The Dead Weather - Horehound (Album)

Jack White is an extraordinarily busy man. Already juggling two bands, a second job as a producer, and apparently due to record a solo album, he’s decided he wants to be part of a third band. This time he’s teamed up with Allison Mosshart (The Kills), Dean Fertiga (Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) to form The Dead Weather.

Even without knowing which individuals have created Horehound, it’s pretty guessable. This is a record which sounds like the sum of its parts. In reality, this is no bad thing. White’s predilection for sludgy blues dovetails perfectly with Mosshart’s menacing drawl, and the added ingredient of a QOTSA member gives the sound a welcome harder edge.

The record was recorded over the course of three weeks back in January, an approach which suits its aesthetic absolutely perfectly. The whole thing feels raw and spontaneous. Spending six months pondering over every infinite detail and buffing out every little imperfection would have sucked the life out of it. As it is, the breakneck recording process, as well as White’s bang-on production, give Horehound the live feel which is a major feature in the best White Stripes records.

It’s clear that Jack White is not ‘just the drummer’ here. His fingerprints are all over the record, even if his characteristic yelp is used sparingly. When he does sing though, he sounds like a man reinvigorated. On ‘Rocking Horse’, for example, his voice is more vital and alive than we’ve heard it since Elephant. Clearly, working with Mosshart, one of the most captivating and charismatic women in rock, has brought out the best in him. The album is never better than when the two cut loose with their duelling vocals as they do on ‘Treat Me Like Your Mother’.

Horehound may feel familiar, but there’s still room for experimentation. The album is full of interesting ideas. There are plenty of weird effects-laden guitar riffs (presumably Fertiga’s doing), and some fantastic doomy organ on ‘Cut Like a Buffalo’. Instrumental ‘3 Birds’ is in itself a break from the norm on the album, with creepy guitar tones weaving in and out of acoustic chords which sound like they are desperately trying to escape the air of malevolence which hangs over the whole album.

The very fact that this record involves four such talented people coming together to produce something in a tightly constricted timeframe threatens the occasional bout of self-indulgence. Really, how could it not? Horehound’s protagonists have between them been responsible for countless millions of record sales, so it’s understandable that at times they would want to showcase their own individual talents. Fortunately, the moments of excess are mostly reigned in, and instead you get the sense that the band is just messing around and enjoying themselves.

If this collaboration had come about six or seven years back at the peak of garage rock mania, the music press would have probably had a collective heart attack. As it is, the Dead Weather have managed to slip this out with little hype, freeing themselves of the weight of expectation and the album sounds fresher for it. It’s an impressive piece of work and more than lives up to the reputations of those involved in its creation.