Pack Up The Cats picks up on all the cues of alternative rock at the time. There is a similarity to Nirvana, but also Poster Children's RTFM from the year before. Album tracks like the funny "Cha Said The Kitty"****, "Hit The Skids" and "Deep Cut" resembles the rumble of In Utero, but with a some extra noises and studio tricks to round out the production. "She Hates My Job"**** resembles the latter, with the soft-loud-soft formula and the kind of white middle-class angst. The easiest comparison is probably to Lucas' screamy voice, which falls on the shrill side. There is also a deliberately repetitive streak including "All-Right Oh, Yeah" (which also borrows from Sponge's "Wax Ecstatic") and scream-fest "500,000 Scovilles", which isn't helped by the fact that "Lucky" and "Lead Pipe Cinch" are just acoustic interlude versions of "Lucky Time" and "All The Kids Are Right". None of the songs are truly awful, but those songs that don't have a strong melody to support them fall under the weight of the ham-fisted production and Lucas' wailing, making the album seem inconsistent. The important thing may be that the songs seem to have a connection to relatable life, such as complacency in "Fine And Good"****, expectations of friends and family in "She Hates My Job", or change in the relatively lush closer "Lucky Time"****, proving that Lucas is easily the melodic writer that the power hitters of that era were. "All The Kids Are Right"***** hits the magic balance between big riffs and melody, making it the deservingly big hit in 1998.
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