Sunday, October 12, 2008
A+E, Music, Reviews

DEAD CONFEDERATE

“WRECKING BALL” (RAZOR & TIE)

Surely there have been other situations like this, but Dead Confederate’s “Wrecking Ball” must rank right up there among the best debut CDs by an 11-year-old band in rock history. “Wrecking Ball” lays a joyous punctuation mark on a break-out year that includes a partnership with A&R wiz Gary Gersh, a supporting gig for R.E.M. at South by Southwest, countless summer-festival appearances and a tour with the Drive-By Truckers.

There’s nothing dead about this group, except, hopefully, the misinterpretation about its ironic name, which lays to rest preconceived notions about what Southern rock means. The grunge influences of Neil Young and Nirvana have already been well reported, and are well-deserved but for the band’s judicious avoidance of getting buried in its own sludge. For a band once known for its extended jams, Dead Confederate succumbs to the temptation only once, and “Flesh Colored Canvas” is well worth its 12-minute span. The production by Mike McCarthy (Spoon, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead) allows plenty of room for Hardy Morris’ strained vocals and Walter Howle’s Pink Floyd-inspired guitar solos, to the point where drummer Jason Scarboro’s crashing cymbals never overwhelm the mix.

Morris is also a promising songwriter, telling evangelists, “Throw your judgments across the breeze” in the religious critique “The Rat.” “Watch them float off to never be saved/ You live inside your Jesus dream.”

Years in the making, “Wrecking Ball” should pass judgment as one of the best debuts of 2008—however belatedly.
3 STARS—David Lee Simmons