ith the pack
BY Matt J. Simmons
Hey, Smithers.
Are you ready for some rock
n roll? Vancouver-based duo The Pack A.D. are set to
headline Midsummer Festival in July. It’s safe to say that
it’s going to be loud, sweaty, crazy. “It would be a good
idea to stretch first,” suggests drummer Maya Miller. Just
back from a European tour, Miller and her cohort, singer/
guitarist Becky Black are known for high-energy, snarling
garage rock. It’s dirty, gritty, and good. Their most recent
record (they have five full-lengths under their belts) has
been storming charts on campus and community radio
stations across the country since its release in January
and is garnering them plenty of attention worldwide.
The album’s called Do Not Engage and, like most of
their lyrics, it’s open to some interpretation. I picture a
predatory animal in a cage. Let it do its thing back there,
but if you stick your fingers between the bars, you might
get bitten. But then, this band’s bite leaves a scar like a
tattoo—you’ll wear it with pride.
Miller and Black have been playing as Pack A.D.
for eight years now and until they released their latest
record, they were largely an underground band with a
cult following. Something about Do Not Engage has
earned them a bit more mainstream love, but it’s not the
content or the approach to music—like previous albums,
this is rock n roll, through and through. Maybe it’s that
everyone else is finally catching on. Did they expect
this level of critical acclaim when they recorded the
album? “I don’t even expect anything from the day after
tomorrow,” says Miller. “So, no, I’d have to say that not
much thought was given to any future results.” The album
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