The Dead Weather's Sea of Cowards

Rating: 86

Track List:
1. Blue Blood Blues
2. Hustle and Cuss
3. The Difference Between Us
4. I’m Mad
5. Die By The Drop
6. I Can’t Hear You
7. Gasoline
8. No Horse
9. Looking At The Invisible Man
10. Jawbreaker
11. Old Mary

Jack White and I go back a long way, about nine years to be exact. My sophomore year in high school was the year I befriended my musical mentor, and the Stripes’ White Blood Cells was one of the first albums I truly fell in love with. My love was and is so thorough that getting my hands on every piece of Jack’s diverse repertoire was simply not enough. I found it necessary to indelibly etch a peppermint swirl on my now favorite patch of skin, my only tattoo to date. Since my induction, I went on to enjoy not only five more White Stripes LPs, but also The Go’s Whatcha Doin’?, both Raconteurs LPs, every Upholsterers’ and Goober & the Peas (yeah, that’s right) track I could find, Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose and even his forays into film including Cold Mountain and Coffee & Cigarettes. So imagine my surprise when I heard of yet another project, The Dead Weather. Like his shtick of staying in the back of The Raconteurs’ press photos, Jack allegedly plays a background role as he returns to his original instrument, the drums. Although really, it seems a lot more like everybody’s playing everything. And let’s be honest, who else could possibly be responsible for “all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service?”

The Dead Weather are a supergroup in every sense of the term, excepting the implication of laziness (lookin’ at you, Monsters of Folk). Alison Mosshart (The Kills) took the lion’s share of vocal duties on the debut but on this LP it is sometimes impossible to tell who’s singing. In addition to vocals, Mosshart splits guitar work with Jacks White and Lawrence (The Raconteurs) and lastly we have Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) on damn near everything, but mostly bass and synth. The key difference between The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs is the energy. Don’t get me wrong, I have little bad to say about The Raconteurs, but it certainly falls more into the overly comfortable lazy trappings that ensnare so many less-than-supergroups. Most similar to The Kills, The Dead Weather kicks out dirty, grungy, Detroit rock city throwback jams that should make veterans like MC5 or Iggy & the Stooges stand and salute. Naturally, Horehound caught my and most critics attention, but Sea of Cowards should quell any doubts of this group’s verity.

If there’s any real difference between Horehound and Sea of Cowards, it’s that the former had more obvious singles like “I Cut Like a Buffalo” and “Treat Me Like Your Mother.” This album’s lack of standouts speaks more to its consistency than really being a drawback. The Dead Weather just feel more defined as opposed to sounding like talented musicians from different bands. Second albums are make or break, and Sea of Cowards is proof enough that The Dead Weather are very much alive. But it’s more than consistency, it’s authenticity. This music is not about singles, it’s about gut shaking guitar solos and bass so thick you have to look around for the nearest toilet. It really seems like there is a tactical absence of the glorious propensity for hooks or choruses or anything that might water this music down. At this point, Mosshart and White have done enough to establish their legitimacy, this project is just the opportunity they both needed to really sound off. It really must be nice to be so genuinely badass that recording a jam session this self-indulgent can produce such effortless brilliance. Jack has never been one to labor over his recordings, usually banging them out in a week or two, but it’s never sloppy. How can you not love that?