Deer Tick
Negativity
Reviewed by: Jane Roser
When you have a band that’s named after a blood-sucking parasite you know that they’ll either be a load of crap or the coolest thing on the planet. Check Deer Tick off as the latter. Founded about six years ago by guitarist/singer-songwriter John McCauley in Providence, Rhode Island, Negativity marks the alt-country band’s fifth full length studio album and like a good scotch or Raquel Welch, they just keep getting better with age.
The twelve tracks on this album are raw and dirty and make me want to spit out the window when I’m singing along because they evoke a devil may care attitude. “Trash” starts off it’s first few seconds sounding like a James Bond theme song, with a bang, bang, bang and then slowly glides into an old time blues number crossed with a twang for good measure. “Mirror Walls” premiered September 12th in, of all things, Garden & Gun Magazine. I love McCauley’s gutteral, earthy vocals and his lyrics ooze poetry- “I never curse your name, I just choke. I never cut no corners, I just hope. Tell me that our time was not spent in vain. Tell me that I can sop it up and save it from the drain.” There’s only two words for that kind of writing and it is ‘hell yes’.
Bands like Deer Tick can too often fly under the radar, because it’s easy to see what’s right in front of you: Bieber, Miley, Beyonce, but the trick is to see what you ain’t looking for. That’s where the pot of gold lies.
Rating: Iconic
