The Pack A.D. “Positive Thinking” 2016. Cadence Music. Signed by the band last night at the Back Room Colectivo after their show. We became huge fans of the powerhouse garage punk duo from Canada several years ago after being turned on to them by our buddies Brother O’Brother (Chris Banta and Warner Swopes) who have collaborated with Pack A.D. in the past (I have action figures!).

The Pack A.D. at Back Room Colectivo

Positive Thinking is Maya Miller’s (drums) and Becky Black’s (guitar, vocals) sixth album and one of my favorites; it’s crashing, fuzzed out and catchy as hell. The best of the best is “Yes, I Know,” a track I never tire of and that they played last night right before their encore (Maya with some exaggerated winking: “This is our last song!” – it wasn’t! They came back out for a couple more!). One of the best garage punk songs ever: angry AND danceable! I also love the album opener “So What,” the touch-of-evil “Medium,” the all-out insane rocker “Los Angeles,” the psychedelic edges of both “Gold Eyes” and “Fair Enough,” and Is It So” which is a wall of furious swirling sound.

Becky Black

Maya Miller

The Pack A.D. put on a fantastic show, their second concert of their current tour, and I was thrilled that the turnout last night was so good. The last time they were in Milwaukee, in 2018 at Company Brewing with Brother O’Brother, almost no one was there and I was embarrassed by our city’s poor showing. We had tickets to see them in the spring of 2020 for their It Was Fun While It Lasted release, but we all know what happened to that. So thankful that they’ve finally been able to get back on the road.

I shared this video with practically everyone I ran into this past week to get them to come to last night’s show and I guess it worked!