it was fun while it lasted

Chronique

Very few bands announce in advance that their upcoming album will be their last, and when they do, it's hard not to play guessing games with the material, looking for clues about why things went south. The Pack A.D. delivered 2020's It Was Fun While It Lasted along with the news that it would be their final project, and though they emphasized they were not officially breaking up, they were also done with touring. Anyone looking for evidence of interband rancor between guitarist/vocalist Becky Black and drummer Maya Miller won't find much in these songs, though the weariness of "Wings" as Black tries to figure out what's up with one of her relationships is somewhere in the ballpark. But if there is a recurring theme here, it's the nuts and bolts of touring and dealing with the indignities of making music for a living. The inclusion of songs titled "Gas Station Food" and "Check Engine Light" will, unfortunately, sound familiar to anyone who has lived out of a van for a few weeks (or months), and the chain-smoking fatigue of "Soul Warden," the frustration of "Kids," and the tinnitus-inspired realization of the passage of time in "Give Up" adds up to people who aren't exactly enjoying the business of music. That is not to say that they're sick of music itself, and if It Was Fun While It Lasted is a kiss-off to a career, it's also a great rock & roll album and a fine summation of why the Pack A.D. mattered. The sound of the album is spacious and stripped down, going for a live attack that puts a tight focus on the interplay between Black's buzzy blues-based guitar and Miller's strong, unfussy drumming. While some two-piece bands aim for the novelty of a minimalistic sound, the Pack A.D. instead kick up enough dust that the absence of a bassist is barely noticed, and even in especially unadorned form, It Was Fun is big enough to fill a room all by itself. The simplicity of It Was Fun While It Lasted in some respects takes the Pack A.D. full circle to their beginnings on 2008's Tintype, but it also reveals how good they got in the 12 years that followed. If the Pack A.D. wanted to be sure that we'd miss them when they went away, It Was Fun While It Lasted does the job and then some.
© Mark Deming /TiVo