Everclear have released their first new song in seven years, “Year of the Tiger,” and more so than their last album, this one really seems like it’s channelling the sound of Everclear’s ’90s days. It also makes reference to Nirvana smiley face shirts and MAGA hats.
Everclear’s politically-charged single ‘Year of the Tiger’ marks the band’s first new song since the release of their 2015 album, “Black Is The New Black”. “After all of the events of the last almost 3 years with Covid, worldwide shutdowns, the political debacle of 2020…emanating from in and outside of MAGA world, I felt I needed to write a song that not just explained my anger and frustration, but a song that served as a mission statement,” shares Alexakis, who was also born in a Year of the Tiger in 1962. “I feel like the tiger should be the new symbol of the new Democratic party. We will not back down, we will not forget, we hit back, we challenge lies, and we refuse to be intimidated by ignorance or loud voices. To quote the song’s lyrics, ‘Here we are in the Year of the Tiger, we are where we are because of all the big lies.’ Tigers are everywhere.”
Everclear single ‘Year of the Tiger’, now available
Gladie, the current band fronted by former Cayetana vocalist Augusta Koch, will release new album “Don’t Know What You’re In Until You’re Out” on November 18th via Plum Records, the label started by Cayetana. It’s Gladie’s first with a set full-band line-up, including co-founding member Matt Schimelfenig (who also recorded and mixed it) on guitars, keyboards, and vocals, as well as guitarist Pat Conaboy (Spirit of the Beehive), bassist Dennis Mishko (ex-Tigers Jaw), and drummer Miles Ziskind (Honey, Witching). It also features horns by Mike Park and Brian Lockrem, and cello by AJJ’s Mark Glick.
The new full-band setup really comes alive on lead single “Nothing,” which finds Gladie leaning into their loud, lively punk side. It’s a ripper, it’s super catchy, and it’s got us excited to hear the rest of this album. “This song came from a thought experiment based on what ultimately ended up being the chorus of the song ‘What would it feel like to want Nothing?'”, Augusta told us. “Basically, in all aspects of life, whether its relationships, consumerism, or any other constant desire, there is always this push from external and internal forces telling you, ‘More, More, More’ but is that really a healthy way to live? Maybe it’s more fruitful to actually want less to make you appreciate that what you do possess is greater than it seems.
Along with an early stream of the full album, Augusta Koch breaks down the second album from her post-Cayetana project track by track.
“Don’t Know What You’re in Until You’re Out”, the second LP from Augusta Koch’s project Gladie, seems to explore every facet of this idea, from Koch’s new (literally) sober perspective on her adult years to the fact that a considerable faction of the record was rescued from previous recordings that were, in Koch’s own words, “not good.”
Working in their own studio granted the five-piece the time and space to fully explore the musical and lyrical ideas that comprise these 11 tracks about hitting the replay booth and analyzing the footage from a new and slightly removed vantage point, totally unmoored from the strong feelings that proved overwhelming in the moment. “We decided to name the record this because it deals a lot with the theme of shifting into a new mindset, and with that change you can objectively look back and see what you were going through without your thought processes being clouded by being in the thick of it,” Koch explains.
1. “Purple Year” Perhaps not the most original idea, but very relevant to the title, the record begins how it ends. The same chords and cello (played by our very talented friend, Mark Glick) that are in “Something Fragile” are present here, just a little more stripped down and with an uneasy feedback swell slowly swallowing any form that the song started with. We thought this would be a cool way to signal to the listener [hacker voice] “I’m in.” I don’t know, The Weakerthans did it on “Reconstruction Site” and they literally can do no wrong.
2. “Born Yesterday” “Born Yesterday’” was written about eight months into not drinking anymore. I felt like I was experiencing a second adolescence. I was completely overwhelmed and flooded with emotions.
3. “Mud” “Mud” is about moving through life as a late bloomer. There’s kind of this trope about late bloomers being a negative thing, but personally I find it to be the opposite. To me, all good things take time to marinate, and we should embrace the fact that people move on different timelines. Nature doesn’t all bloom at the same time.
4. “Hit the Ground Running” I did a lot of evaluating what love means during this time. While reading bell hooks’ book All About Love I was inspired to think of my own love ethic. I landed on “to love in a way that the other person still feels free.” I want to love and be loved in a way that doesn’t feel restrictive, and where there is always room for growth. My favorite part about this song is the horn part that Mike Park and Brian Lockerm created.
