Chicago band Local H is in a dispute with Long Island-based Enjoy the Ride Records over the reissue of their 1996 album “As Good As Dead” for its 30th anniversary. The conflict arose after Enjoy the Ride announced a special vinyl edition of the record, which has been out of print for years and is highly sought after by collectors.
Local H commented on Instagram after seeing Enjoy the Ride’s announcement:
“Well, this is news to us. Especially since we were in the process of acquiring the rights from the label for our own official reissue. But — y’know — who the f*ck are we, right?
(By the way — the remaster we commissioned sounds terrific. Too bad no one will get to hear it.)”
At the time of “As Good As Dead”’s original release, Local H was signed to Island Records, which later became part of Universal Music Group. Frontman Scott Lucas told Block Club Chicago that while they had been discussing their own reissue with Universal and working on a new remaster, they learned about Enjoy the Ride’s plans only last week.
Ross from Enjoy the Ride Records, who did not give his full name due to concerns about negative reactions from fans, said: “I’d rather not give my full name because some of these fans have been, like, pretty abusive, so I don’t really need people reaching out to me personally.”
He explained that their release was legally approved through Universal: “The [‘As Good As Dead’] project happened because we have a working relationship with Universal, or the right[s] holder, rather,” Ross said. He added that requests from fans and high prices for original pressings motivated them to pursue this reissue.
Ross also stated he attempted to contact Local H via Instagram but never received a response: “They never read the message,” he said.
Lucas disputed this approach: “I’m hearing it was via Instagram,” Lucas said. “And, dude, I don’t check Facebook, I don’t check Instagram. That’s not how we do business. So that’s nonsense. This guy sent one message that was unopened, remains unopened and was unread … so it’s not like he did any real due diligence, and it’s a little annoying.
“We’re not here to beat up on some indie label, but then you start running around basically, sort of saying that it was our fault for not checking [social media] messages. I just didn’t think people did business that way.”
Lucas argued there were other ways to reach out: “We wanted to release this record the correct way, on our own,” Lucas said. “I just don’t understand why somebody thinks it’s OK to do this, you know, why would anybody want to do this? We’re not the Beatles. Who cares? How much money can you possibly make off of us?”
Discussion about who should control such releases has spread among fans online; opinions vary between supporting band autonomy and suggesting Local H missed an opportunity by not being more accessible.
Ross would not specify how many copies were pressed but noted most have already sold: “It was a small run, and at this point they’re mostly sold out. They’re like three-quarters sold out… Given the circumstance if you’re doing your own thing we won’t make any more.”
“Nobody wants to be in this position,” Ross said regarding tensions between his label and Local H. “This is literally the worst-case scenario.”
Lucas confirmed Local H is now expediting their own anniversary edition: “We are fast-tracking our own release as best we can,” Lucas said. He added they recently signed off on another license with Universal and hope manufacturing can begin soon.
“You know, the only thing we can do is say ‘Hey look we know what this record should sound like.’ You know I was there when it was made,” Lucas said.
Local H will tour throughout March alongside Filter and Finger Eleven but currently does not have any Chicago dates scheduled.
