The Dead Weather "Sea of Cowards"

I never quite understood the success
of the White Stripes. Then the Raconteurs project raised an eyebrow, but no thanks. When I heard that Jack White had a new group called the Dead Weather last year, I did not even give it a chance. While attending a movie at the Enzian, a teaser for a documentary comes on, It Might Get Loud, with Jimmy Page, the Edge, and...Jack White? Wha, wha what? What were these two legendary guitarists doing in the same zip code as this White kid, much less a film? So after witnessing this unusual chemistry between these two "dads" and the "son", I felt like I owed the new Dead Weather record a shot. Upon first listen, I am stunned. Where the hell did this come from? The second spin took place on the way to Tennessee for Bonnaroo, and I'm excited to see them live. Please see the earlier post to get my take on them at Bonnaroo. And now when I play "Cowards", I hear so many old rock influences, in no particular order: Cream, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Big Brother Holding Co., Bloodrock...there's tape hiss, recording distortion, needles dropping onto vinyl...stop me. Wow. I had never heard of the Kills, and after a little aural research, had not missed much. But Alison Mosshart is a certified rock star singer in Dead Weather. Jack White doesn't even play guitar, he's on drums! Well, he came out from behind the kit for two songs at Bonnaroo and displayed truly inspired fret work. The regular six-stringer is some guy who has been credited to QOTSA, but I had never heard of him. But let me assure you he is no slouch, either. I could go on, but I'll stop now and say that "Sea of Cowards" is right now the best Rock record of 2010 so far. It is so good that the ol' Mad Rocker is even going to go backwards and get "Horehound" from last year. Those of you who know me realize that is a BIG Deal!