Tuesday, June 30, Deer Tick

Here’s the good news: Deer Tick’s new album, Born on Flag Day, is a fine addition to the indie-rock canon. With his tears-in-your-beer ballads, dour blues and crackling country rock, singer-songwriter John Joseph McCauley III from Rhode Island knows how to pen memorable Americana tunes. The bad news: McCauley’s voice is sort of flat, and when he strains to hit notes he sounds nasal and grating. That doesn’t make Born on Flag Day bad, just a little irritating at times. If you see him at Marilyn’s on Tuesday, strumming numbers about being drunk and lonely or traveling across this great country, tell him to open up those nasal passages. Breathe. 908 K Street.