Jack White’s latest project is The Dead Weather. In this version of Mr. White’s band, he plays the drummer. It isn’t 10 seconds into the first track and he has put his indelible mark on this band – it’s the percussion that grabs your attention. He doesn’t let go and neither does the trio that accompanies him.
Allison Mosshart’s vocals are as good as anything she has done for The Kills. Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) manages the riffs and bends nicely, and Jack Lawrence (The Greenhornes) brings a thunderous deep end to match Jack’s sometimes indulgent drumwork.
This record belongs in the collection of anyone who has put on Led Zeppelin II for the 1000th time and thought to themselves, “Man, this record is great.” If you need further evidence of that proposition check out the video for “I Cut Like a Buffalo” below.
Horehound dials in classic hard rock at its finest while also tipping the hat to each of Jack’s prior projects (‘cept maybe the one with Loretta Lynn). As we should expect by now, Mr. White does have a talent for making everything old new again. The record stomps its way through 8 tracks before taking a moment to get mid-tempo (and a bit spacey) with the instrumental “3 Birds”. The rumble returns with “No Hassle Tonight” and the record ends nicely with the bluesiest track of the bunch – “Will There Be Enough Water” (for which we already posted the video).
Yes, there’s a lot of hype behind this record, but it’s hard to say no. Here comes the cliche…The Dead Weather has taken us by storm.
by Gunter Grass. All are welcome.
