Horehound

Dirty, sexy Jack White and his all-star friends get even grittier with the Dead Weather's growling album Horehound.

Imagine leaving a dive bar on a steamy, hot Texas night with a boy you just met and will probably never see again, and you’ve captured the vibe of epic supergroup the Dead Weather. This garage-rock mishmash of the White Stripes (Jack White), the Kills (Alison Mosshart), the Raconteurs (Jack Lawrence), and Queens of the Stone Age (Dean Fertita) is pure seduction, from the blues-tinged sleaze of Fertita’s guitars to Mosshart’s sultry growl. Even White’s rhythms—yep, he’s on drums this time—exude dirty, sweaty sex. Tracks like the sludgy “I Cut Like a Buffalo” and dark-synth-filled “Bone House” pulse and explode over lusty slow jams “So Far From Your Weapon” and “Rocking Horse,” erupting into a screamy climax just when you think the tension will kill you. Sure, this sort of Led Zeppelin–evoking, sensual blues/garage rock has been done before, and by Jack White nonetheless. But Horehound is so raw and visceral that you can’t help but fall instantly in love. Or lust, as the case may be.