While ‘Negativity’ is an apt word to describe the impact of the events that inspired Deer Tick’s fifth full-length, it’s not an overwhelmingly dark record. It offers up a series of triumphs over adversity, such as the whimsical ‘In Our Time’, featuring Vanessa Carlton, and the grungy plod of ‘Pot Of Gold’ with its feral Kurt Cobain screams. Between those songs – on the forlorn but defiant ‘Mirror Walls’ and the upbeat hard-life lessons of ‘The Dream’s In The Ditch’ – ‘Negativity’ is an eye-opening demonstration of how far country music can be stretched.