Order or stream PACKS’ second full-length album, Crispy Crunchy Nothing.
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PRESS
Post-Trash: “PACKS – ‘Crispy Crunchy Nothing’ | Album Review” – Chris Coplan, April 19, 2023
“It’s when you look at how Link operates this record, and the decisions made, you get to the heart of why this record truly works: accessibility. The ’90s were perhaps the very first time that we could all access rock stars in a genuinely significant way. Here, Link makes herself accessible in every conceivable fashion. As a musician exploring ideas for something earnest; as a person revealing themselves in a magically ordinary world; and as a voice for ideas of human connection, dismantling indecision, and finding a purer life. “
Flood Magazine: “PACKS, ‘Crispy Crunchy Nothing'” – Hayden Merrick, April 3, 2023
“Link’s “fat chords,” as she dubs them, are complemented by her team of collaborators: Dexter Nash’s twangy leads and the occasional wacky effect; bass lines from Noah O’Neil which cleverly undercut the rustic guitar strums; and Shane Hooper’s loose, unfussy drumming. The four holed up in a cabin in rural Quebec to record the album, and the cabin’s sauna moonlighted as a recording booth. Such a relaxed environment is evident in the album’s, well, warm tones and playful dynamics.”
Paste Magazine: “PACKS Pairs Longing and Loneliness With Pure Joy on Crispy Crunchy Nothing“ – Samantha Sullivan, March 31, 2023
“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.”
FrontView Magazine: “PACKS Share New Single “Abalone” Out Now on Fire Talk – December 15, 2022
“Accompanied by a video that collects candid footage from their 2021 tours, the track re-introduces PACKS as a full band following the stripped down WOAH EP, and showcases an engaging and exploratory melody from Link that she unwinds over the band’s mesmeric, psych-adjacent groove.”
UPROXX Indie Mixtape 20: “PACKS Loves Fat Chords” – Carolyn Droke, December 28, 2022
Now gearing up for more music in the new year, the band’s latest single “Abalone” sees vocalist Madeline Link’s detached vocals flowing with the band’s cool-tone chords. “Fresh-cut grass and a sun-split lip / Quit lookin’ at me from the corner of your eye,” Link sings in the opening lines of PACKS’ latest track “Abalone.” The song perfectly encapsulates how their music combines snapshots of ordinary life with haunting melodies to make the dull seem extraordinary.
Also Cool Mag: “Also Cool’s POP Montreal Top Picks: Round One“ – September 18, 2022
“Slack-rock quartet PACKS has been on our artists-to-watch radar since their debut LP Take the Cake (2021). Led by Madeline Link, the project began as a creative back-and-forth between Ottawa and Toronto, with Link sending her bare-bone bedroom demos to her bandmates for exploration via Google Drive. The resulting album was a smash and saw the band tour their slow-burning, timeless sound extensively. Since, Link has made it clear that she isn’t resting on her laurels with the release of her latest EP WOAH this past summer. Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, WOAH has Link returning to her solo, unbrushed songwriting roots with a refined lyrical palette and imaginative composition (and an ode to Ottawa commercial radio on the track “fm”).”
NME: “PACKS: lo-fi slacker rock that confronts an unpredictable world“ – Mia Hughes, May 24, 2021
“Art school is all about, ‘How can you make money and how can you be famous?’” Link says. “Whereas with a craft that’s meant to be destroyed, you don’t have to keep it and you don’t have to sell it. That was the most inspiring thing that I had ever learned.”