DEER TICK 2018
“This is a band that can go from in-your-face to introspective on a dime – and they do, on their new set of two full-length albums, Deer Tick Volume 1 and Volume 2.” – NPR
“John McCauley is a little bit Tom Petty, a little bit Johnny Cash and a little bit spectacular.” –Stevie Nicks
After the announcement their headline appearance at Victoria’s favourite boutique festival, Boogie, and opening slots for Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, the hell-raising rockers are coming back to Australia to play headline shows in, BRISBANE, SYDNEY and MELBOURNE for the first time since 2013. On their last visit to Australia John McCauley told The Music Magazine – “I mean we always try to put on a good show, and when we don’t we generally feel pretty bad about it. But I think seeing us live makes our records make a little bit more sense. There’s not a lot of bands around now that do what we do, which is anything that we fucking want”.
Whether it’s tender lyrics layered over pissed off guitars or classical music flourishes delivered nearly naked and high, Deer Tick’s perfected it all. Mostly as an outlier they are revered by a legion of fans, respected by peers, but not part of any one scene. With their two new albums released simultaneously titled Deer Tick Vol. 1 and Deer Tick Vol. 2, the Rhode Island band prove that their punk-roots rock has only gotten better with age.
Ambitious and smart, the twin albums complement one another but also stand independently. Vol. 1 is classic Deer Tick: folk-rooted acoustic guitars and soft piano cushion out-front vocals. Vol. 2 commits wholly to the band’s longtime garage-rock flirtations for a triumphant foray into punk.
It’s been four years since Deer Tick’s last release Negativity, and fans have grown restless. Leadsinger/songwriter/guitarist John McCauley, guitarist Ian O’Neil, drummer Dennis Ryan, and bassist Christopher Ryan— just weren’t sure they had anything more to share. When the band came back together for their beloved after-party shows at the Newport Folk Festival, the reunion reminded them what they missed about creating with one another.
Recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, the albums are a bold double punch that reminds us why Deer Tick has been so missed and why they’ve become so important. The songwriting is masterful. McCauley wrote most of the tunes alone, but O’Neil and Dennis Ryan also make killer contributions. Self-aware and never self-important, McCauley excels at provocative lyrics that are sometimes confessional, sometimes accusatory. His compositions capture those internal contradictions that define us, like rock-and-roll “songs of myself” delighting in the multitudes and putting them on display.
TOUR DATES
22/03/18
Brisbane, QLD
The Triffid
With Good Oak
23/03/18
Melbourne, VIC
Northcote Social Club
With Harmony
24/03/18
Melbourne, VIC
Palais Theatre
Supporting Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
25/03/18
Sydney, NSW
Enmore Theatre
Supporting Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
27/03/18
Chippendale, NSW
Lansdowne Hotel
With Justin & The Cosmics and The Smoking Flowers
29/03/18
Melbourne, VIC
The Curtin
With Birdcloud, Justin and the Cosmics and Collins Family Band
30/03/18 - 01/04/18
Tallarook, VIC
Boogie Festival
01/04/18
Geelong, VIC
Barwon Club
“I Saw The Light”
With Cash Savage, Freya Josepine Hollick, Justin and The Cosmics, The Smoking Flowers and more