Since forming in 2006, Vancouver garage rock duo the Pack A.D. has released five records, including January’s Do Not Engage and 2011’s Juno nominated Unpersons.

Singer/guitarist Becky Black and drummer Maya Miller spent more time than usual working on Engage, resulting in the duo recording some of it at home in Vancouver and then reuniting in Detroit with Unpersons producer Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Electric Six).

“We just really get along with Jim and we kind of understand each other so it just makes for a great working experience,” says Miller, on the phone from a tour stop in Texas. “We actually recorded it in an old chicken processing plant and could hear the ghosts of chickens every day we were there.”

Do Not Engage also sees the Pack A.D. writing catchier material, something that is obvious through tracks such as “Big Shot”, which the band released a music video for last year.

“If poppy means choruses and hooks, then sure,” Miller says. “We didn’t always do choruses in the past and we were looking to have hooks people can sing along with this time around. It’s just a natural progression though. We just ended up going in that direction.”

Lyrically, this is also the first record that’s split down the middle, with each member writing half the songs.

“It’s just another thing that happened naturally,” Miller says. “Most of my influences for writing come from reading books and creating characters. I was reading a lot of horror in general at the time. I read The Omen [David Seltzer] which was terrifying, way scarier than the movie for sure and I can see how it came into some songs on the record.”

With Do Not Engage, the band also decided to make the jump to Nettwerk after dropping its four previous records on indie label Mint.

“There are some similarities, especially since they’re both based in Vancouver which is incredibly convenient for us,” Miller says. “They’re both able to work with us on a very personal basis, but the biggest difference is there’s a lot more people at Nettwerk, they have offices all over the place and there’s a lot more faces for us to remember.”

Miller says the album title is essentially inspired by the idea of keeping people at arm’s length and some of the crazy things people can say online.

“I think it came up mostly through being on the Internet and reading people’s comments,” she says. “If you watch a YouTube video and you question someone’s comment, they’re on you, so there’s no point engaging them. You should just keep your opinions to yourself because there’s no point. You’ll never win a battle with an anonymous person on the Internet.”

Published in Volume 68, Number 21 of The Uniter (February 19, 2014)