THE GOOD FIGHT

THE PACK A.D.

Positive Thinking The Pack A.D.’s sixth LP, Positive Thinking, will keep heads bobbing and bodies slamming despite both Maya Miller and Becky Black describing it as a much more personal album. Even when featuring some of their darker stories of psychoses, drastic measures and dystopia, the tracks remain danceable. Blasts of powerful guitar and rhythm that sound like two, sometimes three percussionists, carry along their tradition of satisfying grunge here, but the songs feel more cathartic than celebratory; the crashing cymbals and flurry of toms reflect the honest, raucous lyrics. Both singles “So What” and “Fair Enough” indicated how fast-paced and explosive this new album would be, and the other ten tracks don’t disappoint. It’s a chronicle of distortion and paranoia, from the angry “Yes, I Know” to the riotous “Los Angeles.” The closing “Fair Enough” sighs and calls for the next step. In the face of adversity and/or uncertainty, the best choice is to fight on. Why not do it with a conta- gious rock riff? (Cadence, cadencemusicgroup.com)

HOW DID YOU APPROACH POSITIVETHINKING DIFFERENTLY?

Singer/guitarist Black: We wrote material that we were really fond of, as opposed to what we did on our last album. I was thinking of writing more pop songs, branching into a more radio-friendly area — I think it was a mistake! I don’t know if I even did it intentionally, but it feels like that’s what happened. This time we were just concerned about writing material that we actually loved. It ended up being a bit more of an honest representation of the band.

YOU’VE SAID THAT THIS ALBUM IS MUCH MORE PERSONAL.

It’s definitely personal. The lyrics are not literal, but everything on this album is pretty deeply personal. We’ve both had interesting times in the past couple of years for different reasons, and it’s translated into the music, obviously. But the overarching theme is that even through hard times you keep going. It’s kind of the only thing you can do. JOSEPH MATHIEU