack Up the Cats is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Local H, released on September 1, 1998, through Island Records. It was their last album on Island before they split from the label, and the last with original drummer Joe Daniels.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Local H described the album as "our little concept record about a shitty mid-level band".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album was released around the time when PolyGram, the parent label of Island, merged with Universal, causing the album to be all but forgotten during the transition.
Production
Pack Up the Cats was recorded in six weeks between April and May 1998 at RTB Audio Visual Productions in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="WIDWIGBLiners">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref><ref name=":2" /> In May 1998, the band mixed the album at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name="WIDWIGBLiners" /><ref name=":2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The album's working title was That Fucking Cat.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The album was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, who was chosen in part because Local H was listening to classic rock while writing the songs for Pack Up the Cats.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The band was hoping for a huge rock sound that wasn't overly polished.<ref name=SM/>
Critical reception
Template:Album ratings The Hartford Courant wrote that the band has "lightened their sludgy sound on the surprisingly strong 15-track Pack Up the Cats by emphasizing melodic strength over brute force."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Sydney Morning Herald noted the "air of clipped, hard wariness" and wrote that "Local H's small-sized wall of sound has been marshalled without grandeur."<ref name="SM">Template:Cite news</ref> The Morning Call praised the "chunky, jagged, joke's-on-me songs about the psychic dislocation that is part and parcel of the power duo's love affair with rock 'n' roll."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In his review for Rolling Stone, Robert Christgau called the album "an impassioned testament of the endangered alt life."<ref name=RS>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Less than two weeks after the review's publication, he stated in his Village Voice Consumer Guide: "At first I was just glad to ascertain they [Local H] weren't a fluke. Now I think they've gone and made themselves the straight rock album of the year."<ref name="VVCG" />
Pack Up the Cats was ranked No. 20 on Spin's list of the 20 best albums of 1998,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> No. 17 on Robert Christgau's 1998 Dean's List,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and No. 2 on Greg Kot's list of the best albums of 1998.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Track listing
Bonus disc
- "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (AC/DC cover) - 4:52
- "Answering Machine" - 7:41
Personnel
Personnel per liner notes.<ref name="WIDWIGBLiners" />
- Local H
- Scott Lucas – vocals, guitar, bass
- Joe Daniels – drums, whistling
- Guest musicians
- Dean DeLeo – guitar on "Cool Magnet"
- Brendan O'Brien – hurdy-gurdy on "It's a Long Way to the Top"
- Production
- Roy Thomas Baker – producer, mixing
- Nick DiDia – engineer, mixing
- Lisa Ellis – assistant
- George Marino – mastering
- Eric Hoffman – assistant
- Ryan Williams – engineer
- Kevin Allison – assistant
Charts
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 140 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)<ref name=":0" /> | 7 |