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Biography of The Dead Weather. The Dead Weather: psychedelic masterpieces from recognized rock geniuses The dead weather band

Nashville band The Dead Weather is a rare exception when a spontaneous experiment became a full-fledged project. Her music proves that masterpieces do not need decoration. Forget about arrangement, equalization and compression. Only studio recording, mixing and cleaning of sound, occasionally flavored with octaver.

This is the success of the group: all albums are listened to in one breath, and songs organically replace each other, so without a timer it is not always possible to say where the previous one ends and the next one begins.

New project of “old” rock stars

The Dead Weather is a supergroup. This is a traditional designation for rock bands, all of whose members have already achieved success in the musical field.

It’s difficult to characterize TDW in any other way – real monsters are involved in the project modern informal scene. Alison Mosshart from The Kills settled down behind the microphone and rhythm guitar, Jack White from The White Stripes (also don't forget about) took place behind the drum kit (periodically replacing it with lead guitar), Dean Fertita from Queens of the Stone Age took up the keys and guitar, and Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs again) seemed to be firmly attached to the bass.

The Dead Weather first made their presence known in 2009, when Jack White asked Alison Mosshart to sing a few songs for him at The Raconteurs concert. The performance of this “patty-haired hysterical witch” impressed the band’s vocalist so much that immediately after the performance he invited Alison to record several songs together.

Jack White is believed to have created The Dead Weather. However, giving all the laurels only to him is unfair. TDW is a joint project of four musicians. He could not fully exist in the absence of at least one of them.

The genre that TDW play in is mainly defined as indie rock. This category usually includes groups that mix diverse styles. TDW is no exception. Her songs intertwined gloomy garage rock, electronic (sometimes even acidic) music, psychedelic rock, surf rock, jazz parts, shaded by Alison's hoarse blues vocals and the sexy voice of Jack White (who unexpectedly exchanged his falsetto for a countertenor).

How to make a group famous in three weeks

The Dead Weather's first album, “Horehound,” amazed listeners with high-quality garage rock, flavored with keyboard parts (although we still need to figure out whether it’s a synthesizer or a guitar distorted by gadgets). It was released in July 2009 and for 10 weeks stubbornly held the 6th position on the American Billboard chart and 14th on the British Album Chart.

The musicians recorded their debut album in just 3 weeks. But the speed did not at all affect the level of the songs, and the quality of the record gives odds to many long-fought releases, usually marinated by performers for months, if not years. Wherein Jack White urged his colleagues on, saying that he had never written an album for so long.

The Dead Weather's album “Horehound” shows from the first notes how subtly the musicians feel each other. No one is rushing forward, trying to show off their playing skills or overpower the other participants with their solos.

All songs are an inseparable fusion of music and words. There are no passable things here or weak compositional segments: from the first to the last track - everything is on the level.

Second wave of success

The Dead Weather's second album, Sea of Cowards, was announced a few months after the release of the first. This time, the musicians needed much more than three weeks to record a new record: the release took place in May 2010.

To confirm that commerce bypassed The Dead Weather, Jack White streamed new tracks for 24 hours at the office. the band's website a couple of weeks before their release.

Like The Dead Weather's previous album, "Sea of Cowards" was highly praised by both music critics and fans of the quartet. The album took 5th place on the Billboard chart, and Rolling Stone magazine ranked it 11th on its list of the best albums of 2010.

The musicians themselves noted that the second album came out heavier and bluesier. It reveals a bizarre fusion of fusion, horror metal and space rock.

The calm before the spectacular comeback

After the release of the second record, the quartet fell silent for 5 long years. And in 2015 he returned to the enthusiastic squeals of fans with the new release of The Dead Weather - “Dodge and Burn”.

The third full-length record gives fans of the band the same ragged garage rock, paranoid notes of psychedelia and frantic keyboard parts.

And only the final composition suddenly surprises with its melodic sound with the classic jazz voice of Alison Mosshart. It turns out that she can not only wheeze hysterically into the microphone, but also sing quite well.

In general, The Dead Weather’s “Dodge and Burn” disc continues the anti-commercial (the recordings were again leaked by the musicians to the Internet a few days before the release), experimental and frivolous course of its creators.

From the first day of its existence until today, The Dead Weather group is a single fatal breakdown of nerves, guitar strings and synthesizer keys with a powerful, memorable sound. Their music is difficult to describe. You just need to listen to her.

Last updated: October 12th, 2017 by RockStar

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The Dead Weather is an American alternative supergroup formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2009. Featuring vocalist/guitarist Alison Mosshart from The Kills, guitarist Dean Fertit from Queens of the Stone Age, bassist Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes, and drummer/vocalist Jack White from The White Stripes and The Racounters.

Quote #1. “I wrote a great song, and literally everyone who heard it said: that’s it, it’s a hit. One problem: I tried to record it with Meg, and it didn't work out. Then he brought it to the studio of The Raconteurs - again bypassed. And what do you want us to do here?” (Jack White)

Fact No. 1. The recording of The Dead Weather's debut album, Horehound, took place in White's newly built studio in Nashville and took three weeks. In addition to Jack and Alison, the new group included guitarist Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) and bassist Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs), and White himself took the place behind the drum kit.

Detail No. 1. Jack White hasn't played drums since 1995, when he still went by the name John Gillis and played in the Detroit country-punk band Goober & the Peas.

Fact No. 2. The Dead Weather's first performance took place on March 11 at the Third Man Records record store, another of White's Nashville businesses, which opened that day. The debut of the newly minted supergroup was witnessed by 150 guests, each of whom became the owner of the single “Hang You from the Heavens” released on vinyl.

Detail No. 2. Contrary to first impressions and general opinion, the author of “Hang You from the Heavens” is not White, but Fertita and Mosshart. All the band's musicians took part in the recording of the eleven songs included in Horehound, and only one of them, “I Cut Like a Buffalo,” was written by Jack alone.

Quote #2. “Not a day went by without Jack punching me in the face. Well, not literally. But we constantly tease each other and get on each other's nerves all the time. That’s just the way our relationship is, there’s nothing we can do about it” (Alison Mosshart).

Rumor #1. In mid-May, the tabloids reported a fight between Jack and Alison that allegedly happened in a New York bar. Mosshart denied the rumor, describing it as “absurd.”

Detail No. 3. As in the case of The Raconteurs' first tour, The Dead Weather intend to compensate for the lack of their own material with covers. Their concert repertoire already includes songs by Them, Bob Dylan and Gary Numan.

Opinion No. 1. "The Dead Weather shamelessly exploit White's habit of delivering great pop hooks under the guise of overexcited garage rock" (Brand Burstyn, Q).

Opinion No. 2. “It’s clear that White can make records like this in his sleep” (Chris Campion, The Observer).