Dead Confederate: Wrecking Ball
Dead Confederate: Wrecking Ball
Thursday, 05, Nov 2009 09:43
Kartel, out November 9th.
In a nutshell...
Noisy, Grungy, Gravely Voiced Howling Rock.
What's it all about?
Dead Confederate are a five piece from Athens, Georgia in the USA. Five childhood friends who are 'sick of being local...sick of coasting and sick of the jobs that barely kept them in guitar strings...'. Made up of Jason Scarboro on drums, Walker Howle on guitars, John Watkins on the organ and fronted by Hardy Morris (guitar and vocals) and Brantley Senn (Bass and Vocals), the band have built up a strong following, touring with Dinosaur Junior and Meat Puppets, not to mention an appearance on America's 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien'.
As an example.
"Cause I'm the Rat/No mistake/Under the bed/Where you sleep/Crush the skull/Make me tame/Sweep it up/Hide it away." - The Rat
What the others say
"Artist to watch... When they hit full howl, Dead Confederate are the living end." - Rolling Stone
So is it any good?
Being compared to the mighty likes of REM and Radiohead, Dead Confederate are well on their way to breaking through to the big leagues of music... on paper at least. Signed by Gary Gersh (the man responsible for bringing Nirvana and Sonic Youth to the masses) on the strength of a demo, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was going to be a 100 per cent onslaught of the senses. But rather than bringing the Seattle scene into the 21st century, you're instead treated to what is on first listen, a 57-minute dirge. Stand-out single The Rat offers a musical piece that wouldn't be out of place on any film soundtrack and the guitars could be described as deep and emotional. Unfortunately to pick out anything different from one track to the next over the repetitive riffs and downbeat tempo is a drawn-out task, as repeated listens saw boredom regularly set in while listening.
It's not that Dead Confederate can't write good music, or even ear catching songs; All the Angels in particular grabbed my attention, however it's the comparisons to their peers that point out what is missing here. Wrecking Ball is an album that screams out for something fast, exciting, no holds barred power chord shredding. Lyrically intelligent/pretentious (delete as appropriate), many people will listen and instantly fall in love with this band; personally, individual tracks will find their way onto my playlists, and I'll wait for their next full length offering with high hopes that they take the talent present here and add a little variety to the mix.
5/10
Ben Brady