Dead Confederate mixes haunting Southern rock with angsty grunge on Wrecking Ball, the band's debut album. At its best, Wrecking Ball mires itself in spacy guitars and raw vocals, evoking the deep-space atmospherics of Pink Floyd while remaining rooted in the American South. At its worst, it dives into the same sludge that dominated Silverchair's early work, especially on tracks like "Heavy Petting." Wrecking Ball is a dark, angry affair filled with minor chords and fuzzy guitar riffs; its biggest asset, then, is the band's love for vintage stoner rock, which helps draw some sense of contrast. When grunge and psychedelia combine, Dead Confederate turns out the album's most memorable songs, from "Flesh Colored Canvas" (at a whopping 12 minutes, the tune's hypnotic grit almost erases the sour taste of its title) to "The Rat," where frontman Hardy Morris begs an ex-lover to shoot him. But that delicate balance is usually lopsided, as Morris regularly lapses into a Cobain-cribbing voice while his bandmates bang out power chords beneath him. Fortunately, Dead Confederate bills itself as a psychedelic rock band, meaning this reliance on sludgy grunge may decrease on future albums. As a debut album, though, Wrecking Ball is a hit-or-miss effort that only hints at the band's potential.
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