Last year, Deer Tick played a triumphant main stage set at Newport Folk Festival. This year they didn’t have a proper fest show, but made up for it with four nights of sweaty afterparties at the town’s Blues Cafe. As has become a tradition, the shows featured a ton of guests, costumes, rarities, and covers. The last song of Friday night was a cover of the Grateful Dead‘s “Touch of Grey.” Continue reading »
To celebrate their 10th birthday, Deer Tick held a six-night residency at NYC’s Brooklyn Bowl, covering a different album each night. NYCTaper was there the fourth night, and recorded the band’s entire performance of Devo‘s 1978 debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!. Continue reading »
In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!
In the 1980s, there was one artist that Minneapolis became known for. And that was Prince.
But if you took the bus to the bad part of town, watching the blight and the snowy misery go by through fogged up windows, you would eventually spot a burned-out, abandoned, and graffiti-tagged little red Corvette: perched up on blocks, stuffed with liquor bottles in the back seat, and harboring a coffee can in the front filled to the brim with cigarette butts. If you opened the door, you would find a floor littered with cassettes. K-Tel. Kiss. Big Star. And if you ran the VIN number, you’d find the owner to be the Replacements.
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Country rockers Deer Tick are no strangers to covers, performing at times as the Nirvana cover band Deervana. Recently they headed to the AV Club’s Undercover project to take on the only Harvey Danger song anyone knows, “Flagpole Sitta.” Lead singer John McCauley admits right away that he chose the song because he “fucking loved that song” when he was a kid. Most of America’s youth agreed when it hit the airwaves back in 1998; the catchiness of the simple tune is undeniable. Deer Tick’s faithful cover doesn’t reveal anything new about the hit, but it’s a fun listen nonetheless. Continue reading »
Rhode Island’s favorite indie-hipster-country-folk rockers Deer Tick make quite an impression in a live setting, following in the long tradition of light beer-soaked guitar riffs, loud drumming and rough, attitude-heavy vocals. In a recent session for LaundroMatinee they paid tribute to their roots-rock forefathers, the legendary ZZ Top. Taking on the song “Cheap Sunglasses,” a fitting choice considering frontman John J. McCauley’s taste in eyewear, they let their ’70s influences run wild. Continue reading »
Quickies rounds up new can’t-miss covers. Download ‘em below.
• NYCTaper delivers yet again on this soundboard recording from Deer Tick’s recent show in Wantaugh, NY. The show benefited the Tommy Brull Foundation for disabled children, so if you enjoyed the tune, donate here.
MP3: Deer Tick – Waitress in the Sky (The Replacements cover) Continue reading »