By Ian Bremner

On the internet, Diamond Rugs are often resorted to an “indie-supergroup.” In real life they are just a sweet-ass band. They are buddies from well established bands who came together and created a whole new band. They are more than a side project.

For the first self-titled Diamond Rugs record, Deer Tick brainchild John McCauley recruited some of his comrades to a Nashville studio to make a bunch of stoner songs. It’s a good thing for the change of heart, because once fellow Deer Ticker-er Robbie Crowell, Ian St. Pe of Black Lips, T. Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and Bryan Dufresne of Six Finger Satellite came together, they eventually scrapped the stoner-dream jams for a full-blown rock n roll record. Songs like, Gimme A Beer, Call Girl Blues, Hightail, Hungover & Horny make for the perfect combo of bar room debauchery and tight-knit songs with the perfect amount of imperfection.

With this many people and this many bands involved, it seems near impossible to reconvene for another album, but this time Ian St. Pe did the recruiting back to Nashville. The mission was the same. Make a no-frills rock record. Mission accomplished. The 3 front men take turns writing and singing the songs with undoubtedly influences from each of their bands. It’s a bit less raucous than the original, but a great outdoor beer drinking record nonetheless. Thank god for global warming, we can do this in year round.

Listen to Cosmetics in full. Spotify or Soundcloud