The Strokes have dropped off their first three dates of the Weezer/Dashboard Confessional tour (July 15-17) because of "a band member sustaining an injury," according to their Web site. The group hopes to rejoin the tour July 29 for the last two shows with Weezer before beginning a mini-tour with the White Stripes. ... Blink-182's Tom DeLonge and his wife, Jen, welcomed Ava Elizabeth DeLonge into the world on Monday morning. The couple's daughter weighed in at just over 7 pounds. ... Former Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton recently told the East Bay Express that he was invited to sing for INXS in 1997, following the death of frontman Michael Hutchence. The current Fantômas and Tomahawk singer told the paper that he laughed at the request and made the band rather upset. ...

Although you can't sell your soul to the devil, you can rent it out to the highest bidder — Local H will auction off a private concert on eBay starting July 17. The minimum bid is $500 to cover travel expenses, and the auction closes on July 26. ... Following their August club tour to promote A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay will return to the States for a September trek of larger venues. The second outing begins September 4 in Seattle, a week after the album is due. ... A free Fatboy Slim concert on England's Brighton Beach on July 13 erupted in chaos when 250,000 people showed up to party in a location that was equipped for about 60,000. A 26-year-old woman who fell over a railing and onto the lower esplanade is still in critical condition. ... Travis drummer Neil Primrose, who hurt his back July 7 in a fall in Belfort, France, is recovering following a July 10 operation. Doctors successfully treated Primrose for multiple fractures to his upper vertebrae, and the drummer is currently walking around. ...

The Young And The Hopeless, the second album from Baltimore pop-punk act Good Charlotte, is due October 1. Meanwhile, the group has written the theme song for MTV's new animated series, "The Undergrads." ... The Apples in Stereo are busy this year, releasing their fourth full-length album, Velocity of Sound, on October 8 through SpinART Records and touring with Clinic from September through the middle of October. The band also plans to produce a video for the lead track off the record, "Please." ... Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker married Camille Bidault-Waddington on July 13 in a private ceremony in Northern France. Pulp's We Love Life, which came out in the U.K. last October, will be released in America on August 20. ...

With a take of $52.8 million, Paul McCartney has grossed the most of any tour so far this year, according to industry mag Pollstar. He was followed by the Billy Joel/ Elton John package, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 'NSYNC, Dave Matthews Band, the Eagles, Green Day with Blink-182, Britney Spears, Jimmy Buffett and Barry Manilow. ... Speak of the devil — the bass-playing former Beatle will return to the road for his Back in the U.S. Tour starting September 21 in Milwaukee and winding up October 29 in Phoenix. McCartney will bring his 36-song set to cities he missed last time around on the first leg of his Driving U.S.A. Tour. ...

Former the Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft will release Human Conditions, the follow-up to his solo debut Alone With Everybody, in October. Guests include Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson, Talvin Singh and DJ Shadow. ... Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner will kick off a 13-date tour July 27 in Columbus, Ohio, to promote his debut solo album, Faces & Names. The album is due July 30. ... Canadian metallic emocore outfit Grade have called it quits, according to the band's management. They'll play three more shows before going their separate ways. ...

7.16.02

Korn's Elementree label is looking for new talent and is now accepting band demos at each venue during the band's North American tour. Submission boxes will be set up next to merchandising stands for all aspiring musicians with tickets to the show. ... The American Music Awards will present the next Coca-Cola New Music Award to one unsigned artist who will perform live on the 30th Annual American Music Awards telecast in January 2003, on ABC. Eager hopefuls should send submissions digitally at www.newmusicaward.com, or by snail mail on audio cassette or CD to The American Music Awards Presents the Coca-Cola New Music Award Competition, c/o CMJ, 151 West 25th Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10001. ...

Nineteen tracks of straight-up rawk comprise How We Rock, a compilation that will be released by Epitaph on July 23. Providing evidence that bands such as the Hives (who are featured on the album) didn't materialize out of the ether are contributions from Turbonegro, New Bomb Turks, the (International) Noise Conspiracy, and Rocket From the Crypt appearing alongside tracks from newcomers such as Division of Laura Lee and Sahara Hotnights. ... Moby bassist Greta Brinkman will join Lucid Nation on Tacoma Ballet, due out September 24. Brinkman will perform alongside former Hole drummer Patty Schemel, Larry Schemel (ex-Flesheaters), Tamra Spivey and Ronnie Pontiac. ...

