The Pack A.D. – Tintype

Citing a mouthwatering combination of influences including Jonathan Richman, Janis Joplin and The Sonics, Vancouver duo The Pack A.D. provide 16 tracks of dirty, scuzzy guitar hidden not far behind a haze of bare, unabashed blues.

Becky Black’s vocals are insistent and snarly in the most part, especially on two-minuter ‘This Terror’ – “what’s in this terror/it tastes like coffee/can I have another cup”, she poses unapologetically. But it’s not just one-dimensional wailing because there’s a tenderness lying underneath, a purr if you will. Maya Miller’s drums range from scattergun and punctuating to driving and forceful, showing just how wonderfully the two-piece tiptoe the line between riot grrl/garage blues and a more compassionate sound, an echoey and piano-led comedown.

Whilst the heavy parts aren’t for the faint-hearted, the more downplayed moments like ‘Bang’ balance things out – so minimal, so downtrodden. ‘Paper Bag’ gives credence to the inevitable White Stripes comparisons, the rhythms flying out of the equipment loose and free and the vocals distorted and rangey – the songs are unfussy, primitive and warped.

There is a flipside to the dazzling praise – Tintype is limited in part by how stripped-back its ambitions are, and if it shed itself of around five tracks then its chronology would undoubtedly feel more concise. Aside of that, there’s a most welcome side-helping of Young Marble Giants chucked in for fun in the soundscape throughout – it’s nothing new, but it’s a sound so nervy and engaging that originality is no longer even a passing thought.

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