Deer Tick - Vol. 2 (LP) - Yellow Vinyl

Deer Tick’s Vol. 2 arrived on September 15, 2017 via Partisan Records, released the same day as its quieter companion, Vol. 1. The band framed the pair as two sides of their personality, and this is the one that bites. If Vol. 1 is the coffee-and-notebook set, Vol. 2 is the sticky-floor bar show where the guitars clip the red and the room sings along whether it knows the words or not.

The Providence lifers have always thrived on friction, and you can hear it right away. John McCauley’s rasp is the anchor, tugging against sharp guitars from McCauley and Ian O’Neil while the Ryan brothers keep the whole thing stomping forward. It’s a lean, road-tested unit. They took four years between Negativity and these two records, but here they sound like a band that never stopped loading their amps into vans and aiming for the ceiling tiles. The songwriting is still knotted with hangovers and wisecracks, yet the performances feel crisp. Not tidy, just precise enough to make the chaos hit harder.

“Jumpstarting” was the tell that Vol. 2 would be the loud record. It races like a heart that’s had one too many coffees, with a riff that’s more Cheap Trick than alt-country and a chorus that begs for a sweaty pile-up at the lip of the stage. The band has long blurred lines between Americana and punk, and that track turns the blur into a smudge. It’s fun, but there’s weight under it too. McCauley has never been shy about writing from the gut, and his voice here carries a lived-in mix of defiance and self-repair.

That balance runs through the album. The tempos push, the guitars slash, but the melodies are sticky and the harmonies land at just the right moments. O’Neil’s countermelodies snake through the verses, and the Ryan rhythm section does that Deer Tick thing where a beat feels half a step late and still dead on. It’s the swing of a band that cut its teeth in cramped rooms and kept the feel when the stages got bigger. If you ever caught their Deervana sets years back, you’ll recognize the grin behind the grind. Vol. 2 doesn’t cosplay grunge, but it carries that same giddy charge of cranking a loud amp and trusting your instincts.

What makes it more than just a barroom ripper is the writing. Even when the guitars get ragged, the lyrics sketch out people trying to hold a line. The songs clock in lean and keep their hooks. You get the sense they wanted this one to move, and it does. The sequencing keeps the energy up without turning into a blur of distortion, and there are just enough dynamic dips to let the next chorus blow the doors back open. It plays like a setlist, which suits them.

On vinyl, the grit sits in a sweet spot. Vol. 2 vinyl gives the kick drum a little more thump and lets the guitars bloom without shaving off the edges. It’s the format that flatters a record like this. If you’re crate-digging and see Deer Tick vinyl tucked between Drive-By Truckers and The Replacements, this is the one you pull when you want the beer-spill version of the band. And if you prefer to buy Deer Tick records online, Vol. 2 tends to be in stock alongside its acoustic sibling, which makes for a neat two-LP weekend. For folks hunting Deer Tick albums on vinyl in a Melbourne record store or browsing vinyl records Australia shops, the pairing sells itself: one for Sunday afternoon, one for Saturday night.

Critical chatter at the time often focused on the split concept, but living with the records, Vol. 2 stands on its own. It’s the sharpest representation of the group’s electric identity since their early barroom chaos, only now the edges feel chosen rather than accidental. You can hear the years of touring in the way the band tucks into a groove and lets imperfections serve the song. No studio gloss to hide behind, no grand concept beyond loud guitars and good writing. That’s plenty.

If you’ve ever liked Deer Tick for their ragged charm, this scratches that itch with better songs and tighter playing. If you’ve only heard the quieter stuff, this is a reminder that the same pens write the rockers. Spin it loud. Let “Jumpstarting” kick the door. Then, if you want the other half of the story, flip to Vol. 1. But Vol. 2 doesn’t need context to hit. It already does.