Dead Confederate
Wrecking Ball
Razor & Tie
By Miriam Lamey
In order to fully appreciate Dead Confederate’s debut album, Wrecking Ball, it is necessary to trash most preconceived notions of Southern Rock Music. Dead Confederate may hail from the South, but don’t expect any Lynard Skynard references, or the delicate aroma of Southern goodness wafting under generic guitar riffs. Dead Confederate are dark, dirty and dangerous with a fresh take on the meaning of rock – a sense they convincingly convey with a slight snarl and more than a hint of intelligence.
Distorted guitar riffs are a useful tool that Dead Confederate wield well. Tracks like “All The Angels” generate a thick wall of sound that compresses into an ear-aching blizzard of fuzziness and feedback by its close. While it’s a bit intense for delicate iPod earbuds, the sound translates fantastically live to the impassioned extent that band members fall over onstage when caught up in the frenzy (you’ll know this if you happened to catch their appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.) Yet Dead Confederate are deeper artists than just a few thrashing guitars may suggest and this sense has thus far prompted comparisons to Nirvana, among others. This grittiness is palpable, particularly on the album’s title track comprised of eerie guitar riffs and lead singer, Hardy Morris’ ethereal whine, both of which devolve into layered guitars, ripe with distortion and drama.
Dead Confederate are capable of presenting a cleaner sound with the Pearl Jam-inspired track “Goner” where the dustiest instrument is probably the methodic cymbals. Similarly, single and second track, “The Rat” has a heavy, passionate quality worthy of bringing an entire stadium to its knees. Here is where Dead Confederate truly shine as ghostly feedback dissolves to showcase Morris’ distinctive vocals. Guitars build upon one another to explode in angry, misty blasts and then fade back in again to showcase a rather lonely, piercing riff.
All tunes on Wrecking Ball are intensely constructed, sounding neither confusing nor fake. The snarling ache of the melody on “Heavy Petting” is echoed through sharp, jarring guitar riffs, while the dreary, soulful pain communicated through “It Was A Rose” is almost romantic. For a debut album, Dead Confederate display outstanding style and own their sound in a way that suggests this band will grow and become more confident with each subsequent release.
|
