Throwback Thursday: Sea of Cowards, by The Dead Weather

After a surprising amount of success, Jack White side project band The Dead Weather made a fairly quick return for a follow-up LP to their Horehound, which had come out the year before. The result was an LP that was sort of but not really a concept album by the name of Sea of Cowards, which is what Jack White refers to the internet as, since people can say what they want and never be accountable for it by hiding behind aliases.

Unlike Horehound, Sea of Cowards seems to go in a less raucous, yet all the more dark and focused direction. It still has some tunes on it that absolutely rock, but in a more dark, grooving, and textured kind of way. If that makes any sense to you at all. Alison Mosshart definitely brings some more of those black as night, smokey vocal performances to this album for sure. The whole band overall seems a lot more interlocked and tight in this album for sure.

"Hustle and Cuss". Oh my god. This was one of the first songs I ever heard from The Dead Weather and I fell in love right away. That thick, grooving bass line holds the song together and makes you want to just MOVE. It has this eerie, calm atmosphere to it most of the time. It honestly sends chills up my spine every time. The vocals sound absolutely ghostly and haunting in all the best ways. Play this in the dark. It's really something else.

"The Difference Between Us" in my opinion is one of the most catchy songs on the entire record. It feels the most like a traditional pop rock song. It has this earworm synth riff that plays through most of the song and sounds to me what candy would sound like if it had a sound. The whole song is so dark, ominous, and full of emotion that this is definitely not your average mindless, catchy Top 40 pop tune. There is some content to digest here from multiple listens.

In my opinion, Sea of Cowards is definitely one of the better records to come out in the 2010's so far. I wouldn't say it's the absolute best, but it is an album that will stick with you if you give it a fair shake. I will warn you now that it takes multiple listens to get the feel for, but if you do give it more than one chance then you will find that it might just be the album that satisfies the darker reaches of your mind and soul.

Sea of Cowards, by The Dead Weather receives 3.75/5 stars.

Track List:

1. Blue Blood Blues

2. Hustle and Cuss

3. The Difference Between Us

4. I'm Mad

5. Die By the Drop

6. I Can't Hear You

7. Gasoline

8. No Horse

9. Looking for the Invisible Man

10. Jawbreaker

11. Old Mary

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Cowards-Dead-Weather/dp/B003JHJSUY/ref=sr_1_1_atc_badge_A2N1U4I2KOS032?ie=UTF8&qid=1533270172&sr=8-1&keywords=Sea+of+Cowards