Deer Tick

Divine Providence is the distillation of all the things that Deer Tick have been doing on their past three albums, but not necessarily in a good way. Its alcohol-soaked, drunken tunes belong in the barrooms where they were most likely written, but in the broad light of day, things aren't quite so rosy. The unapologetic stance they take on "The Bump" and "Let's All Go to the Bar" makes it clear that John McCauley and his compatriots are the kind of drunken assholes that are good company most of the time, but are always one beer away from starting a fight. Their raucous, ramshackle alt-country is crowd-pleasing stuff, just as long as you don't pay too much attention. The knowing cover of Paul Westerberg's "Mr. Cigarette" suggests where McCauley wants to be, but he isn't there yet. He needs to ditch the hedonistic celebrations first because he can write some damn fine tunes when he wants to. Unfortunately, he doesn't always want to.