With this debut comprising vaguely twangy instrumentals (Shadowy Men On A Shit-kicking Planet?) and catchy, rootsy rock songs, central Michigan trio the Deans position themselves as another band with two, maybe three, toes inside the “alt-country” border (wherever that is).
Four of the ten songs on this brief but spirited outing (it’s all over in 27 minutes) are truly memorable, giving Shindig At Newton’s the highest batting average in Michigan since Harry Heilmann hit .403 for the Tigers in 1923. “El Sombrero” and “’63 Impala” both ask the musical question, Can you surf Lake Huron?, while the top two vocalizin’ cuts, “Mary Go Round” and “Thug Age Love Song”, sound like a last-call alliance between Joe Jackson and the Old 97′s.
Alas, there is one misstep, and it comes at the end of the dance. It’s almost never a good thing when a studio album closes with a live cut, and the too-long, too-loose “Tunnel Rat” does not prove to be an exception, although it’s almost saved by an angry final 30 seconds.
