TAO/Old Flame

On its sophomore full-length, Sugar, Georgia’s Dead Confederate focuses on solidifying its distinct brand of poetic grunge – a brand that blends hard rocking ambience with punk-like despondency to create music akin to a super jam between Nirvana and My Morning Jacket. And whether it is the murky amble of “By Design” or the fist-pumping revelry of “Mob Scene,” the album’s through-line remains its brooding narrative which often plays out in fits of halting, reverb-drenched vocals. But it’s when the distortion is turned off, and the volume turned down, that principal songwriters Hardy Morris and Brantley Senn shine brightly. Here, their vulnerable contemplations of love and loss are palpable through delicate songwriting and an artful dissonance ( “Shocked to Realize,” “Run from the Gun” ), Dead Confederate truly comes to life.