Audio By Carbonatix
Artist: The Dead WeatherTitle: Sea of CowardsRelease date: May 11Label: Third Man
I’ve read more than a couple of references to The Dead Weather as Jack White’s third-best band. Hmm. Really? Granted, I’ve heard only bits and pieces of The Dead Weather’s debut record, Horehound, and White’s other side project (and, presumably, second-best band) The Raconteurs, but I think Sea of Cowards is pretty great.
No, make that really great. Of the 100 or so records I’ve listened to in 2010, only a handful have left me excited to hear them again. Sea of Cowards is one of them.
It’s a brief, extemporaneous-sounding, and mysterious collection of cinematic, menacing, and bound-for-Hell blues tunes.
As you might expect, White is the star on Sea of Cowards, singing lead on many of the songs and sharing lead vocals with The Kills’ Allison Mosshart on the others. And when they do sing together, their vocal interplay is explosive. Mosshart rarely gets the mic all to herself. But when she does come in, her gutsy voice is both soulful and tortured. Even though White technically the drummer in The Dead Weather, his blistering guitar-playing is all over Sea of Cowards. White is clearly running the show here, and that’s okay. When he cuts loose, he’s at this best, and this is the best White record since 2003’s Elephant.
Heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin, hard rock, Bo Diddley’s Black Gladiator era, and desperate blues, The Dead Weather has tapped into a weird sort of alchemy. And they’ve whipped up a the best combination of heavy, funky, sexy, and dangerous that I’ve heard this year. What that formula is, it’s a highly unstable compound, as all the best rock ‘n’ roll is.
Best song: “Die by the Drop,” but there is no filler here.Rotation: HeavyDeja vu: The soundtrack to a blaxploitation movie.I’d rather listen to: Bo Diddley’s Black Gladiator and White Stripes’ Elephant, but nothing from this year.Grade: A
“Nothing Not New” is a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about it. Why? Because in the words of his editor, Martin Cizmar, he suffers from “aesthetic atrophy,” a wasting away of one’s ability to embrace new and different music as one ages. Read more about this all-too-common ailment here.
The “Nothing Not New” Archives
May 10 — The National: High Violet (B+)
May 7 — Shapiro: Shapiro (C)May 6 — Gogol Bordello: Trans-Continental Hustle (C-)May 5 — Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record (A-)May 4 — The New Pornographers: Together (B-)May 3 — The Hold Steady: Heaven Is Whenever (A-)
April 30 — Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: I Learned the Hard Way (A)April 29 — Hole: Nobody’s Daughter (D+)April 28 — Odds ‘n’ Sods: Toro y Moi, Merle Haggard, Freedy Johnston, and moreApril 27 — Unnatural Helpers: Cracked Love & Other Drugs (B+)April 26 — Harlan T. Bobo: Sucker (A-)
April 23 — Roky Erickson and Okkervil River: True Love Cast Out All Evil (A-)April 22 — Caribou: Swim (D)April 21 — The Apples in Stereo: Travellers in Space and Time (C-)April 20 — Jakob Dylan: Women + Country (D+)April 19 — Cornershop: Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast (C)
April 16 — Frightened Rabbit: The Winter of Mixed Drinks (B+)April 15 — Coheed and Cambria: Year of the Black Rainbow (D-)April 14 — Foxy Shazam: Foxy Shazam (D, later changed to a B)April 13 — MGMT: Congratulations (B+)April 12 — Odds ‘n’ Sods: Robyn Hitchcock, RJD2, Scorpions, and More