Iron Maiden will release their first DVD, "Rock in Rio," on August 20. The double DVD package features the group's 18-song set from the 2001 Rock in Rio festival along with over an hour of interview footage. ... Lil' Troy will soon introduce the world to a littler Troy. In August the rapper will release an album by his son, Troy, Jr., called T2 on Short Stop Records. ... moe. will open for Robert Plant on eight U.S. tour dates, from the September 2 show in Cleveland to the September 13 gig in Las Vegas. The band is keeping busy gearing up for the third annual moe.down on August 30-September 1 in Turin, New York, preparing for their fall tour, and putting wheels in motion on their next studio LP, due out in early 2003.

• The Strokes
• blink-182
• Mike Patton
• Local H
• Britney Spears

Local H
Photo: Clay Patrick McBride

HOLLYWOOD — "I like those old-school guys," Local H's Scott Lucas said recently, digging into a taco salad at a Sunset Boulevard bistro.

The singer/guitarist/bassist of the Chicago rock duo was talking producers, particularly Roy Thomas Baker and Jack Douglas, the legends behind his last two albums, 1998's Pack up the Cats and Here Comes the Zoo, released Tuesday. One listen to the latter record, though, and it is clear Lucas likes all things old-school.

On the opening "Hands on the Bible," Lucas sings of "rats in the attic/ toys in the cellar," a reference to Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic, which Douglas produced (he also did John Lennon's Imagine, among others) and which inspired many of the sounds on Here Comes the Zoo. "(Baby Wants to) Tame Me" is a nine-minute epic complete with a talk-box jam, an obvious nod to Peter Frampton's "Do You Feel Like We Do," a song Local H once covered. "Half-Life," the first single, cops Foreigner's guitar riff on "Urgent," which Lucas admits was his entire motivation for writing the tune.

"We kept talking about [AC/DC's] Back in Black," Lucas said. "We just wanted 10 rock songs. We tried not to make a concept record."

Local H — whose As Good as Dead and Pack up the Cats chronicled a small-town rocker trying to make it big in a world where resumés are worn around the neck ("Laminate Man") — may be the only rock band in 2002 that have to try not to make a concept album.

And even when they try, they don't fully succeed. After Lucas and drummer Brian St. Clair (who replaced original drummer Joe Daniels two years ago) narrowed down 10 songs from the 25 they recorded for Here Comes the Zoo, they found themselves carefully deciding the order of the album. "We work really hard on the sequencing of records, so when you listen to a song and it ends, you're always going to think of the next song that comes after it," Lucas said. "We just can't help it. I like concept albums too much."

Though not technically a concept album, Here Comes the Zoo certainly works together as one piece, a picturesque "miss you" to the glory days of rock 'n' roll. And, unintentionally, many of the songs on the album tackle the same subject matter.

"The whole record has themes of losing your edge and a fear of domestic bliss and a fear of becoming your possessions and having your bills rule you and things like that," Lucas said.

"(Baby Wants to) Tame Me," which Local H have been playing live for more than year, fits somewhere within the album's underlying theme and has evolved from the live version to include a "Sweet Emotion"-like opening. "That song is a cowardly song," Lucas said. " 'I don't want to settle down, I want to get out of here.' It's a battle cry for truant fathers everywhere."

"Hands on the Bible," on the other hand, revisits a theme common in past Local H songs such as "I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are" — what Lucas calls "that whole Frankenstein motif." "Like the creator who ditches his creation, but it finds him and destroys his life. I like the idea of things coming back to you. Like evil, evil, evil karma."

The song is certainly spooky, which was Local H's intent, but not for the reasons one might expect.

"The label said, 'Why don't you guys write some more songs.' And that means, 'Try to write us some hits,' " Lucas said. "We were working on this song that was happy and pretty poppy and then we're like, 'F--- this. This isn't going to work.' So we thought, 'Let's write the weirdest, dumbest song we can think of and we'll send it to them, and they'll never ask us to write a hit again.' So we came up with this. We thought it would be like, 'I put a spell on you.' We sent it to them and they flipped. It backfired."

