Deer Tick, 'Born on Flag Day'

“Born on Flag Day’’ starts off with a squeal of feedback and ends with an unlisted acoustic cover of “Goodnight Irene’’ that sounds like nobody knew that there was even a microphone in the room, let alone that anybody was bothering to record it. Those two bookends encapsulate the type of country album that Deer Tick’s second long-player aspires to be; the Providence band is deeply immersed in tradition but unconcerned with niceties. It’s easy to get lost in singer John McCauley’s voice, a caustic buzz of an instrument capable of tearing through songs both pastoral and kicking. In place of the expected snarl, though, is a dry sense of humor apparent in some of the details, like the way that McCauley marks the time since he last spoke to his girl by which installment of “Friday the 13th’’ was playing at the time. The music is fairly diffuse, even on a ripper like “Straight Into a Storm,’’ and that’s mostly a deliberate effort by Deer Tick to aim for the cozy atmospherics of a humid afternoon. But it also fuzzes out many of the songs, making “Born on Flag Day’’ easier to admire than to love. (Out now) MARC HIRSH