“I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)” opens Dodge and Burn with a wailing, distorted electric guitar. Like rappers announcing themselves in the opening bars of a song, the bluesy riff serves as Jack White’s stamp on the album. The Dead Weather, one of White’s many musical ventures, certainly has a grittier, more produced sound than the White Stripes, but its sound still carries White’s trademark spontaneous, energetic simplicity.
“Three Dollar Hat” stands out from the rock-and-roll tracks of the album with its hip-hop influenced introduction, where White raps “shootin’ everybody down with my thirty-three” over a repetitive baseline. Increasingly disorderly notes from an electric keyboard create a sense of pent-up energy until a drumroll transitions the song into an explosive rock-and-roll section in which Alison Mosshart (vocalist for indie rock band the Kills) wails, “I’m so much better than that three-dollar hat!” The hip-hop style section of the song is almost reminiscent of “Hustle and Cuss” from 2010’s Sea of Cowards, but the band distinguishes “Three Dollar Hat” by replacing the electric organ and crunchy guitar with keyboard and bass.
Throughout the album, White and Mosshart trade roles as the lead singer. Their aggressive, energetic vocals complement each other, especially on “Rough Detective,” when their back-and-forth singing mimics a conversation between a detective and an interviewee. The two seem almost possessed with a dark energy as electric guitar scratches cause the song to descend into chaos: “What’s happening?” White yells as Mosshart begins laughing maniacally.
The Dead Weather currently has no plans to tour for Dodge and Burn due to schedule conflicts; for most members of the band, this is only a side project. That’s unfortunate, since some of the rawer songs on the album would probably sound better live. Still, it’s an impressive product for a side project, and while Dodge and Burn may not be as interesting as Sea of Cowards, Jack White fans will find it worth a listen.