If Local H seem especially conscious of their record label, it probably has to do with the fact that Pack up the Cats, which received critical acclaim, tanked (they blame poor promotion). In a nasty sting of bad luck, it was released the same week Universal Music Group swallowed up their label, Island Records.

For the follow-up, though, Lucas feels content with Palm Pictures, former Island head Chris Blackwell's label.

"The main thing we want is to have people around us and behind us who are ready to go all-out and for the long haul," Lucas said. "We had the rug pulled out from under us last time. We had a lot of problems — people leaving and being fired. You have to be around people who believe in you." Just like the old-school days.

• Local H

Brandy
Photo: Gregg Delman / MTV.com

With the buzz surrounding her marriage and pregnancy now neatly behind her, the expectant Brandy returns her focus to her music, as this week she premieres the fruits of a different kind of labor: her Full Moon.

Also featured this week are sophomore LPs from Natalie Imbruglia (White Lilies Island) and British foursome Clinic (Walking With Thee). And finally, it looks like all of us have got another thing coming. Again. The seminal heavy metal band Judas Priest joins the fray of legendary artists looking to recycle their old gold (or, more appropriately, lead) as four reissues hit the streets.

Out Tuesday, March 5:

• Rob Andrews - Host (Griffin)
• Apex Theory - Random Bursts (DreamWorks)
• Angel Dust - Of Human Bondage (Century Media)
• Billy Bragg & the Blokes - England Half English (Elektra)
• Blasters - Testament: Complete Slash Recordings (Rhino)
• Boggs - We Are the Boggs We Are (Arena Rock)
• Brandy - Full Moon (Atlantic)
  Read about it ... Fans Will Get A New Taste Of Brandy On Full Moon
• Brandtson - Dial in Sounds (Deep Elm)
• Segun Bucknor - Revolution (Afrostrut)
• Business - Hell to Pay (TKO)
• Catheters - Static Delusions & Stone-Still Days (Sub Pop)
• Clem Snide - Moment in the Sun (Spinart)
• Clinic - Walking With Thee (Domino)
• Conviction - Kill It (Thorp/Relapse)
• Carl Cox - Global (Strictly Rhythm)
• Christopher Cross - The Very Best of Christopher Cross (Rhino)
• DJ Payback Garcia - Aztec Souls — Best in Latin Hip-Hop (Mixed Connections)
• DJ Screw - Sentimental Value (Wreckless)
• Echobrain - Echobrain (Surfdog/Hollywood)
  Read about it ... Jason Newsted's Echobrain Make Very Un-Metallica Video
• Entrain - Rise Up 1: Live (Rounder)
• Faze Action - Abstract Funk Theory (Obsessive)
• Fleetwood Mac - Show Biz Blues 1968-1970 (BMG)
• Flying Luttenbachers - Infection & Decline (Troubleman Unlimited)
• Frustrators - Achtung Jackass (Adeline)
• Grip Weeds - Summer of a Thousand Years (Rainbow Quartz)
• Iced Earth - Dark Genesis Box Set (Century Media)
• Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island (RCA)
• Insision - Beneath the Folds of Flesh (Earache)
• Jersey Street - After the Rain (Glasgow Underground)
• Judas Priest - Painkiller (reissue, Columbia Legacy)
• Judas Priest - Priest…Live! (reissue, Columbia Legacy)
• Judas Priest - Ram It Down (reissue, Columbia Legacy)
• Judas Priest - Turbo (reissue, Columbia Legacy)
• Karate - Cancel/Sing EP (Southern)
• Knodel - Dawn of the Butterfly (My Pal God)
• Kosheen - Resist (Kinetic)
• Ben Kweller - Sha Sha (Ato)
• Lazy Dog - Lazy Dog 2 (Astralwerks)
• Local H - Here Comes the Zoo (Palm)
• Lo Fidelity Allstars - Don't Be Afraid of Love (Columbia)
• M2M - The Big Room (Atlantic)
• Marillion - Marillion.com (Sanctuary)
• MC Solaar - Cinquieme As (Fifth Ace) (Elektra)
• Marc Moreland Mess - Take It to the Spotlight (Kitchen Whore)
• Meta-Matics - Complete Discography (Troubleman Unlimited)
• Anika Moa - Thinking Room (Atlantic)
• Modey Lemon - Modey Lemon (A-F)
• Mokira (a.k.a. Andreas Tilliander) - Plee (EFA)
• Nerissa & Katryna Nields - Love and China (Rounder)
• NOFX/Rancid - Split Series Vol. 3 (BYO)
• Oxbow - An Evil Heat (Neurot)
• Party of Helicopters - Space ... & How Sweet It Was (Troubleman Unlimited)
• Prevent Falls - A Newer More Shattered You (Equal Vision)
• Quetzal - Sing the Real (Vanguard)
• Bonnie Raitt - Give It Up (reissue, Rhino)
• Bonnie Raitt - Glow (reissue, Rhino)
• Bonnie Raitt - Green Light (reissue, Rhino)
• Bonnie Raitt - Home Plate (reissue, Rhino)
• Bonnie Raitt - Takin' My Time (reissue, Rhino)
• Random Logic - Numrebs (EFA)
• Red Flag - Red Flag: Fear Series Collection (Plan B)
• Req - Sketchbook (Warp/Nothing)
• Rinôçérôse - Music Kills Me (V2)
• John Selway - Journeys by DJ: Lightwave (Shelter)
• Tesla - Standing Room Only (Sanctuary)
• TRS-80 - Mr. Kickass (Invisible)
• Various artists - Afrika Underground (Counterpoint)
• Various artists - "All About the Benjamins" soundtrack (New Line)
• Various artists - Disney's Superstar Hits (Disney)
• Various artists - Echoes of Pink: A Tribute to Pink Floyd (Lakeshore)
• Various artists - "King of Kings" soundtrack (Rhino)
• Various artists - "Longshot" soundtrack (Trinity)
• Various artists - "Six Feet Under" soundtrack (Universal)
• Various artists - "Taina" soundtrack (Nick/Jive)
• Various artists - "Y Tu Mamá También" soundtrack (Volcano)
• Virus Nine - What Are You Afraid Of (Af Recordings)
• Vnv Nation - Futureperfect (Metropolis)
• Wishbone Ash - Argus (expanded reissue, MCA)
• Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society - 1919 * Eternal (Spitfire)

