DEAD WEATHER - SEA OF COWARDS - TIE FOR #11

Some of the members of Dead Weather are already included in my Top 10 of 2010 list, as musicians on Karen Elson's debut album, The Ghost Who Walks.  But I can't forget how rocking their own album, Sea Of Cowards, was. I didn't expect them to do a new album so soon: I figured drummer/singer Jack White would do another White Stripes or Raconteurs album before coming back to Dead Weather. I loved Dead Weather's first album, Horehound, which came out last year, but I wondered if it was a project or a band. It's a band.

The new album benefits from time spent on the road, they sound even tighter now than they did before. And having caught them live over the summer, I'll say that they're one of the best live bands around, even better than The White Stripes.  Jack White clearly leads the ship, but singer Allison Mosshart is really the star of the group. She's one of the best frontpeople I've ever seen.  I have downloaded some songs with her other band, The Kills, but I have to pick up some full albums.

Bassist Jack Lawrence is now back with his original band, The Greenhornes, so I guess we won't hear from Dead Weather (or The Raconteurs) any time soon, but I look forward to hearing more from them in the future. I know Jack White is working on the Wanda Jackson album that comes out soon, and Dean Fertita has just put out a solo effort (that Brendan Benson contributed to), called Hello = Fire (read about it in this Billboard interview), and will work on the new Queens Of The Stone Age album this year.  But I definitely hope to hear more Dead Weather in the future.