Common Deer— (I Should Have Known)

I’m driving home last night at dusk, it being just dark enough to outline black, rolling hills against a not-quite-as-black sky and a song comes on the radio and I almost drove off the road— not because it shocked me but because I was so enthralled by it that I for a moment forgot I was driving. There was something in the voice and the Wurlitzer-like keyboard and the song itself. I had heard it before, I was sure, and racked my brain trying to figure out where. The song was over before it came to me and, no, I had not heard it before but it was so reminiscent of Fisher’s “Water Burial” that it was downright eerie. I could have been abducted by aliens and not been that surprised. You see, there are certain songs which get embedded in my soul so deep that whenever I hear anything similar, they immediately rise to the surface. And most times the reminiscence is not even close to what I was hearing but close enough. A sound… a phrase… a feeling.

What I felt was that I had to hear more of this band so I pulled off the road, bowed to CBC 3 (the station which played it) and quickly wrote down the band’s name: Common Deer. Hadn’t heard of them but I knew I would soon enough.

Know what serendipity is? It is not knowing a girl named Debbie until you date one and then half of the universe is made up of Debbies. It is having a thought that you need to call someone only to have them call you before you have a chance. It is hearing Common Deer and finding a link to the band in my email the next morning. Swear to God, I was meant to find this band. And I am overjoyed that I did.

The song is titled “Damages” and I find it absolutely beautiful, the tonal quality and phrasing of Sheila Hart-Owens, to my ears, hypnotizing.

If I have a complaint it is that it is an EP— only five songs. Luckily they are five outstanding songs which float between Pop and what? Americana? Whatever it is, it is dragging me, willingly, along a musical path not followed since The Barr Brothers cold-cocked me with “Half Crazy” off of their excellent Sleeping Operator album. A world of Pop-but-not-Pop. The ride is too short, though. I want more. I want a minimum of ten and, if possible, a double-disc-er packed with however many they could fit in.

This seems to be the track they want to plug for the EP and I am not against it.

There are just enough nuances which make “Damages” so damn good in it that I am in fact all for it. Hell, make them all singles! They are certainly good enough.

I need to end this so I can lay back and sip a brew while I loop this puppy. It is titled I and available through the band website (http://www.commondeermusic.com/) and a few hundred other sites, I am sure. Not sure yet? Check out their EPK video. Then go buy this puppy.