The Dead Weather is fronted by Alison Mosshart (known to music fans as one half of London-based rock outfit The Kills) and includes The Raconteurs’ Jack Lawrence on bass, Queens Of The Stone Age member Dean Fertita on guitar and Jack White on drums and vocals. White produced Horehound, which was recorded in just three weeks at the newly constructed Third Man Studio, also designed from the ground up by Jack White.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don’t buy vinyl from Amazon!
All the hype is well deserved. The Dead Weather may turn out to be a one-off, but they sure don’t sound like it. You’d swear they had been together for years, not months.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent New Sound
Short and simple - I LOVE this CD. It’s an original, fantastic fusion of bluesy rock. The only thing I miss (but honestly, I probably wouldn’t if it wasn’t something I knew…
Wow — The Dead Weather nail it with a great, hard-edged LP that is steeped in the blues and heavy, heavy rock. It’s a combination of late 70’s Zeppelin, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (sans the comedy), a bit of early Dead Meadow, with a dash of NIN’s. It’s essentially its own genre. And, it sounds awesome live.
There were a few reasons I wasn’t expecting much from the Dead Weather. For one, the Raconteurs, while no doubt their own separate thing from the White Stripes, still have a pretty strong resemblance to each member’s earlier work. I figured the last thing we needed was another band from Jack with the same sound. I also don’t care for the Kills much, so with that, and all the exposure this new band was getting before anyone heard much from them, I was bracing myself the worst. Boy can you imagine my surprise as soon as I finally put this CD in.
While you can tell with the Raconteurs who wrote each song just by listening and comparing to each persons older work, the Dead Weather have a sound that is completely their own. It’s murky, fuzzy, aggressive, bluesy, Southern goth-y, and sometimes brooding. It’s a sound that they maintain perfectly throughout the whole album. Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence compliment each other very well, and together, they manufacture some absolutely hair-raising sounds throughout Horehound. Allison Mosshart is perfect for this band, and puts in a great performance. Jack White plays behind the kit in the same way he plays guitar: steady, straight-forward, dynamically, and skillfully while always putting the good of the song ahead of showing off. He also has a few vocal spots and delivers pretty well.
I don’t want to compare the Dead Weather with any of White’s other band’s anymore. The White Stripe comparisons have dogged the Raconteurs to the point where I wonder how much longer they will be around. The Dead Weather are their own band and deserve to be looked at as their own band, not just the sum of their parts. Horehound is an album that grabs you by the throat from the start, rocking hard from “Hang You From the Heavens” to “Bone House”, with some outstanding, if more laid back tracks at the beginning and end. The only aspect that needs a little more work in the future (I say while hoping this isn’t just a one-off) is in the lyrics. Too many songs rely on repeating lines, not particularly great ones either. That isn’t to say they’re delivered poorly, Mosshart does a great job and her back-and-forth’s with White on a few songs are outstanding, I just think there could have been a little more thought put into the lyrics.
This has been one of my favorite albums this year. It is well-worth getting. Every track is great, “I Cut Like a Buffalo” didn’t hit as well as I would have liked but it’s already starting to grow on me, and they all sound better when played together. That said, my favorite tracks have to be “60 Feet Tall”, “So Far From Your Weapon”, “Treat Me Like Your Mother”, “No Hassle Night”, and “Will There Be Enough Water?”
P.S. Check out the live version of “Will There Be Enough Water?” on youtube. It has an unbelievable solo by White that I was very disappointed to see not make the album.
This is not a half witted attempt at another Jack White collaboration. The album is full of variety and gut punching rock. This is one of the best rock albums to come out this year, by far. Definitely going to be in my top 10 for the year. I highly recommend.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome
I have listened to this CD ten times over the past week. Now I want to buy all the CDs from The Kills.
3.0 out of 5 stars
what happened!!!
yah thats jack white alright but his band sounds nothing like the white stripes it more like the bluesbrothers and pearljam mixed together im sorry but this is not the whitesripes…
5.0 out of 5 stars
now we’re freak’n’ talking
Back in my day this as called a supergroup ,u remember them ,Asia,The Firm,Powerstation,to name a few ,now we call this a side project.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Yokes together seemingly opposing forces
“Horehound” by The Dead Weather yokes together seemingly opposing forces—heavy, explosive drum fills, understated nuances, blues-infused guitar, classic rock organ (echoes of…
4.0 out of 5 stars
owned.
ordinary blues rock? since when is that not ok. in this day of music, where lame-[...] synth pop and uneducated indie alt rules the airplay, it is more than refreshing to hear…
4.0 out of 5 stars
It’s Jack White
It’s definitely well-written music. And Mosshart does good as a lead lady. “Cut Like a Buffalo” is sweet for Jack White fans otherwise he is mainly in the background…
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jack White Scores Another Hit
The king of all things alternative in the 2000s has scored yet another major hit. Using the second half of the Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely; especially “Carolina Drama” Jack…
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
This a great album. It combines the bluesy rock of the White Stripes with the more punk/pop darker influences of the Kills.