If there could be a sound for gritty sand between your boots and the wooden floorboards of a dimly lit bar somewhere in the Old West, it would be Deer Tick’s newest album The Black Dirt Sessions. Evoking a country-rock nostalgia, Deer Tick has the potential to make music that transcends time, but they fall short in this third release.

John J. McCauley III’s familiar buzz of a voice cries out in anguish slowly, as if trapped in a fog of whiskey and bad romance.

The melodies sound recycled, especially in tracks “Mange” and “When She Comes Home,” which seem more like diluted versions of Johnny Cash classics than anything new or original.

However, The Black Dirt Sessions is flecked with bits of gold, particularly in their simpler, more acoustic numbers, such as “The Sad Sun,” where McCauley gently wails, “Never had your chance to live/And it’s hard to forgive/Never had your chance to love/And it does not happen like this/In heaven, if heaven exists.”

Tracks “Twenty Miles” and “Hand In My Hand” touch upon McCauley’s broken-heartedness with lyrics such as “Everybody is alone in this world/Touches feeling close but never touching/When everyone is alone.” What Deer Tick may lack in musical authenticity, they make up in lovelorn poeticism.

Though as a whole The Black Dirt Sessions is not much of a departure from their previous album in 2009, Born On Flag Day, Deer Tick’s gruff style has helped them garner a dedicated following, and this album will solidify their place as artists within the alternative country genre.

If anything at all, Deer Tick and their Black Dirt Sessions will take you away for a moment to somewhere that’s a little older, a little dustier, and a little lonelier.