Review: The Dead Weather - Horehound

Long time readers of this blog will remember Alison Mosshart from her ill-fated head-to-head battle with Jenny Lewis (if not I certainly have your attention now). Now she's back with the super group (sort of) she formed with Jack White of The White Stripes. Jack has made the exciting switch to drums relinquishing guitar duties over to a guy from Queens of the Stone Age. The weird looking bass player from the Raconteurs rounds out the line-up. Yes, a better journalist would have told you their names but we do things a little differently here at the King. Musically, the Dead Weather's first album, Horehound has its daddies' lying eyes, neatly combining almost unsettlingly offbeat sounds of Mosshart's post-Discount project The Kills with the fuzzed-out bluesy bombast that Jack White made his money with in the White Stripes. To be fair White is bringing more bombast than blues fuzz owing to his switch to drums but this still smells more like his project that anyone else's.

I'd like to take a minute here to talk about Jack White. First of all, why did it never occur to him when he began putting together a super group that it would have been way funnier if he had gotten Jack Black in on it. Get it?? Jack White and Jack Black?? It'd be hilarious. All kidding aside, I have to confess that musically Jack White has never really blown my skirt up. I could really only tolerate the occasional chorus of that one single the White Stripes had and I ignored the Raconteurs for the most part. That said, I find I actually have a lot of respect for Jack White. With every move he's made in his career, it's seemed clear to me that it was something he genuinely really wanted to do and he did it with no concern for whether or not it would meet with financial success. I think he makes the music he wants to make and listen to and he's not really concerned with how many other people will want to listen to it and that's always commendable. Also my dad says he was great in that movie he did with Jimmy Page and the Edge.

But back to the music. Horehound is filled with the kind of bluesy weirdness you'd expect and also like you'd expect with the caliber of talent assembled, it hits the target a decent number of times. First of all, '3 Birds' is one of the more listenable instrumental tracks I've heard in a while. It's not 'Green Onions' good, but it's interesting, kind of sounds like the soundtrack to a spy or a heist movie. The third track, the bizarrely named 'I Cut Like A Buffalo' is another standout. Contrary to what the title might lead you to believe this is the song where the weird gives way to some serious hooks that make the song stick with you long after you've returned to your old Discount LPs. Actually a good rule of thumb with this album is to go with titles that include similes since the other track I really loved (and oddly enough the other single) is "Treat Me Like Your Mother" which, again, has some seriously tenacious little hooks. My favorite moment is when newly converted drummer White starts playing with the rhythm and the band breaks only to come back grooving harder and faster than they went out for what is easily the best and most dynamic moment on the album.

So if you liked Jack White's other projects, this one probably won't disappoint you. If you liked Alison Mosshart's old projects on the other hand, you're looking at a bit more of a crap shoot. It's definitely worth a spin or a listen though and I'll be reveiwing their more recently released album the minute it comes up in my queue I promise.



I would also recommend looking up the video for 'Treat Me Like Your Mother' It wouldn't let me embed it, but it's worth seeing.

The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother****

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The Dead Weather