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THE DEAD WEATHER: A SUPERGROUP THAT WORKS

Supergroup. A word so loaded with wrongness and potential musical evil that its mere utterance is enough to send fans sprinting for the hills. But for every dozen abominations--hello Velvet Revolver and Tinted Windows--there’s usually one collective enterprise that actually works. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young weren’t bad, after all. Neither were A Perfect Circle, nor Broken Social Scene.

The signs for The Dead Weather were auspicious from the start. Formed by John Anthony Gillis, better known as Jack White III, frontman for the White Stripes, the band includes Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs , Alison Mosshart from The Kills and Dean Ferita, keyboardist for Queens of the Stone Age. And instead of leading the band, White is reverting back to his original instrument: the drums. That's got to make you curious, at least.
 
Recorded live over a few months with barely any editing, "Horehound", the group's debut album, is a decidedly decadent affair: a sweaty, stuttering, bluesy morass muddied by Ferita’s insistent, churning organ, Lawrence’s buzzing, fuzzy guitar and White’s expansive, roiling drums.

It feints with a slow but grinding opener, "60 Feet Tall," which explodes into fireworks only towards the end. This makes the menacing “Hang You From The Heavens” the real starting point, and also the point where Mosshart begins to dominate, delivering lyrics like “I’d like to grab you by the hair / and sell you off to the devil” with a compelling mix of sensuality and retributive anger.
 
While White’s distinctive brand of swampy southern-goth blues is pervasive even from the back of the room, Mosshart--notorious for giving The Kills their sassy edge--morphs into a snake-hipped femme fatale, exaggerating her trademark sexy purrs and sensual sighs. Her song "So Far from Your Weapon," is one of the album's highlights. Other treats include the White-penned “Cut Like A Buffalo,” the incendiary “Treat Me Like Your Mother” and an exhilarating, grungy cover of Bob Dylan's "New Pony".

It's true that the looseness that lends these songs spontaneity and expressive force occasionally descends into insipid jamming (eg, “No Hassle Night,” "Bone House" and “Three Birds”). But "Horehound" ultimately reminds us that supergroups can, sometimes at least, be more than just ephemeral aggregations of super-egos.

"Horehound" (WEA/Reprise) by The Dead Weather, out now

~ PAUL SULLIVAN

Picture Credit: p_a_h (via Flickr)