The Dead Weather

Dodge And Burn

(Third Man)

I had always believed that The Dead Weather, a band sparked by accident when Jack White lost his voice during a Raconteurs gig and asked Alison Mosshart of support act The Kills to step in, was nothing more than a spur-of-the-moment side project, filled out by Raconteurs bassist Jack Lawrence and Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist/keyboardist Dean Fertita.

But with White enjoying his stint behind the drum kit, it would appear that The Dead Weather are a going concern: this is album number three, one more than The Raconteurs or White in solo form have managed to release.

Right from the first, fizzing, Led Zep-style notes of I Feel Love (Every Million Miles), Dodge And Burn tightens the loose nuts that made its predecessor, 2010's Sea Of Cowards, a more experimental affair. The band can still light a Zappa firecracker, as on Three Dollar Hat, and the duetting vocals on Rough Detective lean a little too closely to the parody of Electric Six's Danger! High Voltage. But otherwise this album is more focused, as it relishes the funky peacock strut of Buzzkill(er) and full-on organ licks of Be Still. As a bluesy outlet for musical power and aggression, The Dead Weather frequently dwarf The Black Keys and Royal Blood.

Alan Morrison