"Lifers" is one of those double-edged phrases that can either mean you kept following your muse and never gave up on it, or that you lacked the good sense to bow out gracefully and are now spending your days going through the motions. As a band who briefly seemed poised to grab the brass ring of commercial success in the '90s but instead have been slugging it out as cult heroes since then, it would be easy for those observing Local H's career from a distance to put them into the latter category. Those who have been paying attention know better, though, and 25 years after they released their first album, Local H are not simply still in the game, they're sounding as strong, focused, and imaginative as ever. Local H leader Scott Lucas has been making consistently smart, forceful albums ever since they broke through with 1996's As Good as Dead, but 2012's Hallelujah! I'm a Bum and 2015's Hey Killer felt like the work of a guy making an effort to challenge himself and push his talents forward, and 2020's Lifers confirms he is keeping his music fresh and revealing while holding on to the hard rock wallop that puts it over. Lifers was recorded by Steve Albini and Andy Gerber and mixed by J. Robbins, and this may be the group's best sounding record since 1998's Pack Up the Cats, making the most of Ryan Harding's honestly spectacular drumming and the rich mixture of riffage and sculpted noise generated by Lucas' guitar rig. This boasts enough punch to leave a bruise, but there's still enough nuance to let the details of this music (and they're plentiful) get a fair hearing. Lucas has written a set of songs that merit the extra attention paid to production; "Patrick Bateman" and "Hold That Thought" are full of the thoughtful but street-smart venom that is Lucas' lyrical stock in trade, "Beyond the Valley of Snakes" and "Defy and Surrender" are extended workouts where Lucas and Harding put their talent for noise up front and come out winning, "Turn the Bow" allows these cynics to indulge in some cautious optimism, and the acoustic "Sunday Best" is quieter but no less emotionally intense than the other tracks on board. Local H are rock & roll lifers for the right reasons: they haven't run out of new ideas, they play with fury and passion, and they're always looking for new ways to evolve without losing focus of what makes them what they are. Local H are among the very best hard rock bands currently at work in the year 2020, and Lifers is potent evidence that isn't about to change; this is their most accomplished work in the studio since As Good as Dead and Pack Up the Cats.