5. “Nothing” I kept kind of coming back to this idea of not wanting anything—not in a depressing way or necessarily a nihilistic way, but just of taking the word “want” out of my vocabulary. How that feels to not always be forcing a progression, that constant American agenda to push and push and push and push until you die.
6. “Soda” “Soda” is a love song, maybe not your typical love song. The song at its root is about being around people who make you feel comfortable in your skin. I use the word “normal” in jest because a lot of what our society deems as “normal” behavior is kind of, in my opinion, wrong and isolating to a lot of people. We are taught to hate ourselves, that we aren’t enough, love has conditions, etc. “Soda” imagines a world where we can create our own “normal” when we’re around the people that make us feel seen.
7. “Heaven, Someday” “Heaven, Someday’” was written during the height of the 2020 doomscroll-bad-news factory, when we were all putting in overtime. It’s about trying to combat the fear of the outside world and your inner demons at the same time. There’s still some hope to hold onto, though, and it’s important to remember that even both the inside and outside feel inhabitable.
8. “Fixer” This was a song I [Matt] wrote a couple years ago, but it never got a proper recording/release and it felt like it fit with the theme of the record, so we decided to include it. It’s about recognizing parts of your past that can make your present feel shaky and your future feel uncertain. Sometimes you need to look back to understand what’s ahead of you, even if there’s some difficult reconciliation to be done.
9. “Smoking” “Smoking” was written about having a panic attack in a gas station parking lot in the town I grew up in. More thoughtfully, though, it’s about having one of those huge life moments when you know everything’s about to change forever and you have to gear up and just let it happen.
10. “For a Friend” “For a Friend” is about having to witness someone you love grieving the life of someone they love. Acknowledging the fact that there’s not much you can do for someone who’s experiencing that type of pain except for sitting with them through it.
11. “Something Fragile” This song is about coming out of a bad place and acknowledging the fact that depression can create blinders in your relationships. I felt like it made sense being the last track because it encapsulates so much of what the record is about. Can we move through huge life changes, in relationships with the ones we love, while allowing them to also grow and change at the same time?
Augusta Koch – guitar, vocals Matt Schimelfenig – guitar, keyboard, vocals Pat Conaboy – guitar Dennis Mishko – bass Miles Ziskind – drums
“Don’t Know What You’re In Until You’re Out” on November 18th via Plum Records
New York City legends the Bush Tetras have been making paranoid, groove-centered post-punk since 1979, when Pat Place left James Chance and The Contortions to found the group with singer Cynthia Sley, bassist Laura Kennedy and irreplaceable drummer Dee Pop, who died last year. The band’s last played live to a crowd of 5000 in Mexico City at the NRMAL festival in support of their “Hum” 7″ on Third Man Records.
Bush Tetras’s ‘Beauty Lies’ LP is available digitally for the first time released by the 90’s indie powerhouse, Tim/Kerr Records, ‘Beauty Lies’ finds Bush Tetras in top form. Cynthia Sley’s jagged vocals have lost none of their primal force, while Pet Place’s slash-and-burn guitar work is as riveting over the jagged rhythm section of drummer Dee Pop and bassist Laura Kennedy.
One of the most important band’s to surface from New York City’s Lower East Side music scene in the 1980’s, the Bush Tetras were pioneers of the indie movement before the term existed. Their first single. “Too Many Creeps,” released on 99 Records, a label record store owner Dave Bahlman ran out of his Manhattan shop sold 30,000 copies putting it on Billboard’s dance chart. A follow up single, “Can’t Be Funky,” charted as well. The Bush Tetras reputation also grew through legendary live performances highlighting their gritty blend of garage punk and African Rhythms.
They’ve also just shared a video for “Heart Attack” which is on their remastered, career-spanning “Rhythm & Paranoia” box set.
About ‘Rhythm and Paranoia: The Best of Bush Tetras’
Flashes of light rarely burn for long. Bush Tetras exploded into New York in 1979 and flamed out just a few years later. Yet somehow this lightning-quick band have risen from their own ashes again and again for four decades. The spark that ignited BushTetras tapped into a deep grid of power, fueled by guitarist Pat Place, singer Cynthia Sley, and drummer Dee Pop.
That chemistry is palpable on ‘Rhythm and Paranoia: The Best of Bush Tetras,’ which features 29 songs across 3 LPs pressed onto 180-gram vinyl and remastered by Carl Saff, plus a 46-page book with never-before-seen photos, an original essay on the band by Marc Masters, and micro essays by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, R&B legend Nona Hendryx, The Clash’s Topper Headon, & more.
