Pack Up the Cats

Pack Up the Cats was recorded in the space of six weeks between April and May 1998 at RTB Audio Visual Productions in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.{{Cite magazine |last=Fischer |first=Blair R. |date=April 15, 1998 |title=Local H Heading Back Into Studio: Local H : Rolling Stone |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/localh/articles/story/5928003/local_h_heading_back_into_studio |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430041424/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/localh/articles/story/5928003/local_h_heading_back_into_studio |archive-date=2008-04-30 |access-date=2023-03-26 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{Cite AV media notes |title=Pack Up the Cats |year=1998 |type=booklet |publisher=Island Records |id=314-524 549-2}} In May 1998, the band mixed the album at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, Georgia.{{Cite magazine |last=Layne |first=Anni |date=May 14, 1998 |title=Local H "Pack Up The Cats" For New Album: Local H : Rolling Stone |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/localh/articles/story/5928661/local_h_pack_up_the_cats_for_new_album |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430032819/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/localh/articles/story/5928661/local_h_pack_up_the_cats_for_new_album |archive-date=2008-04-30 |access-date=2023-03-26 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} The album's working title was That Fucking Cat. 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.{{cite news |last1=Ferguson |first1=Jon |title=How does all that splendid noise come from just two guys? |work=Intelligencer Journal |date=25 Sep 1998 |department=Happenings |page=9}} The band was hoping for a huge rock sound that wasn't overly polished.

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r373570|pure_url=yes}}|title=Pack Up the Cats - Local H|publisher=AllMusic}}

| rev2 = Chicago Sun-Times

| rev2score = {{rating|4|4}}{{Cite news |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |author-link=Jim DeRogatis |date=September 1, 1998 |title=Local H, 'Pack Up the Cats' |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |page=28 |id={{ProQuest|258475835}}}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = A−{{Cite magazine |last=Kim |first=Jae-Ha |date=September 4, 1998 |title=Music Review: 'Pack Up the Cats' |url=https://ew.com/article/1998/09/04/music-review-pack-cats/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828095508/https://ew.com/article/1998/09/04/music-review-pack-cats/ |archive-date=2023-08-28 |access-date=2023-08-28 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |language=en}}

| rev4 = MusicHound Rock

| rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last=Fuoco |first=Christina |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/682 |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=1127 |isbn=978-1-57859-061-2 |via=Internet Archive}}

| rev5 = The Philadelphia Inquirer

| rev5score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{Cite news |last=Moon |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Moon |date=September 6, 1998 |title=The Music Report |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/179259049 |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |page=F10 |url-access=subscription |via=newspapers.com}}

| rev6 = Rolling Stone

| rev6score = {{rating|3.5|5}}

| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot |editor-last=Brackett |editor-first=Nathan |chapter=Local H |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac |url-access=registration |year=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/332 492–493]|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9780743201698 }}

| rev8 = The Village Voice

| rev8score = A−{{Cite web |last=Christgau |first=Robert |date=September 29, 1998 |title=Consumer Guide |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv998-98.php |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=The Village Voice |page=68 |via=robertchristgau.com}}

| rev9 = Wall of Sound

| rev9score = 77/100{{Cite web |last=Graff |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Graff |date= |title=Wall of Sound Review: Pack Up the Cats |url=http://www.wallofsound.go.com/archive/reviews/stories/3968_35Index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010211192120/http://www.wallofsound.go.com/archive/reviews/stories/3968_35Index.html |archive-date=2001-02-11 |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Wall of Sound}}

}}

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."{{cite news |last1=Orefice |first1=Mat |title=Pack Up the Cats Local H |work=Hartford Courant |date=7 Sep 1998 |department=Calendar |page=7}} 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."{{cite news |last1=Mathieson |first1=Craig |title=H Two Go |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=27 Nov 1998 |department=Metro |page=5}} 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."{{cite news |last1=Righi |first1=Len |title=1998: The Year in Review—Pop Music |work=The Morning Call |date=2 Jan 1999 |page=A29}} In his review for Rolling Stone, Robert Christgau called the album "an impassioned testament of the endangered alt life."{{Cite magazine |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=September 17, 1998 |title=Pack Up the Cats |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cdrev/localh-rs.php |magazine=Rolling Stone |issue=795 |pages=98, 100 |access-date=March 24, 2024 |via=robertchristgau.com}} 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."

Pack Up the Cats was ranked No. 20 on Spin's list of the 20 best albums of 1998,{{Cite magazine |last=Eddy |first=Chuck |author-link=Chuck Eddy |date=January 1999 |title=Top 20 Albums of the Year |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YG5YubNw1pgC&pg=PA90 |magazine=Spin |publisher=SPIN Media, LLC |volume=15 |issue=1 |page=91}} No. 17 on Robert Christgau's 1998 Dean's List,{{Cite web|url=http://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/deans98.php|title=Robert Christgau: Pazz & Jop 1998: Dean's List|website=Robertchristgau.com|access-date=2017-10-28}} and No. 2 on Greg Kot's list of the best albums of 1998.{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/12/06/sound-decisions/|title=Sound Decisions|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=1998-12-06|author=Kot, Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|access-date=2017-10-28|language=en}}

{{tracklist

| title1 = All-Right (Oh, Yeah)

| length1 = 3:09

| title2 = {{-'}}Cha!' Said the Kitty

| length2 = 2:57

| title3 = Lucky

| length3 = 0:48

| title4 = Hit the Skids or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rock

| length4 = 4:38

| title5 = 500,000 Scovilles

| length5 = 1:36

| title6 = What Can I Tell You?

| length6 = 4:52

| title7 = Fine and Good

| length7 = 4:08

| title8 = Lead Pipe Cinch

| length8 = 1:04

| title9 = Cool Magnet

| length9 = 4:07

| title10 = She Hates My Job

| length10 = 4:08

| title11 = Stoney

| length11 = 1:41

| title12 = Laminate Man

| length12 = 3:17

| title13 = All the Kids Are Right

| length13 = 3:48

| title14 = Deep Cut

| length14 = 2:26

| title15 = Lucky Time

| length15 = 4:59

| total_length = 47:38

}}

1. "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (AC/DC cover) - 4:52
2. "Answering Machine" - 7:41

Personnel per liner notes.

;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

{{reflist}}

{{Local H}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1998 albums

Category:Island Records albums

Category:Local H albums

Category:Albums produced by Roy Thomas Baker

Category:1990s concept albums