Stormy Weather

Horehound on their trail: Turns out you do need the Dead Weather people to know which way the wind blows. In singer-wraith Alison Mosshart's case, it blows hot, cold, searing, scarifying and seductive, usually all at once. The White Stripes' Jack White adjudicates, handing down decisive, non-flashy beats. Sometimes he pops up from the drums to squeal away on guitar. Queens of the Stone Age's Dean Fertita provides effective coloring on organ and guitar, while the Greenhornes' Jack Lawrence lowers the boom on bass (and occasionally sits behind the drums when Jack White is on guitar). Despite White's presence, the real star is Kills singer Mosshart, who alternately purrs melodically and howls feverishly over the band's stormy workouts on their debut CD, Horehound. Big, loud blues, crashing spaces, alley cat howling -- it's all beyond captivating. (The Dead Weather are also at the Mayan, Wednesday, August 26.)