Melt the Honey

2021年作『TAKE THE CAKE』、2023年作『CRISPY CRUNCHY NOTHING』とリリースする度、インディ・ラヴァーズからの支持率を上昇させまくる、現在のUSインディ台風の目パックス。早くもキャリア3枚目となる新作『MELT THE HONEY』が登場!

これまでの作品でペイヴメント、セバドー、ビート・ハプニング達レジェンドの脱力成分を、彼女なりに吸収し現代型スラッカー・ロックを提示してきました。そんな提示した音を更なる高みへ持ち上げたいと考えたパックスは、メキシコの首都メキシコ・シティで、セルフ・プロデュースによる合宿を敢行。お馴染みのバンドメンバーとみっちり作業した成果は、先行シングル"HONEY"のこれまで以上に芳醇な緩いスラッカー魂に出ています。スティーヴン・マルクマス、ルー・バーロウ、カルヴィン・ジョンソン達と肩を並べる程になったメロディは、ボーイジーニアスやビッグ・シーフの活躍でUSインディに興味を持った新参者を一撃で虜にするはず!

この脱力と癒しな音で、もしかしたら世界クラスに存在になれるかもしれない彼女、今すぐ聴いて欲しい1枚です!

In March of 2023, the same month they released their alienated sophomore album, Crispy Crunchy Nothing, Torontos PACKS spent three weeks in Mexico rehearsing and recording their next album. The bands leader, Madeline Link, had done an artist residency there in 2020, and amidst the warm weather and avant architecture of Casa Pulpo in Xalapa, they tracked a set of songs written with Link having newly found love and moved in with her partner. The resulting Melt the Honey -- their third straight under-30-minute blast of snarled slacker ditties -- is still fractured and generally discombobulated, but the subject matter is a bit lighter and the vibe more copacetic than previous releases. Among the 11-song track list are songs about neglecting to back up files ("89 Days"), the cat at their practice space ("Missy"), high fructose corn syrup ("HFCS"), and multiple definitions of tripping ("Trippin"). Told from the perspective of the cat, the uptempo and mostly monosyllabic "Missy" features a night-prowling, spoken Spanish-language verse by Lupita Rico as well as English lyrics like "I will yawn when you notice me/Look at my nails, then the ceiling" by Link. Another energetic entry, "HFCS" is a dark grunge-pop anthem that will find listeners humming along to the vacuous phrase after the album is over. By contrast, the drawn-out melody in the somnambulant "Trippin," with its mix of acoustic rhythm and meandering electric guitars, creeps up on listeners like a secondhand smoke but is just as likely to stick. More scene-setting than hooky, the harmonics-strewn rock instrumental "AmyW" is one of multiple entries here to evoke Abbey Road with its guitar tones and textures. If it unfolds mostly like a set of made-up-on-the-fly, unserious, everyday-occurrence tunes, its one by somebody who is exceptionally good at it, with a sharp ear for hooks, quirky phrasing tendencies, and visceral, spontaneous-sounding accompaniment, ultimately making Melt the Honey play out something like a guilty pleasure. ~ Marcy Donelson