Twenty Miles Out

Deer Tick - Twenty Miles (free download)

An ever so slight departure from the alt-country-folk mash of most Deer Tick songs, "20 Miles" succeeds where the group's other songs consistently fail. The grating yell of singer John McCauley is dry,  add to that mostly acoustic arrangements and his voice can even become irritating. However, the one-bar guitar line of "20 Miles" perfectly complements McCauley's hoarse yawl. The circular melody and eighth note plucking ironically move forward, instead of stagnating like so many of Deer Tick's other songs.

Their newest, The Black Dirt Sessions is out today on Partisan Records, and is only $4 on Amazon.