There is plenty about Deer Tick's debut album, , to suggest that frontman John McCauley has seen more than his 21 birthdays. The gruff pipes, languid alt-country arrangements, and tears-in-his-beers lyrics-- "Maybe I'll see better days/ But I'm not so sure I will," just two songs into his debut album-- all point towards a sagely source. Consider that McCauley has spent the previous two years touring, has collaborated with Jason Anderson and Jana Hunter, and now has his own band; it's tough to fathom just what makes him unsure of better days. This isn't to needlessly drag Deer Tick into the endless pissing contest that is authenticity in country music, just to note that McCauley is a bit of an old hound, a lithe songwriter with a black lung and a bad liver. On , he sets his old ways against a meld of country and alt-rock signifiers, one appropriate for his age but only occasionally a fit for his songwriting.