‘Hustle and Cuss’

I think the Dead Weather’s Horehound was one of last year’s underrated releases. As far as Jack White projects go, anyway. He put himself out of the spotlight and managed to put together a band that turned in a great gothic blues project. At the right time of night and in the right frame of mind, the album remains one of my go-to disks.

There hasn’t been much news lately about the Dead Weather, so I was surprised to hear that they have a new disk, Sea of Cowards, due out later this month (May 11, here in the U.S.). And I was happily surprised that the news of this upcoming album was accompanied by an early release.

“Hustle and Cuss” stays true to the ethic of the Dead Weather with Alison Mosshart’s more grittied-up vocals backed by Jack Lawrence’s jazzed up bass line. This is the second release from Sea of Cowards (“Die by the Drop” was released in late March). Both songs show the group growing in maybe the direction the White Stripes would have taken as a four- rather than two-piece, giving Jack White room to expand the garage blues that are his hallmark.

It might be time to stop thinking of the Dead Weather as Jack White’s other, other band and start thinking of them as the band he has grown into.

Hustle and Cuss.mp3