The Dead Weather : Horehound :: Review
Jack White is a man of many hats and many attempted musical genres. Having satisfied himself with conquering rock music in both The White Stripes and to a lesser effect, The Raconteurs, White has decided to expand his realm of influence on deep blues, garage and pscyhedelia and why not? White was documented as inventing country music in the unbearable film “Cold Mountain” and inserts himself in the upcoming guitar god film “It’s Going To Get Loud” so it seems obvious that he thinks highly enough of himself to create another super group. The Dead Weather features himself on drum kit, Alison Mosshart on vocals (The Kills), Jack Lawrence on bass (Raconteurs), Dean Fertita, guitars (Queens of the Stone Age).
However as much as I’d like to slag him off completely, it can be said that those previous projects carried a listenable tune. On The Dead Weather’s debut, it appears obvious that yes-men obliged White and his cronies with every whim on “Horehound.” Nothing musically palatable surrounds this album leaving it to be this summer’s first musical bomb. Perhaps it’s Mosshart’s vocals that try my patience…I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that the songs contained within are sub par garage and blues excusions that wouldn’t pass muster on open mic night at a local dive. Maybe it’s feeling of dread they both conjure as the album tediously spins on.
The rudimentary blues licks that open “60 Feet Tall” on Dead Weather’s debut album, “Horehound” feel like castoffs from the last White Stripes album. “60 Feet Tall” features a lot of sturm und drang but no emotional connection. “Hang You From The Heavens” follows suit and as demonstrated live on Conan O’Brien, the bluesy posturing fails to raise an eyebrow. The call and refrain track, “I Cut Like A Buffalo” is extremely annoying – don’t let anyone try to tell you it’s not.
By now, listening to this album seems to be a chore but I do it for you, dear readers, all 3 of you. Both the pretentiously named “Bone House” and “3 Birds” feature the same whirring introduction as if someone at the desk fell asleep while recording this abomination. “3 Birds” doesn’t even know what it wants to be as it sounds like a track The Ghastly Ones would have farted out and then left off any of their albums. As the night wears on and my patience grows thin, the weary blues duet of “Will There Be Enough Water” couldn’t have come fast enough. It meanders to and from and provides an escape from the nonsense that preceded it.
The only positive thing I can say about The Dead Weather is that hopefully it’s a one-off and that White will return to his day job quickly.
Rating: 