From the band’s earliest recordings to their current, vital-as-ever incarnation, “Rhythm and Paranoia” – for the first time ever – show- cases the their unique, influential, and body-shaking meld of rock, punk, funk, reggae, and more in one cohesive, immersive, and meticulously constructed box set.
Nottingham band The Mighty Lightweights are Paul Greevy (bass) and Jem Woolley (guitar, vocals). Their debut album “Object Permanence” was released in March 2022.
Released March 26th, 2022
All words and music by Mighty Lightweights
Jem Woolley: vocals, guitars and keyboards Paul Greevy: bass guitars
With Tony ‘Doggen’ Foster: lap steel guitar on ‘Belle’ – appears by kind permission of Spiritualized
It’s hard to stand out in the teeming English rock scene. Some follow the vehement footsteps of Idles, others more meditative of Fountains D.C. Mush chose to look at it out of the corner of his eye, a mischievous smile on his lips. These troublemakers prefer to have fun with irony of the situation, claiming as much the post-punk of Wire or Gang of Four as the rock slacker of Pavement.
Mush resent their own sonic idiosyncrasy. It’s a sound that blurs the lines of abstract surrealism, existentialism and social commentary; utilising guitars as tools in 2020 to stave off malaise whilst simultaneously commenting on the nation’s ability to fall into such dire straits. It’s a sensory overload of wiry tones that zig- zag between punk, prog and sardonic-funk with a relentless ability to reflect society’s faults and apathy in a unique and acerbic manner.
Having garnered local attention in the early days for their unhinged and often calamitous live shows in Leeds, it was the unlikely radio hit “Alternative Facts“, (clocking in at an uncompromising ten minutes) that brought the Mush to the attention of a wider audience. The song, one of the last releases for the legendary Too Pure Singles Club saw early support from Marc Riley and others on BBC 6music with them playing multiple sessions, and the follow up single, “Gig Economy” hopping onto the 6music playlist. Roaming further afield from their hometown, Mush spent the first half of 2019 heading out around the UK, earning a reputation for their intense live performances, supporting the likes of Girl Band, The Lovely Eggs, Yak, Shame and Stereolab, as well as releasing the ‘Induction Party’ EP to great acclaim. At the tail end of summer of 2019 Mush headed to Leeds’ Green Mount Studio and with Andy Savours (Dream Wife, Our Girl, My Bloody Valentine) manning the mixing desk, their debut LP, “3D Routine” was born.
3D Routine
“3D Routine” has arrived. Following on from their “Induction Party E.P”, Mush are circulating their own sonic mythology, blurring the lines between abstract surrealism, existentialism and social commentary. Like its predecessor “3D Routine” is a sensory overload of clattering, hooky, guitar work. However, this time space emerges between the onslaughts and in this respite, room is found for new emotional depth. More expansive than ever before, “3D Routine” manages to maintain the rawness of a classic debut but it’s experimentation and variety portray a band unlikely to rest on their ‘guitar band’ chops.
Songwriter Dan Hyndman explains the genesis of the band as being “fairly boiler plate” a combination of friends old and new converging in Leeds post-uni to form a band predominantly united in their mutual affection for the Pavement back catalogue. Finally settling on a lineup of Nick Grant (bass), Tyson (guitar) and Phil Porter (drums) the band’s progression has taken them far beyond this original vision.
The way in which the album brazenly moves from polished 3- minute punk tracks, to avant-garde spoken word, to sardonic- political funk, whilst sounding like the same band is testament to an uncompromisingly unrefined ethic and compounds the jarring nature of Mush. Together, the songs form a unified, abrasive, emotive, frenetic and entirely beguiling concoction of sound and opinion, a fast-moving snapshot of current times, relatable, politically minded and incredibly personal. Music for those who want their guitars loud and weird, and their political commentary a little less ‘on the nose’
Like its predecessor ‘3D Routine’ is a sensory overload of clattering, hooky, guitar work. However, this time-space emerges between the onslaughts and in this respite, room is found for new emotional depth. More expansive than ever before, ‘3D Routine’ manages to maintain the rawness of a classic debut but it’s experimentation and variety portray a band unlikely to rest on their ‘guitar band’ chops.
First single, ‘Eat the Etiquette,’ described by Hyndman as “a bit of a stream of consciousness type rant”, takes aim at the use of ‘common sense’ as societal weapon; the “sick laughing track of malicious intent”making a mockery of progressive ideas, while “manufactured sense” helps maintain the underlying and iniquitous structures of wealth and power.
