Deer Tick
The Black Dirt Sessions
Partisan Records
This is my second Deer Tick album, and their sound has shifted to a less pop-oriented, more introspective bent. While the pop knob was turned down, their electric blues knob went way up, and there are some jams like “Mange” that recall Clapton crying “can’t find my way home.” Vocals dominate the collection, with John McCauley growling about lost love and Ian O’Neil pounding out roadhouse chords and dodging the broken glass of flying beer bottles. Later on the disc, the band enters a navel gazing phase with “I Will Not Be Myself” and adds some deeply Christian mysticism with the moving opener “Choir of Angels.” The music here is unpretentious but solidly written, and it serves as a gorgeous frame to the complex lyrics McCauley produces. This is a band that approaches the quality of musical skills that we haven’t heard since the Super Group days of the early ’70s. The only thing missing is a big hit to propel them into the eye of the general public and out of the indie hipster jungle. These guys are out touring right now, and this would be an excellent time to drop in so you can say “I saw them way back in 2010… “
Deer Tick: http://deertickmusic.com • http://myspace.com/deertick
