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Wrecking Ball Image
Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the debut album for the alternative rock band who met in high school and now are based in Athens, Georgia.
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
    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.
  3. 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.
  4. Dead Confederate are good at ballsy, sinister, twisted rock‘n’roll, and this they deliver by the bowlful. Unfortunately they show their weakness when they step beyond this brief.
  5. Under The Radar
    60
    Dead Confederate build on their eponymous EP with hunks of full-bloodied Southern rock in the mold of Kings Of Leon or Drive-By Truckers shot through shards of grunge and psychedelia. [fall 2008, p.86]
  6. As a debut album, however, Wrecking Ball is a hit-or-miss effort that only hints at the band's potential.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  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. Expand