Say what you like about Jack White, he’s prolific. Currently, The White Stripes guy is in three groups, is working on a solo album, producing any number of smaller bands, wrote the last Bond theme and has started his own record label, for which he does A&R and packaging (as well as having opened a record shop to sell it all in).
The third of these bands, The Dead Weather, come across as a sort of cross between the Stripes and The Raconteurs but, sadly, without the naivete of the former and even more sadly with the sweaty, nonsensically posturing rock fluff of the latter. Fronted by The Kills’ Alison Mosshart, with White on drums (which are so high in the mix it’s hard to think of another word but egotistical), Horehound is a debut that often tries too hard to be rebellious. Hang You From The Heavens is the group’s stock trade, but PJ Harvey (who Mosshart idolises) and, heck, even The Kills themselves have made better singles.
Crucially, it’s the blatantly “White” tracks that work best. Slower numbers such as opener 60 Feet Tall and closer Will There Be Enough Water are impressively experimental and freeform. But meandering, nearjazz grooves such as 3 Birds repel the modern listener. Even the vamped-up Dylan cover, New Pony, can’t excuse those.
