“Keep it simple / It’s not that hard / Just play three chords / On the chorus part”
That lyric comes from “Paper Bag Palpitations, “the final song on Real Gusto, but it covers the whole record quite well. Pack Sounds are an emo-tinged punk band that plays driving and energetic music that moves forward rather than looking back. It’s heartfelt music, but of the whiskey-and-cigarettes variety. Think emo lyrics set to melodic punk and not the Top 40 meaning of the term. Their sound is familiar -- just like that lyrical snippet says -- but they add their own layered twists.
It’s really the depth that makes this record stand out. On first listen in the background, Real Gusto felt like rote genre stuff, but the band has a lot of surprises along the way when you really listen. The lyrics of “Eraklis (Pete)” speak for themselves, “Simpatico” and “Cat Poster (Hang in There)” have some twinkling guitars buried under the chunkier chords, and the nigh instrumental “Whoa” is both a classic punk whoa-oh song and a reinvention of the format all-in-one. Real Gusto is self-aware and often serious music that manages to not take itself seriously. And that’s just the way I like it.
