Rhode Island’s reigning rock and roll champions are back with an outstanding new release, Coin-O-Matic, the title a nod to the former Federal Hill headquarters of the notorious mob boss Raymond Patriarca (worth a Google search). Released June 5, the album is a brutally honest tribute to the capital city, featuring a sound that is gritty, courageous, and unmistakably Providence. The quartet – John McCauley, Ian O’Neil, Dennis Ryan, and Christopher Ryan – paint a vivid portrait of a time and place where working-class struggles play out, weaving together songs steeped in desperation, loss, redemption, and resilience; a heartfelt tribute to an aging city.
We caught up with songwriters McCauley and O’Neil recently at the PTX Lounge in Pawtuxet Village, where, keeping it real, both occasionally glanced at their phones – not to update their Instagram, but, like the rest of us, just checking in on kids and family going about their daily routines. Over a dirty martini or two, the pair shared a few details about how the new album came together over the past several years.
For McCauley, who spent a decade living in Nashville, “it feels like a weird kind of homecoming album – all of it was written after I moved back here. I hadn’t called Rhode Island home in quite some time.” Recorded in the band’s home studio, the album was entirely self-produced. “It was a special experience because we decided to do it all ourselves,” says O’Neil. “We took a big leap of faith, relying on one another. In the past, at least for me, working with a producer was like having a fifth opinion, a good reassurance. This time, I relied on these three guys to make sure my ideas weren’t stupid or crazy.” “Instead of having one cook, we had four cooks in the kitchen,” adds McCaulley.
For a band that just turned 21, it sounds too easy to say the new record shows a level of sophistication not found on previous releases, but that’s honestly the best way to describe it. Well-paced, with compelling lyrics and fully involved arrangements across a variety of styles, Deer Tick reaches a new level of musical maturity on this album. “Mary Singletary,” the advance single, is a straight-ahead, Petty-esque rocker, already gaining traction on independent radio. Penned as a Dylan-like confessional (like several on the release), the song checks all the boxes, and is literally set in a church confessional.
Once labeled indie-rock, McCauley isn’t joking when he says Coin-O-Matic is a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. “One of the reasons I wanted us to make this album is that I think Rhode Island deserves to be a contender for a place that people sing about,” he says. “Sonically, there’s nothing country about it, but to me it feels like a country record set in an urban environment – there’s definitely some outlaws in there that aren’t normally in storytelling country songs, like drug dealers and mafiosos.”
The album should strike a chord with Deer Tick fans wherever they live. “I feel like this is just a record about any hometown,” adds McCauley. “I think anybody can kind of see a little bit of where they grew up and these songs. And there’s going to be a big uptick on the ACI being Googled,” he laughs.
No other band in recent memory has built songs around the city of Providence quite like Deer Tick, a tradition that continues here. This album isn’t a portrait of a shiny city on seven hills; more often, it’s a story of the gritty, resilient underbelly that can chew you up and spit you out – and just as quickly, wrap you up in a bear hug when you’re down and out. Check out Deer Tick on their summer tour which kicks off at the Ocean Mist in Matunuck with three album release shows June 5-7. Learn more at DeerTickMusic.com
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