I don't throw something like this around lightly, but Deer Tick may be the band to finally take up the mantle laid down by the Replacements. First things first: the two bands sound nothing alike. There have been plenty of gravel-throated pretenders to Paul Westerberg's throne who fronted grungy rock combos. What I'm talking about here is something more: an attitude mixed with talent to burn that yields a restlessness channeled through a fried microphone and a battered amp.

When drawing the line between the two bands, it probably didn't hurt that singer John Joseph McCauley III invoked the 'Mats during the band's show last night at the Mill in Iowa City. After the quartet took a quick spin through the first portion of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" (the second cover of a young set; the second song was Tom Petty's "Breakdown"), McCauley laughed and said, "We're turning into the Replacements here." The amazing thing is that McCauley, in his early 20s, probably wasn't even born yet when the definitive document of that version of the Replacements, The Shit Hits the Fans -- the cassette of a drunken Replacements tearing through a sloppy set of covers during 1984 show -- was released. That, and subsequent covers of John Prine, John Cougar Mellencamp, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Buck Owens and Richie Valens, show these musicians are old souls wrapped in young bodies. Sound like anyone else you know?

So, what does Deer Tick sound like if it doesn't sound like the 'Mats? The Rhode Island band's own web site seems puzzled: "They have been labeled things like alt-country, and freak folk, which the band finds a little weird. Are things like 'alt' and 'freak' necessary to describe Deer Tick? Deer Tick doesn't think so." At times, McCauley sounds like Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Magnum, his voice having that same timbre and rattle. But his band leans much more south and west, able to conjure a hoedown on a dime, singing sweet, full harmonies all the while. It's an intoxicating mix made all the more potent by the fact that these are clearly kids who are learning every day and getting a kick out of showing off their new chops.

The band's debut, War Elephant, showed promise, but McCauley recorded everything himself and that makes for a somewhat claustrophobic listen. Those songs live had true power, particularly when it came to the vocals. And the new material, on the forthcoming Born on Flag Day (due next week) is even better.

I'm late to the party, but was happy to catch up quickly. For more about the band, you can check out this interview with NBC's Brian Williams:

Labels: Deer Tick, music