Bleak home Alabama

Dead Confederate

Wrecking Ball

B-

Razor and Tie Records

Mix '60s southern rock chords and Kurt Cobain's attitude in a blender, throw in some stars and bars and a pair of ripped Buddy Lee Jeans, hit "grunge," and voila: you have Wrecking Ball, the debut album from Southern rockers Dead Confederate.

This kind of experiment seems to have two possible results: an entirely original style forged out of influences, or retreads and imitation.

Opening the album with "Heavy Petting" and "The Rat," Dead Confederate sets up listeners for an intriguing dynamic, jumping between the fresh and the dull.

"Heavy Petting" is completely formulaic as lead singer Hardy Morris' whiny voice and wailing guitar solos quickly become annoying and repetitive, while the slow tempo makes for a long ride. By choosing this as the opening track, it does nothing to excite listeners to keep going.

Then comes "The Rat." Jumping between a brooding, grungy sound on the verses and a hard rock chorus, it is an instant standout track.

Focusing on a man asking to be shot in the back of the head, the lyrics are thoughtful and sung in a successfully haunting manner. And despite the subject matter, it's still pretty catchy.

"And draw tiny pictures/ 'round all the days/ Bag and burn/ Bang Bang/ Throw your judgments/ across the breeze/ Bag and burn/ Bang Bang."

The back-and-forth continues from here. "Goner" follows Morris' impressive vocal styling and builds up to a great rocked out climax. But then, "Yer Circus" takes the energy down a notch and achieves nothing more than '90s grunge imitation.

"The News Underneath" tries for the trippy groove of '60s rock but doesn't quite hit the mark, but then the lengthy, psychedelic "Flesh Colored Canvas" provides listeners with a fun jam track that should leave any Phish burnout satisfied.

Though when taken as a whole, the better parts of the album outweigh the negative.

As his vocal style becomes the focal point of the album, Morris becomes the make-or-break centerpiece. Luckily he hits the nail on the head more often than not.

With their debut album, Dead Confederate is certainly going for a personalized sound and comes pretty close to achieving it. If songs like "The Rat" can pick up on mainstream radio, their style will certainly catch a crowd and the few songs that miss the mark will be irrelevant anyway.