In the midst of 2009, rising from the ashes of rocks most important groups, The Dead Weather formed and they just happen to be one of the most important supergroups to emerge in the last year, maybe even in the last decade. Comprising of Alison Mosshart on vocals (of The Kills and Discount), Jack White (of The Raconteurs and The White Stripes), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (of The Greenhornes and The Raconteurs). In March 2009, doing an impromptu gig at Jack Whites studio and home of his record label, Third Man Records, The Dead Weather performed their first ‘unofficial’ show. A mere two and a half weeks later they had begun writing material and recording the basis of their first album, Horehound. White famously said, “There was no time to think about what it was… It just was”. I think this sums up the bands ethos, an almost organised chaos.
Horehound is such a formulation of angst and aggression that when I first heard the opening track, '60 Feet Tall'; I knew this was something far more than special. The repetitive riff, slowly building up until Mossharts piercing and recognisable vocals kicks in, which for me, screamed a progression of The Kills and Raconteur’s recognisable sound. 'Hang You From The Heavens' is the follow up track, again it’s a dark and disturbing number, decorated with unorthodox drumming and lashings of heavily distorted guitar riffs. They also make their mark with a demonic cover of a Bob Dylan record, 'New Pony'. The song becomes almost unrecognisable, when Mosshart repeatedly chants, “I have a Pony, and her name is Lucifer”.
As this is their debut album, the group have structured their set list for live performances around the album track listing. When I saw them perform in autumn of last year, Alison Mosshart alone was impossible not to get fixated on; her almost Satanic pose on the stage made her a force to be reckoned with. Jack White, cool, as ever, played effortlessly on drums in the background whilst Dean and Little Jack Lawrence stood either side of the stage emitting a certain tone you would only own if you were a member of The Dead Weather. Everything, even down to the instruments oozed style, a complete white and gold set of Gretsch guitars offset by the black leather attire. To finish off a perfect track list, they performed the closing title from the album. An eerie number called 'Will There Be Enough Water', whereby Mosshart and White duet perfectly.
The final thing I can really say about this album and more importantly this group is… experience them as soon as humanly possible, either through your record player or at a live performance, as they are, like I said earlier, one of the most important groups you may ever see.
