Music

Watch the premiere of the new Pack A.D. video "Take" and go behind the scenes of their next clip

by Nicole Villeneuve

If it hardly feels like a minute since the Pack A.D. released their last album even as their fourth one, Unpersons, hits stores today, you’re not entirely wrong: since forming in 2006, the Vancouver duo have hustled, self-releasing Tintype in 2007, and as Mint Records scooped it up and re-released it in 2008, vocalist/guitarist Becky Black and drummer/vocalist Maya Miller already had another one ready to go (second album Funeral Mixtape was released in August 2008). After last year’s We Kill Computers, the band toured and wrote and went back into the studio, moving fast, true to pattern.

“On our second album, we were really, really trying to get it right, you know?” says Black. “We didn’t know what we were trying to do, [other than] get it right. And so last album, we didn’t try as hard, in a good way. Just do it, and not stress about it or over think it. We wrote songs really quickly for that one, and this one, too.”

The new mindset crept into the songs, catching the ear of famed Detroit musician and producer Jim Diamond (Dirtbombs, White Stripes). The band contacted him on recommendation, not as a producer, but to seek suggestions for Detroit bands needed to fill out a show they were playing in town. Diamond immediately asked to record them, and after settling on mastering We Kill Computers, he finally got his wish, flying out to record Unpersons at Hive Studios in Vancouver.

“He pestered us,” Black laughs, with Miller immediately adding, “In a very loving way. He’s been waiting for it to happen.” And it paid off. As the Pack A.D.’s relentless songwriting results in their strongest set yet, Diamond’s little bit of polish lets the hooks in their bluesy garage-rock shine while keeping them just muddled enough under the ramshackle rock racket.

“It felt really natural working with him,” Miller says. “I think we really lucked out. The three of us got along really, really well.”

The Pack A.D. have never shied away from videos, either, and for Unpersons, they’re preparing a few. The first of the (ahem) pack is the clip for “Take,” and if it looks familiar, there’s a good reason: it’s a direct homage to Gary Numan’s classic “Cars” video. You can watch the AUX premiere of the video above.

“I like having videos. But it can be a little awkward trying to act and be cool when you’re trying to pretend to play the song,” Black says. It’s early August and the band is in Toronto shooting their next video for “Haunt You.” Directed by Mike Roberts (The Sadies), Black and Miller spend their day performing in front of a green screen, so they can later be animated into ghosts.

“There’s another video being made that we don’t have to be in. So that’s nice,” Miller jokes. She’s just finished up a few run-throughs of “Haunt You” and has developed (and burst) a nasty blister on her finger. Still, the pain remains worth the finished product. “[Videos] should never go away,” she says. “They’re brilliant.”

Take a look at the making of upcoming video “Haunt You” below.