Lower Class Alcoholics

Article Launched: 02/28/2008 01:24:15 AM PST


It's been a while since Lower Class Alcoholics' name appeared on a local show flyer, but Satuday they are back with a show and a brand new CD.

Unfadable, Kyzer J and mentaLCAse all grew up for the most part in Humboldt County and started rapping together in 1999.

”We were all rhyming before the group started,” said mentaLCAse in a recent online interview. “We just kind of came together, it wasn't a planned thing. It was more just for fun. There wasn't too much hip hop in Humboldt at the time. So, we thought since we were all rappin' anyway, we should do it as a crew. You know, the whole strength in numbers thing.”

They released some records over the next few years but the group hit a major snag in 2004.

”We lost some MC's and producers, and were kind of at a stalemate.,” mentaLCAse said. “We decided we wanted to be more serious with our music. So, we threw out all the old stuff we had done with the folks we lost and started over.”

The band never officially “broke up,” but the took some time to see where they were heading.

”The three of us (Unfadable, Kyzer j and myself) still came together and made songs, but we were lacking direction,” mentaLCAse said. “We weren't sure if we were going to change the name of the group and start somthing new or if we should stick with LCA. All we knew is that we still wanted to make music and thats what we were going to do. We didn't


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have very many beats at that time since we lost some producers. We were Kind of stuck. Around that same time Ole Persson of Diamond Back Records/Entertainment was putting together the “Humboldt Storms” compilation. He asked us if we would do some tracks for the album, I explained our situation to him and he hooked us up with some producers for the compilation. So, if anything Ole added the fuel we needed at the time to keep the fire burning. Truth be told Ole is one of the few people that helped us when we were down and out.”
And now they're back, hitting it in full stride with “Bottom of the Bottle,” their brand new release.

The MCs pull from everyday life for material for their rhymes.

”The bad, good, happy, sad, serious, and funny situations we've all been through,” mentaLCAse said. “We really just try to be ourselves.”

And the band is one of the rare hip hop crews where MCs also make the beats.

”I did almost all of the production of the beats on the new album,” mentaLCAse said. “I mostly take samples off vinyl, I do some non sampled stuff too, but I just love that grainy old school vinyl record feel, so that what I do most of the time. The other two do some producing here and there but I produce a majority of our tracks.”

And the new record, though it's the band's fourth, is really more like their debut.

”All of our older stuff we were just having fun with our friends, we weren't really taking it seriously,” mentaLCAse said. “That's why we started fresh, we wanted to be more professional about the process. All of the songs on this new album have been made over the last couple years. Except for the song “Bottom of the Bottle,” that track was one of the last songs we did with the old LCA. Since it was a solo track by Unfadable we decided to re-record it and keep it because we liked it. We ended up naming the new album after that song because that's where we were, at the bottom. It took some time for us to get back on track, but we didn't want to rush anything this time around. We figured we'd just make songs, take the tracks we were really feeling, and go from there. I'm glad we did it that way. We're very happy with the way it all came out. Plus we've been getting a good response from the people.”

And they're looking past the Redwood Curtain with their renewed vigor.

”We got some dates this summer on the “Expand Your Roots” tour with the Resinators and Hemp (out of Chico). The tour is throughout California, with acts like 2Mex and Knobody. I'm sure we'll get more dates out of town as time goes by and we'll definitally be doing more local shows now that the new album is done.”
- Chris Durant The Times-Standard

Lower Class Alcoholics (aka L.C.A.) celebrate the release of their eponymous CD with a party at the Red Fox Saturday. I have to say, they got me with the intro track where a taste of country steel guitar leads into some unknown singer talking about living in Humboldt. I thought I had the wrong disc. The joke comes when the record grinds to a stop then slides into some classic homegrown hip hop with raps about living la vida Humboldt — drinking, smoking, getting by any way you can. The rhymes are fresh; the sense of humor throughout is refreshing. Good shit. - By Bob Doran: The North Coast Journal

Ill Bill,Sean Price,and L.C.A.
LIve at Mazzotti's, Oct. 2.
By Emily Hobelmann

Thursday's Ill Bill hip hop show at Mazzotti's on the Plaza was a complete "brodeo." What is a brodeo? A brodeo is an event where men bro down, or bro out. Basically, the audience was almost entirely composed of dudes (which I don't really consider to be a great representation of humankind). At one point, I counted 20 guys on the dance floor and a mere three ladies. Honestly, it was a little scary.

Ill Bill hails from Brooklyn and is a member of the rap/punk rock music collective, La Coka Nostra, a coast-to-coast gun- and drug-loving rap crew that claims such stars as Everlast and DJ Lethal as members. (Everlast was in SoHum recently for the Outlawz and Angelz fest, maybe that was how IB got his Humboldt connections.)

IB is touring behind his solo album, The Hour of Reprisal,which features an exact hour of music accompanied by a DVD shot at the legendary club CBGB. Sean Price, another NYC rap artist, is rolling with IB on a North American tour that included three Humboldt performances: Thursday at Mazzotti's, Friday at the Red Fox and Saturday at the Sasquatch Stomp.

Local Beastie Boys-esque hip hoppers L.C.A. (acronym for the Lower Class Alcoholics) opened Thursday. The three rappers and their DJ seemed to be having fun with their performance for all the bros in the crowd, despite having to restart one song after botching the beginning. Maybe it was the drinks they clutched (they are self-confessed alcoholics after all.) I found their lyrics down-to-earth and far from pretentious -- on one song, they wax poetic about working 9-5 jobs and the importance of tipping your bartender. I can feel that.

Sean Price and one of his bros provided the second round of action. Their DJ was super New Yorker and it was rad when he shouted over his mic for everyone "to get their asses inside" for Price's set. Price was cool, but his lyrics had way too many words spelled out. Why do rappers have to spell everything out?

Humboldt needs more hip-hop and I hope concert bookers keep East Coast performers in mind, because they bring a much-needed edge to shows. Ill Bill brought the edge. He was totally legit. Too bad the sound system sucked and you couldn't get much clarity with his lyrics and the bass lines. A small altercation broke out moments into his performance, and IB wisely advised everyone to "keep it peaceful." His set was too short, and a good amount of time was devoted to getting the crowd to raise their middle fingers and chant "Fuck You!" The lyrics I managed to catch seemed profound enough. Apparently Jesus was a gangsta rapper. Who knew?

- Emily Hobelmann? North Coast journal