Great Artisanal Formats
Following hot on the heels of their debut album “3D Routine”, Leeds upstarts Mush released “Great Artisanal Formats” – a 5 track EP for Record Store Day 2020. It’s another collection of off- kilter guitar licks and wry observational takes on modern society.
Two weeks on from announcing their second album “Lines Redacted” and sharing the lead single “Blunt Instruments”, Mush confirmed the passing of their guitarist Steven Tyson.
Mush confirmed the news in a Facebook post , writing, “It is with deep regret that we must announce we have lost an irreplaceable piece of the MUSH family. Steven Tyson, our beloved friend and bandmate has passed away. Tyson had an inexplicable gentle power that was captivating to be around. His generosity and intelligence as a guitar player was indicative of his character as a whole: putting the needs of the music first, as he put others first.”
The band ended their post by writing, “Musically he penned some of our best riffs, notably “Alt Facts”, a song which used to drive him mad to play at the end.
Lines Redacted
Leeds-band, Mush, their feverish second LP,Lines Redacted via Memphis Industries. The release, which finds the group recruiting Lee Smith (The Cribs, Pulled Apart By Horses) on mixing duties, arrives just under a year after their debut LP, “3DRoutine”, capping off what has been an obviously tumultuous, but remarkably prolific year for the band. With any prospect of live shows decimated, the group, led by songwriter, Dan Hyndman, has found the time to release two EPs (“Great ArtisanalFormats” and “Yellow Sticker Hour”) and now a duo of full-length albums.
Whereas the band’s debut was very much a product of its time, something part-inspired by the political atmosphere of mid-2019 and a genuine moment of optimism when the prospect of a socialist government in the UK was on the cards, this new record uses tongue-in-cheek cynicism as a coping mechanism for the environment that we now find ourselves in. From one song to the next, “Lines Redacted” introduces a string of different narrators with each providing a different reflection on the Armageddon scenario that we are slowly entering, whether that’s bemoaning it or gleefully willing it along.
“3D Routine” presented a bed of scathing political jibes latching onto themes and decisions of the time. Lines Redacted mutates these ideas into something slightly more sinister whilst maintaining all of Hyndman’s razor-sharp wit that permeates the album.
Down Tools
Leeds art-rock group Mush return with album “Down Tools” via Memphis Industries. The new record marks the prolific band’s third album in as many years, following hype-building early singles ‘Alternative Facts’ and ‘Gig Economy’, 2020’s debut LP “3D Routine” and 2021’s acclaimed “Lines Redacted“, which pushed their sound further.
On “Down Tools”, this voice grows again into a more brilliantly singular sound. It sees Mush getting loose, moving away from the defined moods and textures of “Lines Redacted” with a musical openness, straddling genres while avoiding pastiche. Hyndman says of the lyrics on ‘Down Tools’ that “there was a conscious decision to retreat further from an observational approach” with vocals being ad-libbed lending the record a more abstract feel. Hyndman continues: “this album is less dark than the previous one. The Armageddon obsession has eased, or at least the symptoms have become milder due to saturation. Musically there’s a lot more chill on the record – there’s a few more mellow tracks out there and the most astute listener may even be able to decipher some of the words, fingers crossed.”
While grief and work balance form themes on the record, Hyndman’s approach is largely made up of abstract, disconnected streams of consciousness and lines liberally taken from books, paintings, films and beyond. On “Human Resources”, Hyndman dramatically retells a battle he had with an HR department at a job in a David and Goliath style. The song ‘Group Of Death’, a phrase chillingly familiar to any football fan, is emblematic of the turn towards softer, more considered sounds. Hyndman says: “In my warped imagination it just sounds like a Paul McCartney song, but it won’t to others. I initially had the idea of doing a World Cup song called ‘Group of Death’, but by the time it was written nothing beyond the title had any relevance to football. Anyway, the next World Cup is in Qatar so fuck that shit.” “Northern Safari” meanwhile is a song about the way the North of England has been portrayed in the media and used as a mirror to reflect some of the nastier elements of what’s going on in society, in particular vox pops around Doncaster, portraying a particular narrative of the collapse of the red wall and the disgruntled ex-miners.
“Down Tools” then sees Mush idiosyncratically ping-pong from finger picked looseners to noise-rock bangers to brilliantly entertaining effect, avoiding post punk saturation with an easy style and wit.
