On Deer Tick's impressive 2007 debut, War Elephant, one-man band John J. McCauley III sounds like a grizzled troubadour, conjuring old shoes and dirty dishes with a warm Lucky Strike croak. Now fronting a tour-honed quartet, the 23-year-old comes on like a stampede on Born on Flag Day, spurred by the galloping drums and backing vocals from Dennis Michael Ryan. McCauley sounds no less lonely, staring down abandonment and death in gentle waltzes and country-rock rambles. But the dysfunctional-love duet "Friday XIII" and a boozy version of the singalong suicide threat "Goodnight, Irene" suggest that well-composed misery still loves company.