Divine Providence
by Deer Tick
  • Record Label: Partisan
  • Release Date: Oct 24, 2011
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 21
  3. Negative: 2 out of 21
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  1. Pitchfork
    Oct 27, 2011
    39
    Deer Tick try to score points simply by sounding like they could drink all those bands under the table, and the self-absorbed and even downright hateful Divine Providence ends up drinking at you, not with you.
  2. cokemachineglow
    Oct 21, 2011
    30
    Folks, to my ultimate chagrin, this Divine Providence album wallows in such unencumbered, unmoving crap-it breaks my fucking heart.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. dittodelbalzo
    Mar 5, 2012
    10
    Pitchfork is the worst thing in the history of music criticism, music, criticism, writing, art, the internet, people, things, the universe.Pitchfork is the worst thing in the history of music criticism, music, criticism, writing, art, the internet, people, things, the universe. Divine Providence is probably the best album since The Strokes landed. Get it. You'll love it.… Full Review »
  2. Steech
    Jun 10, 2012
    8
    Divine Providence propelled Deer Tick out of a circulating category of bands we like into bands we love. The Tick proved it knew how to makeDivine Providence propelled Deer Tick out of a circulating category of bands we like into bands we love. The Tick proved it knew how to make credible Americana a long time ago. But while other albums were good they all lacked one thing: The Great Song. Divine Providence differs from the other albums. For starters, it contains several Great Songs. It also contains a bad song or two. But the latter isn't a problem. Having a clunker actually makes Divine Providence a better record for the same reason that Springsteen and Replacements records are great despite songs like "Cover Me" and "Lay It Down Clown." Deer Tick has ditched most of their furtive searching for the Sun Studios sound and started pondering - of all things - 80s rawk (think Bob Seger or .38 Special). Again... And this is a tough sell, but stick with me... It works. It's amazing, actually. Other bands in recent memory have tried this and failed (has anyone else noticed that nowadays Lucero sounds like Shane MacGowan singing Billy Joel songs?). Deer Tick knocks it out of the park. They can also drink you under the table. And while there's a lot of braggadocio... machismo... whatever you'd like to style it... Divine Providence isn't as misogynistic as the 80s rock it's playing off of. I have to echo another reviewer: Pitchfork isn't always lucid in its proclamations. They give punishment scores for breaking dumb scene rules. Getting within a 50 mile stylistic radius of Bob Seger breaks every scene rule there is, but we can learn something here. Our a priory self righteousness is a handicap. Turns out bonehead rawk can be good, if done correctly. My advice to consumers is to get over their prejudices. It can cause one to miss important things.… Full Review »
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