The Black Dirt Sessions

I remember when Rock Music belonged to the popular kids. It was all bold statements - Beautiful Girls, Final Countdowns and Flaming Youth. In the age of 300+ channel television, auto-massage armchairs and perhaps even The National, one thing’s become abundantly clear: the decapitalisation of rock is in full swing.

Full Review | More Reviews from Publication | Top Rated of 2010

From the sound of "Choir of Angels", the opening cut from roots rockers Deer Tick's The Black Dirt Sessions, you might think that frontman John McCauley has found some much-needed salvation. Still very much an old soul, his weathered vocals and done-me-wrong worldview has put him in league with characters who have been around much longer than McCauley's 24 years. "The lonely road is behind me," McCauley sings over a melodramatic organ on the doo-wop tinted track, and there's convic tion in his words. It sounds like a pretty nice place to be.

Full Review | More Reviews from Publication | Top Rated of 2010

John McCauley, the mastermind behind Rhode Island’s Deer Tick, always sounds like he’s straining himself. The parts he gives himself to sing rarely breach the vocal range of the shower-singing average Joe, and yet, every word he’s ever put to tape comes through my speakers like sex groans through a desk fan. I’d understand if that were just the way his voice was, but the heroic steadiness of his grungy whine makes it sound like he’s working to get there. It’s not a dealbreaker, but either you like it, or you don’t.

Full Review | More Reviews from Publication | Top Rated of 2010