Release Date: October 24, 2011
Label: Partisan

“Give me a spark, you’ll get an atom bomb!  Give me some pills and I can’t stand up!”  That's the kind of attitude I want in my rock & roll.  Right there.  As much I love 'indie', sometimes it's too sensitive.  Too touchy-feely.  Being well-read shouldn't be a requirement for indie-rock street cred.  A little swagger is OK after all for Christ's sake.  I'm looking at you Andrew Bird.  Anyway, as lead singer John McCauley boozily croaks those lines in the opening track of Divine Providence, you realize that this record is a little different.  

It’s not that Deer Tick is suddenly raucous - they’ve always been wired live.  But where the band seemed a little guilty and blue about it before, they’re not anymore.  Gone for now are the days where Deer Tick and McCauley look inward by churning out records full of drunken country ballads.  After three albums mostly in the same vein…this is that record in a band’s trajectory where they stretch out, poke their heads out of their comfort zone, and see what sticks. 

Drunken barroom pianos, spit-shined electric guitar production and even a less-raspy croon out of McCauley all contribute to the hard left.  “Funny Word” and “Main Street” sound like tracks left on the cutting floor of the loft from early Wilco records.  “Now It’s Your Turn” is a Use Your Illusion-era Guns ‘n Roses style ballad.  Hell, “Let’s All Go To The Bar” sounds like the angry, raging bastard child from a Johnny Ramone bender.

Sometimes a band tries too hard to sound different – but that’s not exactly the case here.  The ‘old’ Deer Tick tunes on this record fit well with the ‘new’ songs and it doesn’t seem forced.  Just honest.  And unexpected.  And a little brave.  Divine Providence is proof that the party can come after the hangover.  A band that's decided to kick a little ass in a different way. 


mp3: Let's All Go To The Bar