Dead Confederate | Mercury Lounge, NYC | 10/9/08

On the suggestion of a good friend, I headed out to NYC’s Mercury Lounge the other night to check out an Atlanta band by the name of Dead Confederate who’ve been gaining some positive attention recently. While I’m a firm believer in the fact that hype doesn’t necessarily equal good, I had a feeling from the get go that I wouldn’t be let down as the band are the newest discovery of one Gary Gersh (the man responsible for the signing of both Nirvana and Sonic Youth).

Read more after the jump.

Sure enough, the group definitely impressed with a tight, focused set comprised of dark-tinged rock that was brooding and unsettling one minute and ethereal the next. What was perhaps most exciting for me was their incorporation of some ambient, post-rock-esque segments that built for just the right amount of time before crashing back down into a heavy, pounding groove. The whole set clocked in about thirty minutes, with little fanfare or between song banter from singer, Hardy Morris.

Normally, I might be put off a little by the low level of crowd interaction, but in this case, I think the intention was to let the music speak for itself and not risk interrupting the flow and intensity of the set.

Bottom line, Dead Confederate are definitely doing something right with both their music and live show, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them popping up on more music fans’ radars in the not-so-distant future.

My sleep-deprived brain is currently having a hard time drawing upon some other acts as a reference point to further describe the band’s sound, but fear not as you can decide for yourself below by checking out the track “The Rat,” off the band’s album Wrecking Ball.

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