Diamond Rugs is a collaboration consisting of Deer Tick members John McCauley and Robbie Crowell and including members from The Black Lips, Los Lobos, Six Finger Satellite and Dead Confederate. The members infuse folk, Americana, and ’70s rock into the indie, punk rock framework. The result is a raw but well-produced collection of songs with fuzz guitar tones, brass, a few synthesizers, lap steel guitar, lo-fi drums and some organic jamming within quality, structured songs.
The lyrics on their self-titled debut, Diamond Rugs, are a little more fun than what youʼd expect to hear on a Deer Tick record, with party songs like “Gimme A Beer” and “Call Girl Blues.” Fortunately, not all of the songs on the record are light-hearted, though they all contain some sort of carefree, melancholy vibe. When it comes to instrumentation, things change from track to track, which is exciting because you can tell the musicians were experimenting. I particularly enjoyed “Totally Lonely,” which is a throw back to the ’50s, and it even sounds like they used an old mic from the period to track the vocals. Very cool.
Thereʼs not a lot of fresh melodic material from Diamond Rugs, but then again, thatʼs probably not their goal. Whatʼs left is perfectly raw and enjoyable rock n roll sound, with insightfully placed and eclectic instrumentation thatʼll open up your ears.
The band recently announced that they are offering Diamond Rugs as a limited edition gold vinyl. You can get all of the details on how to get your hands on one here. –Drew Creal