PACKS • iknowiknow • 2022

https://packstheband.com/

Earlier this month PACKS announced a new EP entitled WOAH, the follow up to their acclaimed debut LP Take The Cake which came out on Fire Talk Records and Royal Mountain Records in 2021. While the album was a collection of what The FADER described as "reluctantly anthemic slacker rock" that earned comparisons to Pavement and Speedy Ortiz, the new EP showcases a more stripped-down version of Madeline Link's project, a collection of songs written between tours in support of the band's last album.

"Take the Cake is the sound of classic indie rock, as delivered by a promising new voice."

Bandcamp

"Madeline Link sings with her jaw half-clenched half the time, as calculatedly laconic as Steven Malkmus...[but] it would be unfair to cast PACKS as simply throwbacks. Link is a witty and intriguing lyricist and Take The Cake has plenty of risky moments."

FADER

"A force to be reckoned with; PACKS are reinventing the slacker soundtrack." 

So Young

Chew Magna • 4232 • 2022

“restless and incendiary alt-rock with hints of ’90s slacker rock influences and backed up by motoring Krautrock… perfect for alternative and rock playlists, plus angsty contextual ones too, this blast of rock goodness is sure to please any ’90s rock fan, old or new!”

– Record Of The Day, Nov 2021

PACKS • Silvertongue • 2021

https://packstheband.com

These guys are one of my favorite Toronto bands of the last little while, and they were starting to get quite a bit of buzz going pre-pandemic, playing with folks like Squirrel Flower and Odetta Hartman. With a sound that fits somewhere between the first Pavement record and Harmacy-era Sebadoh, Maddie Link’s laid back vocal delivery sits front and centre, as the band expertly stumble their way through the record, elegantly dishevelled and perfectly discombobulated. 

BDRMM - 'Heaven' - 2019

Crafting relatable lo-fi gems born of vocalist Ryan Smith’s astute introspection, bdrmm hit the mark again, starting their 2019 with twinkling slacker-pop cut Heaven.

Live Dates

12/3 – The Polar Bear, Hull

27/3 – Headrow House w/ Lazy Day

7/05 – AATMA, Manchester

8/05 – Yellow Arch, Sheffield

9/05 – Hy-Brasil Music Club, Bristol

10/05 – Old Blue Last, London

11/05 – TBA, Brighton

12/05 – Gold Sounds, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

17/05 – The New Adelphi Club, Hull

VACATIONS - Changes - 2018

awesome release… slacker at 2018's best….

Ciggie Witch - Mad Music - 2017

lostandlonesome.com.au

Somewhat indie slackers, somewhat modern indie geniuses - whatever you want to take it as, just listen to this album of pure strumming licks and deadpan delivery - Pavement remembered in many of these songs.

Useless Youth - The Coldest Ocean - 2016

like the melodies and this Mexican release… 

the sparkles of strings really amp up this record…

definitely lo-fi with slacker intention…

Yikes - Commercial Music - 2016

Lavender Sounds

Slacker sensibility run through these tracks… Cool Pavement cover to boot.

The Bin Bags - The Bin Bags - 2016

Heavy bass lines, slacker aura combine to make this a pretty nice listen.

Carey EP - 2016

Salad Boys - Scarce Tracks - 2015

Christchurch, New Zealand's Salad Boys are precisely what you'd expect from the land of Flying Nun and Xpressway: a jangly, cerebral, experimental pop group, a bit shambly, with understated vocals buried in the mix and the bright guitar work pushed to the front. They’ve performed as David Kilgour of the Clean’s backing band, and they instantly and seamlessly fit into the legacy Kilgour helped establish; their debut album, Metalmania, feels less like an homage to New Zealand’s 1980s underground and more like a lost release from that time period ready to be unearthed by the record collectors of the future.

When Metalmania is good, it's nearly transcendent, as much as a pop album can be. IPR

Lunch Ladies - Demos - 2015

If I could buy stock in a band, New Jersey-based beach poppers Lunch Ladies would be up there on my list. Though they don’t have any recordings outside of lo-fi demos, the foursome (half still in high school) are all in other bands that have each released solid music. Guitarist Matt Whitley is from Loser Year, Vocalist and bassist Cynthia Rittenbach is from Glycerine Queens, drummer and vocalist Brian DeSeno is apart of The Uncommonly Good, and Matt Ramiz who plays guitar and sings fronts the band Tommy and the Kooks. Stream their demo below.

I’m really looking forward to this band’s first release as I already hear a ton of potential in their demos. They have a knack for capturing a lot of nostalgia in their slacked out tunes, especially considering how young they are. nosmoking

Frog - Dandelion Radio Sessions - 2015

These sessions were self-recorded by Frog to promote their "Kind of Blah" LP and were broadcast on Lee Adcock's Dandelion Radio show in September 2015. 

Places To Hide - Strange Lyfe - 2015

http://irrelevantrecordings.bigcartel.com

The Lost Sandal on Radio Free Pensacola Actually I love every song on here. They are pretty much a lock on a great album and this is definitely their best yet. All of the albums are great, such a great band. Buy the records!! Favorite track: Spooky Molder.

HOO HAs unveil debut single ‘Yankee’ - 2015

Residing in the lesser-trodden crannies of north-east London, freak-rock four-piece HOO HAs draw as much inspiration from Dr Feelgood and JJ Cale as they do Blur, Violent Femmes and JaJa OK. HOO HAs formed when Kent friends Mark (guitar) and Jack (bass) relocated to the capital after stints performing with Liz Neumayr and John Newman respectively. Mark then met Adam (drums) when they both played in Hares, a band formed by ex-Holloways man Rob Skipper, through whom they then discovered singer Jamie at a party (where else?). HOO HAs’ initial collective forays were comical blues jams, from which a more coherent, relevant sound emerged as the quartet focused on each song in its own entity, although their overall style is as distinct, and as earthy, as you’d expect from musicians who cite heroes as disparate as Dylan, Fugazi, Hendrix and Pixies. Add to this Jamie’s deadpan vocal style, which belies his clever off-kilter narratives about the 21st-century experience, and you have a clutch of literate, thrilling songs that at times make you laugh, sometimes make you shudder, but always keep you intensely entertained.