I won’t use the word “supergroup” merely for the sake of keeping things professional (let’s pretend I didn’t just actually use it right there). But it would be best if you keep the, ahem, supergroup idea in the back of your mind anyway. The Dead Weather’s Horehound is an album that utilizes the by-now-well-established musical prowess of White (did I mention he’s behind the drum set in this band?) and his fellow cohorts from The Raconteurs (Jack Lawrence) and Queens of the Stone Age (Dean Fertita) to make something essentially unspectacular, but nevertheless extremely easy to listen to and enjoy.

The Dead Weather formed unofficially while The Raconteurs toured with The Kills in the summer of 2008. According to Allmusic, Alison Mosshart, lead singer of The Kills, filled in for Jack White on the microphone when he came down with a case of bronchitis. The resulting on-stage chemistry led to a few recordings, several live shows, and eventually a full-length debut album titled Horehound.

The track “Hang you From the Heavens” is probably the closest thing to a “single” on the album since it’s been played on NPR’s All Songs Considered and several other outlets before Horehound was released officially. But “Cut Like a Buffalo” is the most original track, and arguably the most catchy, with it’s strange, ironic lyrics and off-kilter hip-hop harmonies over what sounds a lot like a ramped-up Traffic cut from the late 60s. This same style carries over to the track “Treat Me Like Your Mother”, which is more punchy but very similar nonetheless. “Rocking Horse” is also an interesting fusion of surf-rock guitar with White’s gritty vocals and the band’s apparent relish for taking the sound into eerie terrain.

That the record is unspectacular shouldn’t be considered a slight. Instead, it’s merely what has been known since the inception of super-bands (much like the Traveling Wilburys in the 70s) that capitalize on their vast range of fame and talent but usually seem to fall short in originality.

However, Jack White would probably be offended at the Wilburys comparison because he, unlike them, seems to be genuinely searching for something original and exciting, as evidenced by his artistic expansion into so many different projects within such a short period of time. This is what Horehound should be credited with: searching. Later in the album, particularly on the demonically-jazzy “No Hassle Night”, we can practically hear The Dead Weather picking around in the sand and making a noticeable attempt to find just the right sound for them.

If they stick around, The Dead Weather will no doubt find the perfect sound that both befits their group cohesion and “Jack White-And-Company’s” growing legions of listeners. For now, Horehound stands as a high-profile ‘testing of the waters’.