Coming Soon (Dates Subject To Change)

March 12:

• B2K - B2K (Epic/Sony)
  Read about it ... 'Uh Huh,' Ladies — B2K Are Single
• The Corrs - VH1 Presents the Corrs Live in Dublin (Atlantic)
• Destiny's Child - This Is the Remix (Columbia)
  Read about it ... Destiny's Child Mix It Up With Remix Album
• Eels - Souljacker (DreamWorks)
• Hot Rod Circuit - Sorry About Tomorrow (TVT)
• Indigo Girls - Become You (Epic/Sony)
• Wu-Tang Killa Beez - The Sting (Koch)
  Read about it ... Wu-Tang's Killa Beez Sting To Thrill With ODB

March 19:

• Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare (expanded reissue, Atlantic)
• Antibalas - Talkatif (Ninja Tune)
• Grateful Dead - Postcards of the Hanging (Arista)
• Jay-Z and R. Kelly - The Best of Both Worlds (Island/Def Jam)
  Read about it ... Bootleggers Get The Best Of Jay-Z, R. Kelly
• PPK - Resurrection (Tommy Boy)
• Simple Plan - No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls (Atlantic)
  Read about it ... Alienation Lands Simple Plan On Movie Soundtrack, Warped Tour
• Patti Smith - Land (1975-2002) (Arista)

March 26:

• Celine Dion - A New Day Has Come (Epic/Sony)
  Read about it ... Celine Dion Covers Old Tunes On New Day
• Funky Green Dogs - Super California (MCA)
• Rubyblue - Beyond Pink (BAB)

April 2:

