Deer Tick

[Penny Lane]

anybody planning on the nyc show?

if you go, i'll come back in time for this show...

[headhunter]

I like the way you think!  Let's go!

[mahg33ta]

Lots of fun last night prob around 60 people fit into this living room of a bar. The whole band was in tow....Based on first impressions everything that was said about the new album from the band is true..."most cohesive," "most representative of their live sound," ""best sounding," "not alt-country." Its a great record and prob will be my favorite Deertick album. Of course these are first impressions. It is reminiscent of Rolling Stones/Tom Petty straight ahead rock with a general pop-rock with balls sound.

01. The Bump - "got a lust for life" opens, "we are full grown men, but we act like kids!" Love this song, does not vary much from the live recordings I've heard and that's ok by me.

02. Funny Word - This one may be better than the live versions I've heard, a 5 minute rocker with a pretty progressive step for the band as songwriters/rockers imo.

03. Let's All Go to the Bar - This one speaks for itself, it translated really well to the album, the band's attempt to add some punk to their rep., the 2 bartenders working the bar last night sing in the chorus.

04. Clownin' Around - Dennis' song and its frickin awesome, couldn't make out the lyrics but I was expecting a metal song on his turn as singer but this is actually more alt-country leaning, think their Friday the 13th, its an acoustic strummed mid-tempo song, with some hot sauce!

05. Main Street - This one is my vote for early favorite, great tempo

This is where things get more fuzzy:

06. Chevy Express - I think this is Ian's first turn as singer, good stuff but can't remember much.

07. Something to Brag About - I think this one is reminiscent of Straight from the Storm, some rockabiliy sounding singing/solos

08. Walkin Out The Door -I think a mid-tempo song sung by John definitely good but don't remember it well

09. Make Believe - DT's most dancable track, Definitely Tom Pettyish, this one may be my favorite too!

10. Now It's Your Turn - This is Ian's ballad type song with some hot licks during the solo, really great track

11. Electric - Slower John song, ? if its just him with keyboards, nice song

12. Miss. K - Pop/ rock greatness, great melody, great chorus!

All in all a supremely solid album. Purists may have complaints about the "better production" compared to their more loose sounding albums but to me it definitely does not sound overly produced and all songs have gusto. This is prob their best effort, time will tell. It is certainly a step forward for the band as songwriters imo. The addition of Rob on keys/sax is a major addition!

by the way, I never thanked you for this great review.   I really appreciate the time you spent to type this up.   Made me get excited for the new album

[mahg33ta]

listening to the live stream now.  John sounds awful.   He says he's sick.   Also said they have to change the key on songs so he can sing them and that's screwing him up.   One song they stopped.   In general not a great showing for the boys, I hope they pick up steam soon!

[wolof7]

listening to the live stream now.  John sounds awful.   He says he's sick.   Also said they have to change the key on songs so he can sing them and that's screwing him up.   One song they stopped.   In general not a great showing for the boys, I hope they pick up steam soon!

Sucks the show was lackluster, they'll be back at it this fall im sure....thanks for the kindness around the review, I'm thinkin this album will be on par with Flag Day

[mahg33ta]

listening to the live stream now.  John sounds awful.   He says he's sick.   Also said they have to change the key on songs so he can sing them and that's screwing him up.   One song they stopped.   In general not a great showing for the boys, I hope they pick up steam soon!

Sucks the show was lackluster, they'll be back at it this fall im sure....thanks for the kindness around the review, I'm thinkin this album will be on par with Flag Day

it was only 7 songs, 33 mins.   ashamed, 4 new songs, and 2 covers (waitress in the sky and be kind to me).   still, enjoyable enough on a work lunch break for sure!

To me, what will make or break the album are the lyrics.   I thought the first album had great lyrics - really interesting stuff (ashamed, dirty dishes, not so dense which is my sleeper fav) but with each album they've gotten a little more straightforward and generic.

I know you couldn't tell so well in a bar hearing for the first time, but that's what I'll be tuned in to.

[Come Closer]

War Elephant is a monster. What should I check out next by these guys?

[capt. scotty]

War Elephant is a monster. What should I check out next by these guys?

Born On Flag Day

[Penny Lane]

War Elephant is a monster. What should I check out next by these guys?

Capt's right, but you should get all their albums..there aren't that many and they're all good..

[Ruckus]

I haven't confirmed this but I heard that the boys will be heading the last "First Thursday in the Park" free concert at our Mt. Vernon park on October 6th.  I lived right next to that park until this April.  Bummer I can't walk.  Nonetheless, if this is true, freakin' fantastic news.  I've requested off already so I can hang out all day in the most beautiful area in B'more and catch a short set by them before they hit the road for good.

[he.who.forgets]

According to Pollstar, they just announced a show in St. Aug Fl a couple minutes down the road from me.  Cant wait to pop my Deer Tick cherry!

[Ruckus]

listening to the live stream now.  John sounds awful.   He says he's sick.   Also said they have to change the key on songs so he can sing them and that's screwing him up.   One song they stopped.   In general not a great showing for the boys, I hope they pick up steam soon!

Yeah, listening to this right now.  Good for them to showing up but probably not the best idea to stream this in hopes of gaining new fans.  At least they made it a point to keep John's singing to a minimum though I have to say I've enjoyed the even more frail and tortured sounding vocals.

[YouAre_GivenToFly]

Their philly show isn't on their tour page anymore  :-\

[YouAre_GivenToFly]

New album is interesting. Very obvious punk influence, at least on 3 or 4 of the new songs. Ian sings on 4 tracks, one of which is basically an 80s power pop ballad... strange to hear from this band.

Standout tracks: Miss K, Lets All Go To The Bar, Main Street, Clownin Around

[Ruckus]

There are some weak tracks but nice to hear some new Tick.

Standouts - Clownin' Around, Main Street (reminds me of Soul Asylum), Chevy Express and Make Believe.

Chevy Express is so unique.  So few vocalists can carry a tune by himself like that

[Penny Lane]

Chevy Express, Miss K,  Something to brag about
(overall I miss the acoustic sound but this will probably be a grower, much like the Wilco)

[EasyRyder]

After the first three upbeat ones, the Clownin Around > Main Street >Chevy Express sequence just sucks the air out of a room.  :o

The guitar-work (Funny Word, Something To Brag About), lots of keyboards, Ian singing - I need some time to grow on it, but I like the newness!

Chevy Express and Main Street are my favorites so far. 

[Murph]

Is there a stream i can listen to somewhere or did it just leak?  If it did leak... who wants to give me a good link.   

[ironmike]

How the hell have you guys heard this?...I need to hear this asap

[bold992006]

I'm not in love with it after a few listens....def some good songs but nothing has really blown me away.  Need to give it a few more listens.