PACKS Pairs Longing and Loneliness With Pure Joy on Crispy Crunch Nothing
The Toronto/Ottawa-based band explores every aspect of the human experience on sophomore record
Photo courtesy of the artist
Crispy Crunchy Nothing is a love letter to being alive even with all the nitty gritty details considered. The sophomore album from the Toronto/Ottawa-based band PACKS, out today via Fire Talk, it encapsulates all of the messy, magical, and confusing moments that make up the human condition. Its 14 tracks offer a slice of life that doesn’t shy away from the painful lows or exhilarating highs we all face.
The follow-up to WOAH, their stripped-down EP released over the summer, Crispy Crunchy Nothing sees the quartet returning to the gleaming garage rock that defined their 2021 debut, Take The Cake. At it again with a full band to back her, band leader Madeline Link combines the scruffy sound that put PACKS on the map with country influences, both contemporary and classic, to create an album that sounds like it was made by the kids that would sneak booze into the state fair. Simultaneously incorporating the woozy-whimsy of Alex G and the twang of legends like Hank Williams (who Link would listen to with her dad during lockdown), they cover as much ground sonically as they do emotionally.