April 9 — Murder by Death: Good Morning, Magpie (B-)April 8 — Harlem: Hippies (C+)April 7 — Slow Club: Yeah, So (B)April 6 — Black Francis: NonStopErotik (B+)April 5 — Growing: Pumps! (F)
April 2 — Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs: Medicine County (B)April 1 — Dum Dum Girls: I Will Be (A-)March 31 — The Dillinger Escape Plan: Option Paralysis (B+)March 30 — Local Natives: Gorilla Manor (B)March 29 — The Bird and the Bee: Interpreting the Masters: Hall & Oates (C)
March 26 — Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Rush to Relax (C+)March 25 — Let’s Wrestle: In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s (B)March 24 — Goldfrapp: Head First (D)March 23 — She & Him: Volume 2 (A-)March 22 — Broken Bells: Broken Bells (C+)
March 19 — Locksley: Be In Love (B)March 18 — jj: jj no. 3 (C-)March 17 — Xiu Xiu: Dear God, I Hate Myself (D+)March 16 — Drive By Truckers: The Big To-Do (B-)March 15 — April Smith and the Great Picture Show: Songs for a Sinking Ship (C)
March 12 — The Morning Benders: Big Echo (C+)March 11 — Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Beat the Devil’s Tattoos (B)March 10 — Acrassicauda: Only the Dead See the End of War (C-)March 9 — Titus Andronicus: The Monitor (B+)March 8 — Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: The Brutalist Bricks (A)
March 5 — Liars: Sisterworld (A-)March 4 — Gorillaz: Plastic Beach (A-)March 3 — Johnny Cash: American VI: Ain’t No Grave (B+)March 2 — High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine (C)March 1 — Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me (C)
Feb. 26 — Freeway & Jake One: The Stimulus Package (D)Feb. 25 — Past Lives: Tapestry of Webs (B-)Feb. 24 — Shout Out Louds: Work (B)Feb. 23 — Brian Jonestown Massacre: Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? (B+)Feb. 22 — Shearwater: The Golden Archipelago (D+)
Feb. 19 — The Strange Boys: Be Brave (B+)Feb. 18 — Tindersticks: Falling Down a Mountain (A)Feb. 17 — Lightspeed Champion: Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You (C-)Feb. 16 — Adam Green: Minor Love (B-)Feb. 15 — Juliana Hatfield: Peace & Love (B+)
Feb. 12 — Massive Attack: Heligoland (C-)Feb. 11 — The Watson Twins: Talking to You, Talking to Me (C-)Feb. 10 — Hot Chip: One Life Stand (B+)Feb. 9 — You Say Party! We Say Die!: XXXX (B+)Feb. 8 — Allison Moorer: Crows (B)
Feb. 5 — Joe Pug: Messenger (C)Feb. 4 — The Soft Pack: The Soft Pack (A)Feb. 3 — Polysics: Absolute Polysics (B-)Feb. 2 — Pierced Arrows: Descending Shadows (A-)Feb. 1 — The Brunettes: Paper Doll (B-)
Jan. 29 — Basia Bulat: Heart of My Own (C)Jan. 28 — Priestess: Prior to the Fire (B)Jan. 27 — The Magnetic Fields: Realism (B)Jan. 26 — Four Tet: There Is Love in You (D)Jan. 25 — Delphic: Acolyte (C+)
Jan. 22 — The Hot Rats: Turn Ons (B+)Jan. 21 — Los Campesinos!: Romance Is Boring (A-)Jan. 20 — Midlake: The Courage of Others (D-)Jan. 19 — Laura Veirs: July Flame (B+)Jan. 18 — Beach House: Teen Dream (C)
Jan. 15 — Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM (B)Jan. 14 — OK Go: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (D)Jan. 13 — Eels: End Times (A-)Jan. 12 — Spoon: Transference (B)Jan. 11 — Editors: In This Light and On This Evening (D+)
Jan. 8 — Surfer Blood: Astro Coast (B+)Jan. 7 — Yeasayer: Odd Blood (C-)Jan. 6 — Cold War Kids: Behave Yourself EP (B+)Jan. 5 — Vampire Weekend: Contra (D+)Jan. 4 — Texas Tornados: Está Bueno! (B)
Jan. 1 — Scanners: Submarine (B-)
