Album Review: Negativity by Deer Tick

My first experience with Deer Tick was an interesting one. I was sitting in a Chicago bar with a close friend of mine, playing hooky from work of course. The bartender was an interesting cat. Big dude, big beard, big flannel. You get the picture. There was no one in the bar since it was early afternoon so we got to chatting with the bar keep. He played a ton of folk and indie rock for us. A lot of it I wasn't too familiar with. The last band he played was Deer Tick. At first they had a generic indie sound, but unexpectedly they started integrated folk and blues into their repertoire and made for a cool mix. The bartender noticed that our interest in Deer Tick had been peaked so he offered to give us the CD. Of course we couldn't take his copy, so we declined. Then Grizzly Adams pulls out a plastic shopping bag overflowing with burned CDs, paws through them and gives us a copy of Deer Tick. This guy was really into music and sharing it, which I'm a big advocate of. I hope he still is handing out CD-R's to anyone who listens.

Negativity is a pretty cool album. The opening track, The Rock, is a solid opener displaying some soft, subtle vocals ripping into an emotional bridge. I was really excited to hear the rest of this album, considering how much I liked The Rock. I was disappointed by the next few songs. They were ok, but nothing really popped out at me. Just sounded like some generic indie stuff. What was really weird is that his voice reminded me of Weird Al Yankovic's. That's not an insult, I'm a huge Weird Al fan, but it can get a little whiny when hitting those higher notes. Luckily the streak of mediocrity ended when track 5, Mirror Walls, started with some sweet piano. My favorite song on the album is In Our Time. It's an old fashioned country sounding duet, speaking of the trials and tribulations of a relationship. The female voice was provided by Vanessa Carlton of A Thousand Miles fame. Throughout the album, they insert some violin, cello, and some horns which brings some uniqueness to Negativity. I remember there being a piano solo and saxophone solo, so that gets them some bonus points. There are definitely some gems on Negativity and definitely some snoozers, but all and all its some good music.

I give Negativity by Deer Tick 3.25 out of 5 Burning Lariats.