• Apex Theory - Topsy-Turvy (DreamWorks)
  Read about it ... Apex Theory Offer 'Hope' To Metal — Diggy-Da
• Tweet - Southern Hummingbird (Elektra)
• Various artists - Loud Records 10th Anniversary (Loud)

April 9:

• Baldwin Brothers - Cooking With Lasers (TVT)
• Bonnie Raitt - Silver Lining (Capitol)
• Quarashi - Jinx (Columbia)

April 16:

• Ashanti - Ashanti (Island/Def Jam)
• Jimmy Fallon - The Bathroom Wall (DreamWorks)
• Lil' Romeo - Game Time (Universal/No Limit)
• Various artists - "Spider-Man" soundtrack (Columbia)

April 23:

• Naughty by Nature - Iicons (TVT)
• Tina Novak - Been Around the World (Arista)
• Q-Tip - Kamaal the Abstract (Arista)
• Sloan - Pretty Together (RCA)
• Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsport (Tommy Boy)

April 30:

• Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow (MCA)
• Donell Jones - Life Goes On (Arista)

• Brandy
• EchoBrain
• Natalie Imbruglia
• The Apex Theory
• DJ Screw

Alien Ant Farm's Dryden Mitchell
Photo: DreamWorks

PHILADELPHIA — There were lessons to be learned at the SnoCore Rock festival stop Sunday at the Electric Factory.

Headliners Alien Ant Farm spent a portion of their lively, engaging and hard-rocking set educating the audience.

"We're not a heavy metal band,'' frontman Dryden Mitchell said. "With long hair I look like a girl and the heavy metal thing isn't happening anymore.''

Not angry enough for nü-metal, too smart for punk and too happy for hardcore, Alien Ant Farm seem to be building a stylistic anthill unto themselves. The quartet can deliver sweeping sonic blasts of sound, which it did Sunday on such songs as "Stranded" and "Summer." There was also a jazzy interlude when the band found a hep acoustic groove on "Solitude," and "Calico" had a thundering waltz time.

Perhaps what really sets the group (which also includes guitarist Terry Corso, bassist Tye Zamora and drummer Mike Cosgrove) apart is the band's sense of humor and dry wit. Zamora's stage antics included continuous facial mugging, playing his bass with one hand and slapping his belly with the other, and drooling. Mitchell, who wore a black T-shirt, black work pants and a white ski cap, more often than not assumed an arms-akimbo stance while singing, and often came out with non sequiturs between songs. At one point he advised the audience to listen to Philadelphia soul singer Jill Scott, an advisory all but lost on the largely teenage hard rock audience. Referring to the band's surprise hit cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal," Mitchell said, "You hated Michael Jackson, but now you like him. If you still hate him go back and listen to him, because I like him!"

"They're not just musicians up there, that's an act," said SnoCore attendee Bill Griffith, 37, of Egg Harbor, New Jersey.

Later in the set, Alien Ant Farm delivered the hits "Movies" and "Smooth Criminal" from their DreamWorks Records debut, ANThology; a new rocker called "Bug Bytes" that, according to the band, will appear in the upcoming "Spider-Man" movie; and a track from their independently released debut, Greatest Hits, titled "S.S. Recognize."

The other bands on the festival bill taught the crowd a few things as well.

Local H, an Illinois alternative rock group known primarily for its mid-'90s hit, "Bound for the Floor," immediately preceded Alien Ant Farm. The group, technically a duo but accompanied by two other musicians live, will be releasing its first album in several years, Here Comes the Zoo, on March 5.

Original drummer Joe Daniels has been replaced by Brian St. Clair, and the band rocked out on its old tracks and new songs such as "Half-Life," which demonstrated that group leader Scott Lucas is still edgy, angry and able to create a tuneful explosion of angst.

Local H fans were happy. "The new drummer is faster," said Jason McCollam, 27, of Washington, D.C. "I hope now more people will listen to them."

The New York group Glassjaw performed their set in front of a banner that pictured the twin towers.

"Pay a little respect for what that beautiful city stands for," lead singer Daryl Palumbo said.

The group, a noisy mish-mosh of dissonance, clangs and Palumbo's off-key yelps, performed songs from its Roadrunner Records release Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence and an upcoming June release.

While Glassjaw fans were happy with the set, others in the audience were not.

