Deer Tick, “Smith Hill” MP3
- story THE FADER
- photo Liz Isenberg
Deer Tick basically live or die on if you can deal with singer John McCauley’s voice. He’s young but sounds old, which some people find to be kind of a put-on. But you can either like it or don’t—it’s probably not worth worrying how he got so scratchy as long as the jams jam, which they do. “Smith Hill” is the second single from Deer Tick’s Born on Flag Day, out now on Partisan Records and the band starts a new tour on Saturday, the dates for which are after the jump.
Download: Deer Tick,“Smith Hill”
FADER TV: Open Bar with Deer Tick
- story THE FADER
John McCauley of Deer Tick showed up about 45 minutes late for his Open Bar session at Heathers, sounding ragged, hungover and about 50 years older than he actually is. He covered John Cougar Mellencamp and about midway through it was like the hangover completely disappeared. When “Easy” the first single from Born on Flag Day (out June 23rd) was released, we were hesitant to say that the band had any kind of stadium rock future, but watching this video, seeing McCauley go from barely there haze to focused has us fully believing.
Freeload: Deer Tick, “Easy”
- story THE FADER
Around the time Deer Tick released their last pretty good album War Elephant, some dudes we knew were hyping them up as the next huge thing. We could see it—kinda. But it’s still hard to believe that a band with a singer whose throat sounds like he’s been smoking six packs a day since he was born has STADIUM HEADLINER in their future. They went on tour with Jenny Lewis, though, and that is a pretty good start. Now that we’re hearing “Easy,” the first single from the upcoming Born on Flag Day (out June 23rd on Partisan Records), it seems like a distinct possibility. Picture a postcard of the Grand Canyon and then imagine a grizzled guy spitting chewing tobacco all over it and you pretty much have this song and that is what sells concert tickets.
Download: Deer Tick, “Easy”
Exclusive Freeload: Deer Tick, “Not So Dense”
- story THE FADER
Deer Tick subscribe to the Castanets school of folk music, which is basically: Shit is bleak. They reflect that in every aspect of their music, from singer John McCauley’s perpetually ragged yelp on down to every single drum hit. That’s not to say the band completely abandons actual melody and catchy songwriting in favor of catharsis—many of the songs on War Elephant could actually soundtrack a really dark romantic comedy. Deer Tick begins a massive tour tonight supporting Jenny Lewis for a couple dates before hitting the road with The Felice Brothers, followed by the re-release of their debut album War Elephant in November, from which we’ve been given “Not So Dense.”
Download: Deer Tick, “Not So Dense”
