The Dead Weather Leaves Alt Rock Alive & Well

Posted on August 12, 2009 - 2:10pm by Contributing Co... What happens when four of alternative music's biggest names get together? Ask the band members of The Dead Weather. The group is comprised of veteran rockers Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and Discount), Jack White (of the The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age), and Jack Lawrence (of The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes). Formed earlier this year and revealed to the public on March 11th at the opening of White's Nashville recording studio, Third Man Records, the band joins the ranks of other 21st century supergroups like Velvet Revolver, Audioslave and A Perfect Circle. The band's first album, Horehound, which debuted at #6 on the US Billboard charts, leaves little wonder where its roots come from. The tracks are riddled with Mosshart's eclectic vocal stylings (think Janis Joplin meets Joan Jett), Fertita's multi-instrument prowess, and Lawrence's smooth guitar licks. But there is no mistaking that the beats are primarily the brainchild of White, long credited as one of the more innovative musicians of our time. Not a huge alt rock buff? It may be hard to get past the occult cover art and gun littered liner notes of Horehound. Likewise, tracks like "3 Birds" and "Bone House" should be avoided at all costs while taking any kind of anti-depressants, as side effects may include strong desires to dye your hair and paint your nails black. But it's not all gloom and despair with Horehound. On a second spin, some of the album's tracks are oddly catchy and quite lyrically sophisticated. A personal favorite, "I Cut Like a Buffalo," transports the listener to the edgier days of rock generations past. Some songs sound way too familiar? That might be because you've inevitably already heard them while developing your own living-room guitar prowess three tracks from Horehound (the more mainstream "Treat Me Like Your Mother", the dark "No Hassle Night", and the album's debut single "Hang You From the Heavens") have been available as downloadable content since the record's release on Rock Band. A final suggestion? Take Horehound for what it is a musical experiment that produced some varying, and at times surprisingly encouraging, results. For more on The Dead Weather visit: http://www.thedeadweather.com/