For its second album, Athens, Ga. quintet Dead Confederate wields its hipster- and alt-country-scene-approved Southern psychedelia like a sawed-off shotgun — it's got an instantly familiar profile, it's sort of classic in a very dark way, and what comes out of it is both powerful as hell and bound to scatter off in unexpected directions. Seems that working with college-rock producer John Agnello and touring with cult heroes like the Meat Puppets have inspired the band to look both forward and back while expanding its sound, and the resulting album manages to incorporate a wide swath of fringe-rock touchstones without sounding dated.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2010.