DEER TICK Share New Single "ACI" + Video, Track Off Forthcoming Album
DEER TICK
DROP NEW SINGLE “ACI”
COIN-O-MATIC OUT JUNE 5 VIA ATO
Announce North American Tour Dates Kick Off On June 5
Shows Include Brooklyn On June 9 and Los Angeles On October 9
CONFIRMED FOR NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL ON JULY 24
Today Providence’s Deer Tick tease their forthcoming album Coin-O-Matic (ATO) with new single “ACI” which is graced with all the grit and warmth of a classic rock anthem. “The ACI (Adult Correctional Institutions) is the state prison system here in Rhode Island,” explains the band’s singer/guitarist John McCauley. “As much as it is infamous for its conditions and some of its current and former residents, it’s also somewhat of a punchline. Recently there was a problem with some of the locks malfunctioning… seriously. I came up with the chorus while we were jamming at a soundcheck. It stuck with me and I decided to flesh it out and write an entire story about a neighborhood hoodlum and his best friend who commit a robbery that goes all wrong. It was my first true effort at writing a song for Coin-O-Matic, which at the time had only existed as an idea. I even talked to a few people in the legal system to make sure I got my facts straight and creatively played very little with the truth. A heartland rocker with a worm at its core.”
The single arrives accompanied by a video directed by Colin Devin Moore. He described the process of directing the video as “less controlled chaos” and more “structured surrender.” Moore further says, “We shared frames with friends, fans, and family, who generously reimagined the footage one frame at a time, without direction - intentionally out of our control. What came back is a collage of styles that reflects the people who made it as much as the song itself. When combined, the results feel unstable - like memory, or identity under pressure - which aligns with the song’s themes. It’s imperfect, inconsistent, and human on purpose. It was a real pain-in-the-ass, risky video to make, but in a time where everything is trending toward automation, I’m happy we leaned the other way. Embracing imperfection, unpredictability, and the loss of control.” Listen/share “ACI” here and watch the video here:
The band have previously shared “Everything Born” which touches on the LP’s underlying theme of impermanence as well as the ramshackle jangle-pop “Mary Singletary.” The singles have seen support from Stereogum, Consequence, Brooklyn Vegan and more.
In support of Coin-O-Matic Deer Tick will hit the road for an extensive North American tour with dates throughout 2026. The first run kicks off June 5 with 3 shows at Ocean Mist in South Kingstown, RI and highlights this year also include a stop at Brooklyn's Warsaw on June 9 and The Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on October 9. Additionally, the band just announced their return to The Newport Folk Festival on July 24. All shows are listed below and tickets are on-sale here.
Coin-O-Matic casts a bright light on a little-known facet of the American mythos: the hidden histories of the band’s home state of Rhode Island, where the everyday dramas of working-class families long collided with the menace of the mafia underworld. As they tapped into their infinite fascination with that strange duality, singer/guitarist John McCauley, guitarist/singer Ian O’Neil, drummer/singer Dennis Ryan, and bassist Christopher Ryan assembled a batch of songs exploring desperation, grief, redemption, and resilience with both cinematic detail and lived-in emotionality. A sharp new turn from one of indie-rock’s most enduringly vital forces, Coin-O-Matic arrives as a complicated love letter to a way of life slowly slipping from the collective memory.
The follow-up to Emotional Contracts (hailed by Uncut as one of 2023’s best albums), Coin-O-Matic takes its title from a cigarette-vending-machine company that served as the headquarters of Raymond Patriarca—a legendary mobster who ran one of the most ruthless crime families in U.S. history. “If you grew up in Rhode Island years ago, you’d see all these mobsters on the news and then run into them at a restaurant on Federal Hill,” says McCauley, referring to Providence’s version of Little Italy. “They were criminals but also very colorful characters, and I wanted the album to partly reflect a certain nostalgia for that kind of seediness.”
Recorded at Deer Tick’s home studio, Coin-O-Matic marks their first self-produced album in their two-decade-plus lifespan and features guest musicians like Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin (on baritone saxophone) and former Deer Tick member Rob Crowell (on organ). The album frequently brings a live-wire immediacy to their finespun storytelling. “We’ve never been so comfortable making a record, and I think you can feel that in the performances,” says Dennis, who engineered the LP. “We weren’t beholden to anyone else’s idea of what Deer Tick sounds like, and because of that this album feels like an unfettered capturing of who we are as a band.”
In its soulful contemplation of recklessness and consequence, longing and devotion, Coin-O-Matic ultimately joins the canon of rock albums whose geographically rooted storytelling reveals deeper truths about the human experience. “I think there’s something universal in stories of regret and loss and poor decisions, even if they’re told through the lens of all the odd characters in this little state of ours,” O’Neil points out. “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,” McCauley adds. “Sonically there’s nothing country about it, but to me it almost feels like a country record set in an urban environment—there’s definitely some outlaws in there. I hope that people see themselves in it, and that they understand a little more about the place that we come from.”
Deer Tick tour dates - bold = newly added
6/5 – Ocean Mist – South Kingstown, RI %
6/6 – Ocean Mist – South Kingstown, RI ^#
6/7 – Ocean Mist – South Kingstown, RI @
6/9 – Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY +
6/10 – Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA *
6/12 – The Atlantis – Washington, DC *
6/13 – Thunderbird Music Hall – Pittsburgh, PA *
6/14 – Ludlow Garage – Cincinnati, OH *
6/16 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL *
6/17 – Fine Line – Minneapolis, MN *
6/19 – Summerfest – Milwaukee, WI
6/20 – El Club – Detroit, MI *
6/21 – The Opera House – Toronto, ON *
6/23 – Bearsville Theater – Woodstock, NY *
6/25 – State Theatre – Portland, ME *
6/26 – Royale – Boston, MA *
6/27 – Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
7/24 - Newport Folk Festival - Newport, RI
Support:
% Raindogs
^ JCCoventry
# Smith & Weeden
@ Baby Baby
+ Ben Vaughn
* Jobi Riccio
9/24 – The Waiting Room Lounge – Omaha, NE
9/25 – recordBar – Kansas City, MO
9/26 – Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO
9/27 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
9/29 – The Elm – Bozeman, MT
9/30 – Shrine Social Club – Boise, ID
10/2 – Aladdin Theater – Portland, OR
10/3 – Neumos – Seattle, WA
10/4 – Hollywood Theatre – Vancouver, BC
10/6 – Harlow’s – Sacramento, CA
10/7 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
10/9 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA
10/10 – Constellation Room – Santa Ana, CA
10/13 – Belly Up Tavern – Solana Beach, CA
10/14 – Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
10/16 – Scoot Inn – Austin, TX
10/17 – The Heights Theater – Houston, TX
10/18 – The Kessler Theater – Dallas, TX
Above support Presley Haile
11/5 – The Basement East – Nashville, TN
11/6 – Eulogy – Asheville, NC
11/7 – Terminal West – Atlanta, GA
11/8 – Motorco Music Hall – Durham, NC
11/9 – Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC
11/11 – Revolution Live – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
11/13 – Bayboro Brewing Co. – St. Petersburg, FL
11/14 – The Social – Orlando, FL
11/15 – The Pour House – Charleston, SC
11/17 – The Broadberry – Richmond, VA
11/19 – House of Independents – Asbury Park, NJ
11/20 – Arrow at Archer Music Hall – Allentown, PA
11/21 – District Music Hall – Norwalk, CT
Above support DUG except Atlanta
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Photo by Rich Ferri
