2nd July 2010

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The Roar of the Masses Could be Farts: The Pack A.D. - We Kill Computers

Corey from Sex Sux (Amen) and I have decided to destroy you. Here’s how we’re going to do it: collaborative blogging. Knowing Corey to be a fan of theirs, I asked him to check out The Pack A.D.’s most recent record, We Kill Computers.  Over on Corey’s blog, we talked about Woven Bones’ new one, In and Out and Back Again. Once you’re done here, head over and check it out. Now, take it away, Corey.

Corey: I had forgotten about my favorite Canadian garage punk duo, Becky Black and Maya Miller, even though they dropped a couple excellent LP’s last decade on Mint Records: Tintype and Funeral Mixtape.

The girls are burning down British Columbia on this record: the vocals from Becky are more biting, confident, and angry and her guitar playing is heavier and noisier.  Maya’s thrashing drums complement Becky’s downright evil fire she is spitting.  Check out the best tracks, “Crazy” and “K Stomp,” and you can feel Becky’s snarl right in your mouth.

The mostly blues-inspired song writing from their earlier records occasionally got repetitive.  On this record, they choose to branch off a little more, diving into heavy rock and punk territory.

In retrospect, The Pack AD’s earlier records showed off promise, and, since they weren’t over-hyped/were over-looked, they’ve been able to organically develop into a motherfucking powerful force.

David: I’ll be honest, I got this record when it came out a few months ago, and I didn’t even make it all the way through. It seemed over-produced, and, when the basis for most of a group’s appeal is based on raw energy, too much time in the studio can really dull that edge. But it’s been a while, and I figured since their previous two records were nasty, I should give this one another shot.

I guess my real issue the first time around was just that their visual aesthetic seems to have changed a bit in between this record and the last, going from hairy tomboy southern (yeah, I know they’re Canadian) thugs to a cleaner, hipper look, and I expected that to transfer over into their sound.  But, now that I’ve had some time to remember I shouldn’t really give a shit about what they look like, I can recognize that I made up that “over-produced” bit.  I was expecting to be able to start a debate with Corey over this record, but it looks like I fucked up. I don’t know if I see as much improvement in between Funeral Mixtape and We Kill Computers, but my original appraisal was definitely misguided. It’s a solid album. Go fuck yourself, me-from-the-past!

I don’t know how I missed it the first time around, but the first cut, “Deer” fucking stomps. It’s riffy, and there’s just enough space to make that riff really land hard. Is it me, or is “Crazy” just a reworking of “The Hardest Button to Button?” Can’t go wrong starting in that territory.

Corey: Haha I actually tried listening to it a little while back and got bored but you forced me to listen to it again and it’s pretty good, right?  Fuck us.

David: Yeah, I think the main issue is “Cobra Matte” sucks. I think that’s as far as I got the first time, and this time, I got up to that song and was still like “what the hell?” It’s not that bad, but it’s sucky.

Corey: Yeah that “Cobra Matte” sucks.

Tagged: stuck in thee garagethe roar of the masses could be fartssex sux (amen)