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The Black Dirt Sessions Image
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

  • Summary: The latest album for the John McCauley's band Deer Tick is its first with former Titus Andronicus guitarist Ian O'Neil.

Top Track

Goodbye, Dear Friend
Some roads that you take Some bonds will choose to break I swore I'd no long be the pallbearer But I carried you to bed So you could rest your... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Dec 21, 2010
    83
    Most of the music on Deer Tick's third album, The Black Dirt Sessions, was recorded back in 2008, during the sessions for the rollicking Born On Flag Day, but it'd be a mistake to think of these songs as leftovers.
  2. While sticking to his A-game has served him well so far, it's worth noting that the songs themselves just aren't quite as resonant this time out, resulting in an album that's merely very good instead of incredible.
  3. These are bright, durable songs, and Mr. McCauley liberates them from any telltale hints of artifice, whether he's caressing them alone or roughing them up with his band mates, who manage a credible honky-tonk snarl.
  4. The Black Dirt Sessions delivers even more grit and lyrical heaviness than its predecessors, revealing a desperate, wayworn side to McCauley's songwriting.
  5. 70
    Black Dirt delivers sulky dirges ("Blood Moon"), alt-country hangovers ("Mange"), and funeral ballads ("Goodbye, Dear Friend") with equal aplomb, as their leader's bedraggled voice groans with hard-earned heaviness.
  6. Under The Radar
    60
    McCauley's lyrics sometimes get a little lazy, but at best spits fire and brimstone. The drawback here is that the songs don't hold together well. [Spring 2010, p.75]
  7. There's a lot of either-you-like-it-or-you-don't on Deer Tick's latest, The Black Dirt Sessions.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Dec 3, 2010
    9
    This is one of the best records of 2010. Great voice, great songs, great band. In my opinion, it has been too underrated by the critics.This is one of the best records of 2010. Great voice, great songs, great band. In my opinion, it has been too underrated by the critics. Waiting forward them to come to Spain...

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