Dead Confederate's Wrecking Ball

Augusta, Georgia band Dead Confederate are often mentioned as a strange inheritor to Nirvana's grungy angst. It's bizarre simply because it doesn't make sense. While so much of Nirvana was simple and up front, Dead Confederate are a far more subtle, intellectual, and hypnotic group. While they no doubt have some element of grunge in their sound, this band is equally rooted in classic rock ala Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd as well as modern blues rock and roll from bands like the Vue and White Stripes. In other words, Dead Confederate is a band that knows how to kick your butt as much as it knows how to take it on a trip and their latest album, Wrecking Ball is your passport to one heck of a ride.

Wrecking Ballis a gauzy smoky record that's packed with gritty rock and roll, sludgy riffs, psychedelic breakdowns and songs that seem as if they've spent too much time on a hydroponics farm. In fact, Wrecking Ball is a perfect stoner rock album that churns it's soul away with a viscousness and intensity that would make Jack White blush. Wrecking Ball is heavy but at the same time catchy and this allows Dead Confederate's incessantly long tunes to take shape in the form of foggy emotionally drenched rock and roll that's as progressive as it is down and dirty.

If there's one thing you can say about Dead Confederate is that just about every one of the post-grunge comparisons is just plain wrong. These guys have too much going on for such a simple comparison and Wrecking Ball is by far a more consuming record then it ever lets on. Wrecking Ball is an awesome listen of post-everything that operates under the guise of straight ahead rock and roll but secretly wants to be a prog rock band hooked on the blues.

From the utterly massive epic (12 minutes long, baby) that is "Fresh Colored Canvas," to the down and out rock and roll of "Heavy Petting," Dead Confederate knock it out of the ball park on Wrecking Ball. This is truly an album that takes some time to get into but once you get your ears around it, the secrets that it unleashes are truly magical. They don't make records like this anymore and that's ashame. Thankfully, Dead Confederate know how to make classic rock and prog rock sound as fresh as today. Fantastic stuff.