Jack White switches musical gears with the Dead Weather
You gotta admit Jack White never wears out his welcome. Right as the White Stripes’ garage blues was catching on, he switched musical gears to put out an eloquent country album with Loretta Lynn. Then, he threw himself into the neo-garage Raconteurs, sharing front man duties with Brendan Benson, playing second fiddle even though he’s clearly the superior guitarist and more charismatic singer. Now, with Dead Weather, which has just issued its debut, Horehound, he’s changed his tack again.
White plays drums in the band, singing on occasion but leaving most of the lead vocal duties to the Kills’ Alison Mosshart, who groans with all kinds of sex appeal on the disc’s 11 songs. The album starts with the sparse, PJ Harvey-like “60 Feet Tall” and then continues to evoke a Harvey vibe with the lurching “Hang You From the Heavens,” a tune that finds Mosshart moaning “I want to grab you by the hair/hang you from the heavens” like she’s some kind of demon. Recorded at Third Man, White’s new Nashville studio, the album’s more refined than most of the Stripes’ discs, which White also recorded. “I Cut Like a Buffalo,” which White sings, features a balance of old school organ and hiccupping vocals. “So Far from Your Weapon” starts slow and finishes strong, Mosshart delivering soulful vocals that could rival Patti Smith for sheer power. White and Mosshart share vocals on the grungy “Rocking Horse,” and the guys muddy things up on the woozy “New Pony.” The instrumental “3 Birds” shows just how well the guys can groove. White’s said he intends to make another White Stripes’ album. But let’s hope that doesn’t mean the Dead Weather is just a one-off. These guys have great chemistry (and the fact that they’re touring behind this disc suggests the group’s going to have some life past Horehound).
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Tags: alison mosshart, jack white, the dead weather, white stripes