The Pack A.D.
With their 2011 release Unpersons, punky garage rockers the Pack A.D. attracted mainstream notice ("fantastically gritty," gushed NPR) previously unknown to the Vancouver-based duo.
Building on that attention – and at the same time playfully thumbing their nose at it – they're out with a new record, Do Not Engage – and poised for a breakthrough.
Their debut on Nettwerk Records, the album – out Jan. 28 – was produced by Jim Diamond (the White Stripes) and recorded in a former chicken-processing plant in Detroit. Maya Miller's determined drumming and Becky Black's fierce guitar playing and rich, at times ethereal, vocals combine for an explosive, exciting – and even accessible – release.
The rhythmically powerful Airborne kicks things off, followed by the LOL lyrics of Big Shot: "Well, you're a jerk. Quite a piece of work. I think it's fun that you're so dumb." Tracks such as the lonely, lo-fi anthem Loser and the danceable Rocket are, dare we say it, catchy. And the closer Needles is some kind of beautiful. Prepare to engage.
Marsha Lederman