“These guys are kicking ass,” someone in the control room said. As Dead Confederate segued from “Yer Circus” to “Goner,” my buddy Jefe commented aloud to no one in particular. It wasn’t a boastful announcement that was meant to fill some dead air. It was just a simple statement that wrapped up what we were all thinking.
It was as impressive a performance as we have had in the studio to date. The Athens, GA band are a tight five piece outfit that play with unbridled passion and intensity, while being laid back southern gents before and after the performance.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the night’s show at Schuba’s but DBT Chicago (our contest winner) echoed Jefe’s statement and said the live show was really great.
How do you celebrate your first appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien? By falling on your ass of course! Dead Confederate killed a performance of “The Rat” on Conan before Walker, the lead guitarist, takes a backwards tumble. You can see it at the 4.05 mark.
Stay tuned for our live session with Dead Confederate in the coming weeks.
Attention Chi-town readers. We just got our hands on a great prize pack from Dead Confederate. The band made 16 of these homemade tees to give out to fans. No one tee is alike, so you’ll be sure to be the life of every indie hipster party. Much like the Men’s Warehouse guy, I guarantee it.
If you’re the big winner, you’ll get:
Whatever tee is available in your size.
Dead Confederate’s latest CD, Wrecking Ball(it’s damn good)
A pair of tickets to the October 4th show at Schubas (you’ll be on the guest list)
In order to qualify, I’ll need your full name, mailing address and tee shirt size emailed to hearyablog@yahoo.com. To increase your odds, send in one run-on sentence (no punctuation or grammar please) describing your favorite album or song of the moment. A winner will be chosen by Tuesday next week.
For a sample run-on sentence, here’s one from Drinking Buddy’s post about Jan Terri and her song “Journey To Mars”:
Journey to Mars: Jan Terri in very slimming hair extensions singing about an acid trip she had on a transit tram that took her from Economy Parking Lot C at O’Hare airport that doubled as a Journey to Mars with 3 lesbians where everyone wears fannypacks and they talk on the first flip-phones ever invented.
If you don’t win, you should still check out the show. Woody should be there and is more than happy to buy everyone a round of beers. We’ll follow up with a Dead Confederate live session shortly after their visit to the windy city.
Athens, GA fivesome Dead Confederate have just followed up their excellent self-titled EP with a full-length debut, Wrecking Ball. While typically this brand of music isn’t my cup of tea, I can’t get enough of the album. It’s a heavy, dark and brooding brand of music that at times reminds me of grunge’s heyday and at other times hits me with hints of Radiohead. Alternating between tense spacey jams and guttural explosions, Wrecking Ball demands your attention.
Most bands of the the so-called “psych-rock” genre bore me after awhile. They’re typically loud and the novelty wears off after a couple of spins. But with each listen of Dead Confederate, you’ll find nuances that will require hitting the back button, repeating tracks to discover every layer of sound. Front man, Hardy Morris, is the obvious nucleus of the band. He has an emotional delivery and has been compared to Kurt Cobain. But on certain songs, especially the 12-minute track “Flesh Covered Canvas,” Morris takes a back seat as the rest of the band takes you on a long, haunting ride.
I’m really excited about the future of Dead Confederate. While Wrecking Ball is excellent, I think we’re just scratching the surface of what this very talented band has to offer. They have the musicianship and they have the front man. Their sound isn’t pigeonholed into one genre and if they continue to explore their sound, they will make a big name for themselves.
They’ll also be stopping by for a HearYa Live Session when they tour through Chicago for their October 4th show at Schubas.
Georgia’s Dead Confederate are releasing their debut full-length album, Wrecking Ball, on September 16th on Tao Records. According to their press release, they conjured the haunting sound of the album the old-fashioned way: by making it in the tiny concrete box of a studio in Austin, Texas, where the sound effects for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were recorded.
08.22.08 – Drunken Unicorn – Atlanta, GA
09.11.08 – Exit/In – Nashville, TN
09.12.08 – Sky City – Augusta, GA
09.18.08 – The Hummingbird – Macon, GA
09.19.08 – 40 Watt – Athens, GA
09.20.08 – The Earl – Atlanta, GA
09.23.08 – JJ’s Bohemia – Chattanooga, TN
09.24.08 – The Bottletree – Birmingham, AL
09.25.08 – Sticky Fingerz – Little Rock, AR
09.26.08 – Emo’s – Austin, TX
09.27.08 – The Cavern – Dallas, TX
09.29.08 – The Bluebird – St. Louis, MO
09.30.08 - Jackpot Music Hall - Lawrence, KS
10.01.08 – The Waiting Room – Omaha, NE
10.02.08 – The Annex – Madison, WI
10.03.08 – Mo’s Irish Pub – Milwaukee, WI
10.04.08 – Schubas – Chicago, IL
10.07.08 – TT the Bears – Cambridge, MA
10.09.09 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
10.10.08 – Union Hall – Brooklyn, NY
10.14.08 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
10.16.08 – Exit/In – Nashville, TN
10.17.08 – Proud Larry’s – Oxford, MS
