Calm Elliot-Armstrong. Since signing to Fire Talk / Royal Mountain a few weeks back, Toronto slacker rock four-piece PACKS have been compared to a bunch of rock bands from the 90s (Sonic Youth, Pavement), a few of bands from the past decade who borrowed from rock bands from the 90s (Vivian Girls, Best Coast), and a handful of contemporary artists who borrow from rock bands from the 90s (Disq). These comparisons aren t entirely misleading. Silvertongue, the single with which they announced their debut album
Take The Cake, had all the components of a reluctantly anthemic slacker-rock song: uncomplicated power chords, one- or two-note solos, vocal melodies ripped from early Seattle grunge. The band s lead singer and songwriter Madeline Link â who started PACKS as a solo project before inviting in drummer Shane Hooper, bassist Noah OâNeil, and guitarist Dexter Nash â sings with her jaw half-clenched half the time, as calculated