“Alternative Facts”. Possibly one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Thank you for the three truly excellent albums, “Induction Party”, and for the numerous times seeing you play.
Hey thanks for all the kind messages about our untimely demise. For those still looking for a fix, this is what i’ll be doing for now. The band is called Tulpa and you can track our movements here. New music and live dates to follow
Lime Garden – four friends jumping over genre boundaries to create a sound that is uplifting yet laid-back. Harnessing catchy melodies and earworm hooks into an almost nonchalant net of lo-fi sounds, sprinkled with a dry-wit to bring their world to life. It’s a world of late-night conversations and observations that strike a chord.
Coming originally from a place of loneliness and fear for the future, Singer and co-songwriter Chloe Howard explains: “Writing the song helped us find the beauties all around us, even when we were feeling stuck in a rut. The song writing process began when we were split miles apart due to the various lockdowns, meaning this song came from a completely new way of writing for us. Sending logic files back and forth, piecing together the song bit by bit, made it feel like a collaborative being that we were all looking after to help grow, this is also true in the fact that you can hear a little bit of each of us throughout the song. We feel it’s the perfect reflection on how we have grown as a band to be inspired by each other’s writing and influences.” Inspired musically by the likes of LCD Soundsystem and melodically by toplines from Caroline Polachek the song shows a softer, more open side to the band.
Lime Garden are a four-piece band jumping over genre boundaries to create a sound that is uplifting yet somehow laid-back. They achieve this neat trick by harnessing catchy melodies and earworm hooks into an almost nonchalant net of lo-fi sounds, which is then sprinkled with a dry-wit to bring their world to life. It’s a world of late-night conversations and observations that strike a chord. The band came together via a twist of fate when Chloe Howard and Annabel Whittle, friends on social media, found out they’d just enrolled at the same college. Here they met Leila Deeley and the three bonded over a love of Talking Heads, the lyrics of Courtney Barnett and the flourishing UK underground gigging scene, along with note taking trips to gigs at the Boileroom in Guildford.
Carolina Faruolo (ex-Los Bitchos) and Danny Lee Blackwell (Night Beats) had been friends and mutual admirers of each other’s musical projects for years, though with Faruolo residing in the UK and Blackwell residing in Texas, their interactions were limited. Yet as was so often the case for many of us during the shelter-in-place stretches of 2020, geographic proximity wound up being a non-issue as our socializations became almost exclusively online endeavors. In this era of isolation and uncertainty, Faruolo and Blackwell invented their own private escape to Latin rhythms, colorful vistas, and smoky revelries under the project name of Abraxas. Combining their shared love of Wendy Renee, Los Destellos, doo-wop and R&B, they crafted their debut album “Monte Carlo” by bouncing ideas across the Atlantic.
“Planet Abraxas” is a world filled with jungles, mist-covered rivers, panthers lurking in the night, desolate shopping malls, Neolithic citadels and sand-worn walls,” Blackwell says of the muse behind “Monte Carlo”. “The nights are usually dense with fog and the air is filled with the sounds of cicadas and faraway drumming.” This visual manifestation of their sound stands in stark contrast to the environment in which the songs were written. “I remember the feeling I got the first time Danny added vocals to one of my tracks,” Faruolo recalls. “I was sitting on my sofa in rainy Manchester in the middle of winter. I pressed play and the song just made my heart jump. It instantly felt special and, more importantly, it felt like a perfect portrait of both of us.”
Uruguayan-born Faruolo grew up with the tropical beats of cumbia and the psychedelic flavor of classic chicha artists, and it became her mission to infuse those sunny influences in her work as a UK musician. Blackwell’s work under the Night Beats handle involves the fusion of outlaw soul and R&B with a resourceful DIY spirit. Despite the apparent contrast in their styles, the two musicians bonded over their reverence for Selena and Sade, exemplars of the humid pulse and sultry spirit of their respective approaches. As Abraxas, their distinctive musical perspectives created a sound that encompassed the tropicalia of Os Mutantes, the scrappy songwriting of Cleaners From Venus, and the trippy production of Lee “Scratch” Perry, though the duo is quick to assert that they were finding their own distinctive voices rather than adhering to pre-existing stylistic codes and constraints. And indeed, “Monte Carlo” feels rooted in tradition but blossoms into its own unique timbres and vibrations.
