Jack White is a man of many hats. He’s fronted the legendary alt-rock band, The White Stripes, led the seminal indie rock supergroup, The Raconteurs and has even had time to establish one of the most reputable solo careers in blues rock. Now, White has reconvened the blues rock giant, The Dead Weather, from its grave since their hiatus in 2010.
With their first album out since their roaringly delirious sophomore effort, “A Sea of Cowards,” The Dead Weather has stormed the blues rock scene once again with “Dodge and Burn,” a momentous celebration of how far these four talented musicians have come since their last outing more than five years ago.
A supergroup in their respective element, the band is comprised of White on percussion and lead vocals, Alison Mosshart from The Kills on lead vocals, Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs on bass and Dean Fertita from Queens of the Stone Age on guitar. Though seemingly reaching common ground on this record, White leads his troupe through a voyage into sonic architecture that has many twists and turns.
The opening track off “Dodge and Burn,” “I Feel Love (Every Million Miles),” opens the listener to a heavily distorted blues rock progression that takes us back to where they left off in 2010. Mosshart’s enigmatic vocals provide the backbone for the number as Fertita’s rhythmically enticing lead guitar fills in in all the right places. Also notable is White’s drumming, of which would certainly give Meg White a run for her money.
One thing that makes this album remarkable is the extreme vocal prowess of Mosshart that almost sounds like Joplin in space, sending shivers down the spines of her contemporaries, hell, even her own band members. Look to “Open Up” and “Too Bad” that boast vocal heights that are rare amongst female vocalists this day and age. “Open Up,” especially features Mosshart responding to the erratic playing of Fertita’s chord structuring in one of the most bewildering pieces off the album that sounds like someone crammed Modest Mouse and Geddy Lee of Rush into one bombastic package.
Back to White for a moment. His progression from 2014’s “Lazaretto” is astronomical and one can hear the influence from this insightfully chaotic record in this attempt, especially in the orchestral ballad, “Impossible Winter,” which plays with the bluesy piano-driven rhythm similar to many pieces on “Lazaretto.”
What I find notable in this record is that White steps back from the mic in most of the selections, only shining for a few pieces. But when he sings, he hollers. In “Three Dollar Hat,” White confuses everyone, including himself, as the piece sounds like a hodgepodge of folk, hip-hop and alt-rock while boasting eclectic lyrics like “And I will stand before I surrender / I’ll fall back but I won’t be the one to say / Wait up! Where you at? / I’m so much better than that / Three dollar hat.”
While each individual member shines exclusively on their own, their energy becomes combustive when they come together to blow our expectations. On one of the best songs off the record, “Buzzkill(er),” Lawrence’s bass provides the backbone for the other band members to dance around with their tone; Mosshart snarls the chorus like nobody’s business, Fertita allows his guitar to scream with an overdriven delay that drives the song like a maniac bus driver and White beats the skins so viciously that John Bonham and Keith Moon would be proud.
As a whole, “Dodge and Burn” is head and shoulders above any alt-rock contemporaries and emits a sound that has come to re-define how White has become the insane Willy Wonka of music we have come to know and love. With Mosshart and White taking the wheel of this mind-numbing expedition, who knows where The Dead Weather will lead us next.
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