The Dead Weather
Dodge and Burn
(Third Man Records)

One of the things Jack White is most known for is juggling multiple projects while keeping his idiosyncratic identity in tact. That’s why, as good as the first two Dead Weather albums are, the band is mainly regarded as a side project for White. Dodge and Burn is the first album by The Dead Weather that actually sounds like the work of a side project. The chemistry between band members is for real and this is by no means a dull listen, but the majority of the songs give off the sense that they were jammed out, cemented down, and recorded in one or two lightning-fast sessions. Due to the combined talents, we get awesome tracks like “Open Up” and “Buzzkill(er),” but we also get a lot of songs that feel like extras from the prior two albums and a couple of real oddities. “Three Dollar Hat” is a bizarre attempt at West Coast Hip-Hop with a messy punk song pasted in the middle of it. It makes one think they included it just because they could, not because they should.

All of your favorite Dead Weather hallmarks are still here. Alison Mosshart is one of the most interesting rock singers today and any chance to hear her is worth it. Her closing song, “Impossible Winner,” makes you wonder how far away we are from getting a solo album out of her. Dean Fertita’s guitar rips and he also continues to prove that the keyboard is a badass instrument. I just can’t shake the feeling that this album was made simply to remind people they exist, not because they felt they had a great album in them. The minimal promotion and decision not to tour behind the album seems to reinforce that. If The Dead Weather wind up just being remembered as a side band for Jack White to mess around with, they’re still better than a lot of people’s main bands. I just think that they can make a name for themselves in their own right and would have liked for Dodge and Burn to be a push in that direction.