“Monte Carlo” opens with “Sunrise State (of Mind),” where a hypnotic cumbia beat serves as the bedrock for cosmic guitar leads, hazy choral melodies, and Blackwell’s seductive vocals. From there, the album continues its steady Latin pulse on “Mañana,” a perfect soundtrack to feverish nights in dancehalls, sipping on caipirinhas and sharing cigarettes with strangers on the dancefloor.
Across its twelve tracks, “Monte Carlo” unfurls a myriad of exotic influences, from the Eastern melodies and guitar trills on “Sultan,” through the dub-inflected stomp and scorching fuzz of “La Estampida,” and on to the Anatolian psych-funk of album closer “Göbekli Tepe.”
Blackwell recorded his contributions with the assistance of engineer Chris Maciel at his studio the 22nd Dimension in Pomona, California and Faruolo recorded her parts in Manchester, England at Brunswick Mill. While Abraxas conceived their material in bedrooms and studios six timezones apart, the music on “Monte Carlo” sounds like a live band in the throes of an ecstatic performance. And Abraxas plans to make the live incarnation of the band a reality when conditions allow for it. Until then, listeners can bask in the invented world of Abraxas and all its exotic and enticing splendor across the twelve tracks of “Monte Carlo”. Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to present “Monte Carlo” to the world.
Los Angeles punk quartet The Paranoyds channel revelry and revulsion into their debut album “Carnage Bargain”—a raucous blend of garage rock grit, new wave swagger, horror film soundtrack campiness, and a myriad of other influences.
The Paranoyds’ beginnings can be traced back to a friendship forged between Staz Lindes and Laila Hashemi in their teens. With the additions of Lexi Funston and David Ruiz, the band found the personnel for their sonic balance of jubilant energy and foreboding undercurrents.
“Carnage Bargain” captures this chemistry through guitar-and-keyboard, genre-mashing weirdness on “Laundry,” the fever-dream kitsch of B-52s on “Ratboy,” krautrock’s motorik groove on “Hungry Sam”, and Blondie on the sweet-and-salty highlight “Courtney.”
Title track “Carnage Bargain” is a perfect example of the band delivering scathing lyrical observations under the guise of a quirky pop hook. The notion of rejecting the status quo and creating your own destiny is evident on the lead single “GirlfriendDegree,” which the band calls an ode to “being a badass woman who’s taking time to make sure she’s doing things for herself.” The band may be paranoid, but they offer a solution to our modern ills through the act of being an inspiring, independent, and unflappable force.
“Suck My Shirt” is the fourth full-length for The Coathangers. “It’s a balance between overthinking and just going for it,” guitarist Crook Kid (Julia Kugel) says of their songwriting strategy. It’s a duality immediately apparent with the album opener “Follow Me.” It’s a classic Coathangers tune with Stephanie Luke’s raspy vocals belted out over their signature ragged garage-rock. But the chorus opens into one of the most accessible hooks in the band’s canon, just before segueing into the next verse with a squall of violent dissonant guitar. From there the band launches into “Shut Up,” a title that harkens back to the brash sass of their first record. The song still has its spikey guitar riffs and shouted chorus, but here The Coathangers sound less like a jubilant version of Huggy Bear and more like the art-pop of late-era Minutemen.
Dedicated Coathangers fans will recognize the re-worked versions of “Merry Go Round,” “Smother,” “Adderall,” and “Derek’s Song” from their run of limited edition split 7″s, and hearing them in the context of the album shows that these tracks weren’t merely isolated examples of the band’s more sophisticated side, but were actually demonstrative of the group’s increasing capacity for nestling solid melodic hooks and rock heft into their repertoire. By the time the band wraps up the album with the humble pop perfection of “Drive,” it’s hard to believe this was the band that garnered their reputation off of raucous bombasts like “Don’t Touch My Shit.”.
This is the 4th album from Deer Tick and a pivotal moment for the band. With a couple lineup changes over the years, they started to speed things up a bit on “Divine Providence”; not that they shed their blues-tinged country rock sound entirely, but the album has an even split of fast stompers and mid-tempo country bar howls. The original 12 songs on the album are about as close as you can get to a beer drenched show with the band; the addition of the 5 songs from the “Tim” EP and the 12 bonus tracks of alternate versions, outtakes and rarities make for a close encounter with a lost weekend with the band. The original album was produced by Adam Landry and Justin Collins, and this edition was remixed by Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, RI, and remastered by John Baldwin at John Baldwin Mastering in 2022.
“Divine Providence” 11th Anniversary Edition will be out on November. 11th
The Fat Angel Sings 