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Guitar Goddesses Vol. 2: Becky Black
Becky Black is one half of rock n’ roll duo The Pack A.D. She’s also the half that plays the guitar and sings. Coming to you straight out of Canada, The Pack A.D. combines the raw power of blues-based garage rock with the playful experimentation of noise. Incorporating sonic disruptions and shifting mechanical distortions into their music, The Pack A.D. edges toward the boundaries of electronica.
Yet, Black situates her songs in the guitar and its most fundamental sounds. She riffs off the blues, using the twelve bar format as a jumping off point from which to dip into heavy metal, electronica, and folk, mixing these genres into the peculiar garage sound that is The Pack A.D. Black cites as her influences such figures as Blind Willy Johnson and Cat Stevens, and its easy to hear both the stripped down, haunting quality of the hey-day of the blues as well as the melodic, folk-pop of 1960′s under the explosive might of garage rock. At least I think so. It gives it a depth, some nuance.
But what’s grand and great about Black, as a guitarist and a musician, is her showmanship. This is a band that gets rock and roll, who understands what we love about it, and is willing to bring it to us, live and loud.
I found this video of them performing at the Biltmore in Vancouver. This home town show says more than I could ever say in words what is so damn awesome about Becky Black. Her guitar work isn’t just in the ears, it’s in her entire body and the way she relates to the audience.
the pack a.d. – what’s up there/cabin from Jonathan Dy on Vimeo.
Watch how it starts out slow, the drumbeat like a heart racing. The audience is poised on the edge of the stage, beating their hands together, swaying towards Black ever so slightly. She hasn’t even picked up the guitar yet. She’s just singing. But they know what’s coming. Then the first guttural chords burst forth and bam! the crowd surges forward bending over the stage like worshippers. You can practically see the sweat dripping from every body in the room. Black’s not just playing to them, she’s playing for them; jerking back and forth from across the tiny stage, using her legs, her head, her fingers on the strings to work the crowd into a manic froth. She pitches herself into the crowd and back onto the stage. She bounces off the drums and back into the crowd, onto the shoulders of the audience, still ripping up on the guitar. She hangs from the rafters, dangles, falls and blasts out the last chords as the crowd swells. Through all this she never stops playing, never losing the song or musicianship to the her stage antics. She strums them all together.
It’s a phenomenal piece of pure, unadulterated rock. When I watch it, I want to throw myself at her. This is what a live show should be: the intimate experience of bodies crushing each other as they try to get
to the musician. And the musician trying to get into the crowd, as close them as possible, bringing the music with them.
If this does not convince you of her right to be called a guitar goddess, then I suppose nothing will. But if your heart beat a little bit faster watching that video then you should definitely check them out. Their albums give you just the same sort of palpitations.
Unfortunately, they mostly tour Canada and Europe, occasionally dipping down into the upper 48. If you happen to be in the Minneapolis area around Halloween, you might want to stop in and check The Pack A.D. out live. Everything I’ve seen suggests it will be a live show you won’t soon forget.