Seattle Subsonic - Rants
Killing the Dead
So Jack White has a(nother) new music project…yay. If you haven’t heard about it yet, just listen for the tell-tale squeals of the radio DJs, or wait for the sure-sell magazine covers. If it weren’t for the King of Pop’s untimely demise, they’d already be there. This time, Jack’s called his project the Dead Weather. Their “debut” album Horehound, releases Tuesday, July 14th. Seems like the paler Mr. White gets, the more transparent his work is. Personally I feel like I’ve heard it all before so it’s a little tough for me to refer to this as a debut of any kind. If you’re still chasing the Raconteur wagon, don’t worry, you’ll get more of the same slugging blues, but this time, add a little Queens of the Stone Age to it as QOTSA guitarist Dean Fertita recycles some old riffs through a new hollow-body guitar.
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I initially thought the inclusion of the Kills’ Alison Mosshart would bring some life to the Dead Weather. The chain-smoking siren exudes all that is sultry when performing dark and tawdry Kills songs. Her work on the power-duo’s latest release, Midnight Boom, is the absolute pinnacle of their discography. Unfortunately, she has been leashed and caged in her new setting with vocals that are less her own and more of an emulation of what Jack White most likely sang to her in the first place. The catalyst for Mosshart’s involvement came when the Kills were supporting the Racontuers on tour and due to injury and bronchitis, Alison filled in lead vocals to finish the tour. These origins are painfully obvious in the bands single, Hang You From the Heavens, where Mosshart’s staccato delivery sounds like a White impersonation rather than original vocals. It becomes even more pronounced when White joins in as “backup” which is essentially just the same vocals laid on two tracks.
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The album is filled with artistic breaks, off beats and noise fills that are honestly more distracting than impressive. In little bits and pieces the songs deliver punchy rock and rollah that can certainly get you to bob your head, but as a whole it’s an over-driven muscle car in need of a tuneup and just doesn’t deserve the massive media blitz that seems to follow everything the ironically mustachioed Jackie White touches. What Horehound has is repetition, what it lacks is simplicity. Luckily Jack doesn’t care because all his audio masturbation has only lead to his own cow of a label pooping out loads of music for all the radio beetles to try to burrow into and suck from. What musical genius that Jack retains is wasted on the skins with the Dead Weather. At least put him back in front where can do something inspired. As far as I’m concerned Jack White died after his work with Loretta Lynn and this is just Thumping on a Dead horse.
Please focus on the Radio Part
So I’m sitting here watching TV on the Radio perform songs from their latest “Dear Science” on SNL tonight and I can only say that it’s continuing to make obvious the fact that they are one of the top 2 most overrated bands of 2008. Now, I’m far from denouncing them as a great group. Far from it. I thought (and think) their album Desperate Youth and Bloodthirsty Babes to be one of the best releases of all times. Of ALL TIMES!! In my top 20, I assure you. But why the frig did everyone jump all over this latest effort, “Dear Science, “ like a roofied cheerleader? I’m confused. It lacks something.. let’s see…I think it’s… SOUL. Yes, entirely. It’s got all the heart of a cigarette ad, it’s boring and uninspiring and yet, every music rag in the nation needed a fucking kleenex to mop up after their reviews. What the fuck prompted these reviews? Where the hell was the support when these guys were making piles of incredible music for the sake of music? Music that made me reconsider the idea or what music was.
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If you think I’ve got a low opinion of TV on the Radio.. I’m not surprised, but fact is, I hold these guys in the highest regard. I’m just pissed that they are being jammed down my throat now that they seem to have the right backing, the right advertising, and the right money geared to getting them played on Jack FM.
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I suppose at the end of the day all I’m trying to ask is that this album be weighed against all of the other TV on the Radio albums. You’ll see it’s a kind of a turd. Even more, I hope you all recognize that most of what is pushed on you for music is done so not because it’s good but because it’s profitable. I don’t think this is bad music, I just think it should be reconsidered.
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* Update.. here’s a little sum-sum to prove my point. Tragic.