"I couldn't hear the difference between the bass, guitar and vocals," said Amber Florence, 16, of Egg Harbor. "It sounded like my two-year-old sister playing with the pots and pans."

Los Angeles' Apex Theory performed a short set of material from their album Topsy-Turvy, due April 16. The quintet is a refreshing mix of emotional intensity, swirling rhythms and aural nuance, stemming from, in part, the band's Mediterranean influence. Explosive, throbbing rockers such as "Mucus Shifters" and "Shhh ... (Hope Diggy)" sent the crowd into a mosh.

Earshot are a new Warner Bros. band that combines the musical intensity of nü-metal with the good looks of a Calvin Klein model. Lead singer Wil Martin had a lesson about the future of the group's lead single, "Get Away," which was performed Sunday.

"It will be on the radio," he said.

Fenix TX were originally scheduled to be on the bill, but dropped off shortly before the tour began. Apex Theory were their replacement. A spokesperson for MCA Records, Fenix TX's label, said the band is planning a spring club tour instead.

This year's SnoCore Rock Tour has dates scheduled through March 30. Adema will join the outing March 1 in New York.

For the second year in a row, there is also a SnoCore Icicle Ball for more jam-oriented bands. That tour — featuring Karl Denson's Tiny Universe — runs through April 1.

Read about all of the shows we've recently covered in Tour Reports.

• Alien Ant Farm
• Local H
• Glassjaw
• The Apex Theory

Local H
Photo: Clay Patrick McBride

Local H will go national with songs from their upcoming fourth album on a fall tour that starts November 13 in Seattle.

The Chicago rock duo's Here Comes the Zoo is due February 5. The record was produced by Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Aerosmith) and features a guest appearance by Queens of the Stone Age singer Josh Homme (see "Queens Of The Stone Age Singer Joins Local H On New Song"). The first single will be "Half Life," according to a Local H publicist.

Local H, led by singer/guitarist/bassist Scott Lucas, blend the classic power-pop riffs of Cheap Trick with the feedback-flavored grunge of Nirvana. Here Comes the Zoo is Lucas' first album with drummer Brian St. Clair. Lucas and former drummer Joe Daniels released Pack Up the Cats in 1998 and As Good as Dead, featuring "Bound for the Floor" (a.k.a. "The Keep It Copacetic Song") and "Eddie Vedder," in 1996.

Rock foursome Injected and emo trio Seven Storey will open for Local H on the 6 Ways to Sunday tour, which is named after a lyric in the new cut "What Would You Have Me Do." Tickets for all of the shows are $6.

Local H will launch another tour in late January, their publicist said.

Here Comes the Zoo track list, according to Palm:

• "Hands and the Bible"
• "Half Life"
• "Son of Cha!"
• "Fifth Avenue Crazy"
• "Baby Wants to Tame Me"
• "Rock 'n' Roll Professionals"
• "Keep Your Girlfriend Away From Me"
• "Creature Comforted"
• "Bryn Mawr Stomp"
• "What Would You Have Me Do"

Local H tour dates, according to Palm:

• 11/13 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Cafe
• 11/14 - Portland, OR @ Berbati's Pan
• 11/16 - West Hollywood, CA @ Whisky a Go Go
• 11/17 - San Francisco, CA @ Covered Wagon
• 11/19 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
• 11/20 - Omaha, NE @ Ranch Bowl
• 11/21 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
• 11/27 - De Kalb, IL @ Otto's
• 11/28 - Columbia, MO @ Blue Note
• 11/30 - South Bend, IN @ Heartland
• 12/1 - Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's Down Under
• 12/3 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
• 12/4 - New York, NY @ C.B.G.B.
• 12/5 - Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater
• 12/6 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Theater

• Local H

Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme
Photo: Davis Factor

Queens of the Stone Age singer/guitarist Josh Homme will appear on the next Local H album, singing on the track "Rock & Roll Professionals." Homme recorded vocals with Local H singer/guitarist Scott Lucas in a New York studio last week for the Chicago rock duo's as-yet-untitled fourth album, their spokesperson said.

