Dead Weather's Horehound Looks at Relationships in Black...

How often does a CD cover accurately portray the music inside? Take a look at The Dead Weather's Horehound and you'll get the idea right off the bat. Alison Mosshart in leather gloves, her mouth open in a pained grimace, her eyes obscured by her hair hanging well below her eyes -- even she can't bear to watch what's coming. This is black-and-white music, hard and with an edge -- make that with edges all over the place, lyrically and musically. The guitars and drums and cymbals and bass and even most of the vocals are defined throughout; you can hear the edges and if you look close enough you can see them, too. Because from beginning to end the CD sounds like it's played against a black background, not a quiet background but a silent one. Maybe in a cave. At night. And maybe that's a good thing because whatever there is to look at isn't pretty.

But that doesn't mean it isn't good.

It all starts with "60 Feet Tall," where Jack White's drumstick clacks and rolls on the rim respond to Dean Fertita's rubber-band guitar riffs before Mosshart exclaims "I can take the trouble, I can take you on...I'm 60 feet tall" and there's no question you believe her...or at least you'd better believe her -- she's clearly not trying to convince herself. But the point is not her threat, it's that her threat is necessary in what is a dangerous relationship for both parties. Fertita wrestles the guitar and his strong leads support Mosshart's warnings while White drives full speed ahead, battering the drums. Nice stuff.

White again handles the drums (they're his weapon of choice on this set) on "Hang You From the Heavens," where "I like to grab you by the hair" is followed by "and hang you up from the heavens" or, in another verse, "drag you to the devil."

Is anyone unclear about what's going on here?

White's only solo-penned song, where he takes the lead vocal (and which sounds not just a little White Stripish) is "I Cut Like a Buffalo," where he accuses, "You cut a record on my throat, but the record's not broken," asking three times "Is that you choking" before finishing with "Or are you just joking?"

Funny?

In "Treat Me Like Your Mother" Mosshart isn't kind to her lover... or mothers in general ... where she challenges "C'mon look me in the eye, You want to try to tell a lie? I bet you can't and do you know why? I'm just like your mother." Following that she spells out m-a-n-i-p-u-l-a-t-e then pointedly accuses "You blink when you breathe, and you breathe when you lie, You blink when you lie."

What kind of relationships are these people having, anyway?

These supergroups (admittedly a lousy term for a group of artists who have performed successfully in other bands) often don't work out, especially over the long haul. White is from the White Stripes and The Raconteurs, Mosshart is from The Kills, Fertita played with Queens of the Stone Age, and Jack Lawrence partnered with White in The Raconteurs. But based on Horehound these four players seem to not only bring some of their individuality to the sound, they generate something among themselves, creating an energy that underlies the music. Who brings what is unclear, but Mosshart's distinctive, authoritative voice (hearing her demand, "Come over here pony!" gives a whole new meaning to Bob Dylan's obscure "New Pony") clearly separates this band for other Jack White projects -- and make no mistake White's influences are evident throughout. But that's not a bad thing as he's got more than enough ideas to go around.

What's essential, and what The Dead Weather seems to offer, is bandmates who are partners and who are willing to encourage (and put up with) the give and take some of the best bands and band leaders need. Just a look at the song credits hints that there's something going on as 10 original songs are written by seven combinations of the four musicians.

As for what's really going on, maybe we're all best left in the dark about that...at least until the next The Dead Weather CD.