Deer Tick – ‘Emotional Contracts’ album review: an enjoyable but familiar listen
Rhode Island rockers Deer Tick are back with their first album in six years. Titled Emotional Contracts, after so long away, it wouldn’t be unfair to expect the band to have lost some of the energy that once made them one of the East Coast’s most distinctive bands in the late 2000s. Thankfully, that isn’t the case. A blend of indie rock and the Americana that the quartet have made their own, whilst the new opus isn’t the most boundary-pushing or innovative offering, Emotional Contracts promises a good time and proper songwriting, two strengths that don’t go amiss amid today’s widespread penchant for kaleidoscopic sonics and challenging topics.
In light of our current and very postmodern appetite for fluid, gender-ascending music, there are moments on Emotional Contracts that some listeners might describe as a little bland due to their clear artistic debt to some familiar and time-battered places. Extending this trail of thought, several song themes are at times a little cliché, with damp tales of running from love and if “she” could only see frontman John Joseph McCauley now.
Yet, given the sunlight currently glaring through my window, these pitfalls can be overlooked in light of the broader picture of a solid album. That being said, my reading of this record would be different if I were listening in the depths of winter, but there’s something about the current heatwave the UK is basking in that makes the more grooving points of this album really pop, counterbalancing some of the poorer aspects it undeniably carries.
The opener, ‘If I Try To Leave’, is a fitting way to start. Complete with an infectious vocal melody, catchy riff, and swaggering keys, this number is straight out of Memphis at the turn of the 1970s, an era that evidently impacted Deer Tick and the rest of Emotional Contracts. “Same old town, but I don’t make the same rounds,” McCauley pipes, and whilst we’ve heard similar tales throughout rock’s history, it’s hard not to enjoy the groove of this cut.
The second track, ‘Forgiving Ties’, is one of the record’s highlights. It kicks off with a swollen, Graceland-esque bassline and bouncy rides on the cowbell before giving way to one of the best guitar lines on the record. The key change in the chorus and walking bassline are also glorious, as McCauley maintains that he’s “not looking for forgiving ties” but “a way to survive”. It’s good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll in every sense. As for the keys that chime in after the central chorus line, well, they are utterly exquisite.
Other moments of note include ‘Grey Matter’, a more straight-up indie rock song, ‘Disgrace’, another funky nod to the past, and ‘My Ship’, a jangly, mellow piece that contains flecks of the transient form of Tumblr indie that captured the imagination in the early 2010s. The penultimate track ‘A Light Can Go Out in the Heart’ is another fine moment, a fully maudlin composition with droning keys, brushed strokes of the snare and a wailing guitar solo.
The closing track, ‘The Real Thing’, is the most affecting piece on Emotional Contracts. McCauley’s raw vocal delivery wastes no time in piercing the mix, nor do the powerful strums of the guitar interspersed with room and the slow, hypnotic beat of the drums. A song that washes over the listener if fully engaged, the emotive textures utilised are typical of producer Dave Fridmann, the founding member of Mercury Rev and master of the layered composition. A nearly nine-minute sonic journey, out of this collection of songs, only ‘The Real Thing’ could adequately bring the curtain down on Deer Tick’s latest effort.
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