Album Reviews

“Do Not Engage” is already The Pack A.D.’s fifth album and if one thing should be obvious from the start, then it’s the fact that Becky Black and Maya Miller are two women you do not want to mess with. Black’s voice is as potent and gritty as it is vulnerable at times and it makes her sound like Joan Jett’s daughter. There’s however nothing even remotely vulnerable about the riffs she slings your way. They will flat out kick your ass. The same can be said about Miller’s pummeling drums come to think of it. It’s just the two of them but between them they pack more punch than most bands can whip up with four or five members.

Think of a cross between The Raveonettes, The White Stripes with some dashes of Black Keys and The Kills thrown in for good measure. I guess that means that “Do Not Engage” is garage rock with some bluesy elements, a punky edge and hypnotic riffs… which about sums it up. It’s raw, aggressive and catchy as hell all at once. Iggy and his Stooges are probably pissed off they never thought of writing “Animal”, “Battering Ram” more than lives up to its name and if you’re not completely won over by these ladies by the time the haunting closer “Needles” rolls around, I honestly don’t know what makes you tick.