This will be fairly random, unorganised and probably very patchy. But this is the account of my first listen through the Dead Weathers first album, Horehound.
(note: on each track, I'll write only what I have time for before the song finishes)
1. 60 Feet Tall
Hmm, a quiet rumbling opening which dissolves into a shy bluesy, delayed guitar riff with an equally timid clattering of percussion every bar or so... and then.. THUMP of the bass drum and Alison Mosshart's shrowded singing "You're so cruel and shameless/but can't leave you be/you're so cold and dangerous/can't leave you be". By the mid of the next verse the bass and drums explode in confidence to really pick the song up into a steady, really enjoyable groove, which (in typical White Stripes style) is dropped between verses. The song is building, and slowly losing control. The theme of the opener seems to be build-and-relax, build-and-relax, each time getting more chaotic, and it's freakin' awesome.
2. Hang from Heaven
Ooo, the drums certainly have found their confidence, driving this track along with the bass and high hat accompanied with guitar which has forgotten it's stumbling opening and drags the song by the neck like it's a petulant child with a legato, distorted two-note theme. Aaand, songs over. It was cool though!
3. I Cut Like a Buffalo
A modest organ opening, that turns into a staccato reggae influenced theme on the beat. Holy crap, this is an awesome change: the momentum of the album has again built and varied wonderfully on the ideas in the opening tracks into a wicked pounding mess of vocals, percussion and organ with (as said) obvious reggae influences. Once again, the drums are the main ingredient in creating the pulse of the song, with the bass interrupting to fill the spaces between the organ and vocal outbursts. I can make out between the squealing (literally) vocals lines such as "Yaknow I love like a woman but I cut like a buffalo... woke me up with it's broke/only if it's broken. Cut a record on my throat/but the records not broken" My favourite track so far. It has hella muscle.
4. So Far From Your Weapon
And...phew, a moment to breath. The tone is lowered, and the razor edge sound blunted (slightly) for a grudging sneer of an opening. The drums are more menacing than boisterous, the organs are churning and the guitar brooding underneath the mix. The character of this song teems through the speakers, it is slower, and dangerous. The one idea I get from this song, more than any other, is that you do not want to mess with Alison Mosshart, she'll cut you. A great song to listen to when you're pissed off: "You wanna get on let go/I said no/You wanna get on, let go" as the chorus goes.
5. Treat Me Like Your Mother.
Bang, after taking a moment to poise themselves, the sass is back. An explosion of drum and an organ before Alison jumps on the mic and tears the shit up with Jack as her Flavor Flav, jumping in with "who has got it figured out/left-right-left-right/play straight/try to manipulate" and by far the coolest line of the record so far "You think when you breath, and you breath when you lie". This song is all over the place, it's upbeat, it's chaotic, and it's pretty freaking fun. I'm loving the interrupted rhythms that they're using so far and... holy crap, the first abrupt mid-song change of the song, the rhythm picking up and starts pounding in a Mint Chick.. wai.. shit.. the changes are coming thick and fast, I can't keep up this song is moving at such a frantic pace. It seems The Dead Weather are turning out to be an example of musicians with experience enough to know how to perfectly craft a song and bend it to their will, whenever they feel like it... Sass is the word my friends, sass. This song would slay live.
Pt. II to come.
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