Dex Romweber Duo
Images 13
Bloodshot
Man, now nobody tell Dex it ain’t the ’50s, ok? Since the early ’80s, Dexter Romweber has been thrashing out groovy slabs of his unique mixture of rockabilly and garage rock, first in the legendary Flat Duo Jets and now, with older sister Sara on drums, in the Dex Romweber Duo. Images 13 (their third full-length release) finds the North Carolina music man doing what he does best – rockin’ that Silvertone guitar and warbling odes to “Blue Surf” and the Aurola Borealis (“Weird”).
By sticking to a duo format, nothing is too polished, nothing too elaborate, each crack of the snare or echo-drenched guitar hits like a knife, and each cut sounds like a forgotten single from the 1950s by some dimly remembered one-hit wonder. Images 13 is 12 cuts of rev’d up madness such as “Long Battle Coming” or a great version of The Who’s “So Sad About Us”, where Dex and Sara slow it down, but never sound any less than manic. More surprising is “We’ll Be Together Again”, the ’60s chestnut from Jackie DeShannon that sounds like a Romweber original.
Dexter Romweber is a uniquely American creation, born of the South and raised on Sun Studios output. His influence on modern music – from The Cramps to Jack White to The Gories and more – can’t be overstated. Go crazy, Dex!
Bloodshot Records: http://www.bloodshotrecords.com
