Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 11
  2. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Ultimately, though, Dead Confederate's alt-country/grunge hybrid doesn't just feel like a compelling debut, it feels like a compelling new genre.
  2. 70
    The Georgia quintet's debut may appeal to My Morning Jacket fans, but songs like 'Heavy Petting' and 'Start Me Laughing' (which recalls Kurt Cobain at his nastiest) possess more growl than that comparison implies.
  3. 70
    The album is crisper than the band’s early-’08 EP, thanks to Spoon producer Mike McCarthy, who let the fury bounce around every inch of a cinder-block space in Austin--where, appropriately, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" sound effects were recorded.
  4. Despite all the influences blowing through the ether, the resulting songs lack the dynamic range of their most obvious inspirations, each charting a familiar trajectory through a slow build and release of cacophonous guitars and caterwauling vocals that gets old around the five-minute mark.
  5. 70
    Even on the weaker songs, when the chord changes come secondhand and the influences arrive undigested, Wrecking Ball remains an ugly slab of guitar sludge that’s well worth the pain.
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 15
  2. Negative: 1 out of 15
  1. Apr 1, 2012
    7
    Dead Confederate has a strange sound going for them. I can see the comparisons between Nirvana and My Morning Jacket. They aren't the bestDead Confederate has a strange sound going for them. I can see the comparisons between Nirvana and My Morning Jacket. They aren't the best band and this definitely isn't the best album I've ever heard, but it's dark lyrics and eerie atmosphere make up for some of it's flaws. Full Review »