The Dead Weather have no right to suck

The Dead Weather have no right to suck

The Dead Weather - Horehound

Text by: Brittany Kemp

The Dead Weather have all the components of a supergroup, a composite of awesomeness with elements from the Kills, the White Stripes, the Raconteurs and Queens of the Stone Age. Essentially, the Dead Weather have no right to suck, at all.

And on their first album, Horehound, they do not. Well, mostly. There are some places where the listener is left thinking Jack White and his crew could have done a better, less sloppy job.

The Dead Weather is led by the vocal stylings of Alison Mosshart, who employs the sort of bluesy howl perfected by her work with the Kills and against the roar of Dean Fertita's guitar. White sits in on the drums (How badly can he cheat on Meg now? He's even taking over her instrument!), but his familiar voice comes in on tracks such as "Treat Me Like Your Mother," which is arguably one of the best cuts on the album (and the second major single after the asskick that is "Hang You From the Heavens"). Jack Lawrence, a shoo-in from both the Raconteurs and Greenhornes, fills out the remainder as the bassist.

It's really something of an orgasmic "dream team" - the comparisons between the Kills and the White Stripes have been coming, near and far, for ages, but it takes the sound of both bands and adds something grittier to the mix. A popular tag for the band on last.fm reads "stoner rock" and it's not that far from the truth, judging by sometimes nonsensical or just plain bewildering lyrics that decorate the album from time to time.

For example, "I Cut Like A Buffalo" - how does a buffalo cut, exactly?

"60 Feet Tall" begins things with a trip into blues-inspired psychedelia, like treading deep into the bayou on acid. An (albeit unexpected) cover of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?" isn't a bad take on things, either. It's somewhat scatterbrained, but Mosshart's voice haunts and echos through your head from the first listen on. When she announces, "I don't think it meant anything to you," you find yourself in silent protest. "Rocking Horse" is a hypnotic Southwestern detour, more reminiscent of a White Stripes song than anything else.

But one of the undoubtedly best tracks to be found is the also equine "New Pony," which stands to be one of those songs from 2009 you just can't miss. Every member of the Weather seems to get into it, chanting along to their leaders' snarls. The song curdles with real, sexual rawness.

"Horehound" can get monotonous, as the style stays the same on almost every song. It's easy to forget "3 Birds" and "Bone House," but "No Hassle Night" was designed for an evening with the thick heat of summer pushing in languor. "Will There Be Enough Water?" draws in an ending that's slow as molasses and plays up the friction between the band members, which is the best possible way to end things.

Each member brings something from their respective origins to the collaboration, whether it's something hard rock or something struggling to be called "blues." "Horehound" gets off on a meandering high note and then kicks the door down with something just as tenuous.

Still, the Dead Weather, as much as it pleases (and pleases it does, 3 out of 4 times), can frustrate. When, the listener is left to muse, Will White stop playing around with these side projects and reunite with Meg for another studio album? The Dead Weather's storm, in the time being, will rage on as they embark on a tour that (unfortunately) bypassed our neck of the woods.

HEAR: "New Pony," "Hang You From the Heavens," "Treat Me Like Your Mother."



www.thedeadweather.com