"Rock & Roll Professionals" will be among the 10 tracks on Local H's follow-up to 1998's Pack Up the Cats, due in late summer (see "Local H Will Rock Out On Next Album").

Jack Douglas, the producer of such legendary albums as John Lennon's Double Fantasy, Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic and Patti Smith's Radio Ethiopia, is behind the boards on the project.

Queens of the Stone Age, whose Rated R was a favorite among critics last year, will hit the road on Ozzfest this summer (see "Ozzfest's Second Stage Gathers Soulfly, Queens Of The Stone Age, More"). The band is now in Los Angeles writing songs for its next album, according to an Interscope spokesperson.

• Local H
• Queens of the Stone Age

Local H's<BR> Scott Lucas
Photo: MTV

Chicago rock duo Local H will skip the concept and go right for the rock on their upcoming album, the follow-up to 1998's acclaimed Pack Up the Cats. Unlike their previous effort, a concept album chronicling the experiences of a small-town boy who moves to the big city to pursue his musical interests, Local H's new record will consist of 10 straight-up rock songs, according to singer/guitarist Scott Lucas.

"We have about 25 new songs," Lucas said. "But I only want to have 10 on the record. It's taken so long [between albums] I just want to get it done." Lucas and former Triple Fast Action drummer Brian St. Clair, who replaced Joe Daniels in 1999, will head into a studio in March to record the album. The duo are in negotiations with several big-name producers, Lucas said.

Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Cheap Trick) was behind the boards on Pack Up the Cats, which received rave reviews. But it was released the same week of the Seagram merger and was poorly promoted by Island Records, according to Lucas.

Local H spent two years searching for a new label before landing in December at Palm Pictures, former Island head Chris Blackwell's film and music company. Palm Pictures' roster includes "Sundown" singer Elwood and dance acts Supreme Beings of Leisure, Dieselboy and Mocean Worker.

The new Local H album will likely include "No Fun," "Cooler Heads" and "Baby Wants to Tame Me," new tracks the band has played at recent Chicago shows. The album is not yet titled, but Lucas shared a list of possibilities that included Local H and All That Implies, Go Bananas, Shove It, Earth Swell and Kick It Where It Counts. Lucas said he expects the album to be released in late summer or early fall.

Originally from suburban Zion, Illinois, Local H released their major label debut, Ham Fisted, in 1995, but it was 1996's As Good As Dead, which featured the singles "Bound for the Floor," "Eddie Vedder" and "High-Fiving MF," that gained the group a national fanbase.

Local H were last heard covering "Tame," on 1999's Where Is My Mind? A Tribute to the Pixies (see "Local H Cuts Track For Pixies Tribute, Plans Tour With Fuel").

• Local H

After dressing up as "Father Time" and the "New Year's Baby" at a pair of Chicago shows that rang in 1999, Local H's Scott Lucas and Joe Daniels kicked off the year by heading straight into a studio to record the group's contribution to the upcoming Pixies tribute album.

• 2/6 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
• 2/7 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Abyss
• 2/9 - Winston-Salem, NC @ Ziggy's
• 2/10 - Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
• 2/11 - Knoxville, TN @ Moose's
• 2/12 - Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero
• 2/13 - Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
• 2/14 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ TBA
• 2/16 - St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theater
• 2/17 - Jacksonville, FL @ Choices
• 2/18 - Atlanta, GA @ Roxy
• 2/19 - Birmingham, AL @ Five Points Music Hall
• 2/10 - Fayetteville, AR @ JR Dickson's Street Ballroom

• Frank Black
• Fuel
• Local H
• The Pixies

Before hitting the road with Fuel next year, Local H will end 1998 in style with not one but two New Year's Eve shindigs.

The duo will bring its bare-knuckled guitar and drums combo to its home turf of Chicago to play two show at that city's Metro, one at 6 p.m. for an all-ages audience, and another at 11 p.m. for those of legal drinking age.

Once those shows are behind them, the group has designs on a co-headlining tour with fellow alt rock radio favorites Fuel in an outing that Local H hopes will up the visibility factor of its 1998 release, "Pack Up The Cats." The band was pricked up ears with the album's first single, "All The Kids Are Right," but has so far been unable to turn its critical kudos into commercial success.

• Local H