{"id":8586,"date":"2014-02-27T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=8586"},"modified":"2014-02-27T15:00:25","modified_gmt":"2014-02-27T15:00:25","slug":"the-pack-a-d-do-not-engage-certainly-engaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2014\/02\/27\/the-pack-a-d-do-not-engage-certainly-engaging\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pack A.D. :: Do Not Engage Certainly Engaging"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The-Pack-a.d.-9\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Victoria King<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fortunate are those in the indie rock game who progress at a steady pace. There\u2019s a small number of bands that find a happy medium between blowing up too fast and surfing under the radar. \u00a0With their fifth full-length release, Do Not Engage<\/em>, it\u2019s fair to say that the Pack A.D. is one of the fortunate ones. Fortune\u2019s not the only enabling factor to their success though. Since their first release in 2007, dedication and knowledge from experience have both played a part.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lead vocalist and guitarist Becky Black explains, \u201cWe finished this album a year ago . . . We just decided to relax for a bit, take our time with this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

After four previous releases off Vancouver label Mint Records, Do Not Engage<\/em> is the Pack A.D.\u2019s latest effort and the first to be released from their newfound home at Nettwerk Records. \u201cThe main difference to me [between Nettwerk and Mint] is that there\u2019s a lot more staff so it\u2019s definitely a different situation. But we recorded and finished everything on our own dime. We finished our contract with Mint, so we were going to shop around to license it to someone. But [then] Nettwerk contacted us. It seemed like a good fit,\u201d Black relays.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a long-standing Pack A.D. fan it won\u2019t take you long to hear the different sound of their new album. Do Not Engage<\/em> is more polished and shows more craftsmanship. The duo wrote the album in their Vancouver space over the course of a month or two. Roughly one-third of the album was recorded in producer Jim Diamond\u2019s (the White Stripes, the Mooney Suzuki) studio in Detroit while the rest was finished in Vancouver; two sessions spaced roughly six months apart.<\/p>\n

Becky and drummer Maya Miller\u2019s sound reaffirm that the same aggression and passion are still there, but also something new for this band: choruses. \u201cOn our last album we ended up writing some songs that actually had choruses which is a normal thing for most bands but new for us . . . so that was a change in the last one and we just kind of went with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Songs like \u201cNeedles\u201d<\/a> might actually make you do a double take (in a good way). \u201cThat one was just one that I wrote and the drums weren\u2019t working for it,\u201d recalls Black. \u201cUsually all of our songs are the two of us, and that one is just me alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

In between albums, Pack A.D. have made some big guest appearances. both on NBC\u2019s Last Call with Carson Daily<\/em> and opening for the Arctic Monkeys for two nights. \u201cThat was good,\u201d Black says. \u201cIt was a really good crowd. That one was really last minute, apparently they weren\u2019t even going to have an opening band and then the promoter contacted [our] management.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pack has held its own in a market that\u2019s been criticized for a lack of gender-diversity. As Becky can attest, there are still some stigmas out there when it comes to women in rock music. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that [the indie music scene] is unwelcoming, I think we\u2019ve somewhat progressed as a society,\u201d she laughs. \u201cThe funny thing is . . . rock \u2018n roll is perceived as this aggressive manly form of music, which I just don\u2019t really understand where that comes from. Music is music . . . but a lot of people are like, \u2018Whoa, that\u2019s pretty loud for women\u2019 like women are quiet? I don\u2019t really know. It\u2019s weird to me. I always wish that there wasn\u2019t the distinction, like it didn\u2019t matter that it was \u00a0women or men but rather, just people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expect some gusto and fresh energy from the band \u2013 currently, it\u2019s the longest break they\u2019ve had from touring. \u201cMost of 2013 was spent at home. It\u2019s kind of been nice having a break and it also makes it so I\u2019m more interested to go out on the road instead of being completely burnt out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pack A.D. head out on an extensive tour at the end of January until mid-April. They\u2019ll \u00a0be making a stop in Winnipeg at the Park Theatre on March 4th – do yourself a favor and get tickets before they sell out.<\/em><\/p>\n

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by Victoria King Fortunate are those in the indie rock game who progress at a steady pace. There\u2019s a small number of bands that find a happy medium between blowing up too fast and surfing under the radar. \u00a0With their fifth full-length release, Do Not Engage, it\u2019s fair to say that the Pack A.D. is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[619,659,705],"class_list":["post-8586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-mint","tag-nettwerk","tag-pack-ad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}