Deer Tick – Deer Tick Vol. 1 & 2

Americana | Indie Rock

57%

You could probably count on your fingers the amount of double albums in the world that are actually worth your time. In an age when most normal albums are half filler, a double album just gives the impression of lazy editing and a sense of self-importance. They don’t work, especially when released in two parts in the vein of Use Your Illusion. All of the issues surrounding the latest release from Deer Tick can be traced back to this fundamental law of music. If the band had cherry picked their best tracks from the bunch they might have made a good album, instead Vol. 1 & 2 exist as a tedious slog through repetitive tracks. Even though it was intended as one acoustic record and one heavier record, there still isn’t enough variation between the two to break the monotony.

There are however a few moments that stand out from the crowd. ‘Cocktail’ features some classy and refined piano that could well be the soundtrack to some exclusive luxury club. The splashes of saxophone in the latter half of ‘Limp Right Back’ really fleshes out the track and gives it a soothing air, while the brass on the old school rock’n’roll of ‘Mr. Nothing Gets Worse’ is reminiscent of Madness. In isolation these flashes of brilliance show a lot of potential, but they just get lost in a torrent of lacklustre Americana filler tracks. Unless you’re a big Deer Tick fan, or if you are just looking for a bit of background music to zone out to, this double album isn’t really worth the time or effort.