Live dates:
Dec. 29 - Tin Roof, Charleston, SC
Dec. 31 - The Strand Theatre, Marietta, GA
... check out the Tour page for more details
Dex and Sara are giving you some free goodies: Paste Magazine is premiering a new single and video for the tune "The Death of Me" (MP3 available here):
The video for "The Death of Me" was shot by Jerry Stifelman, director of both "People, Places and Things" (from Ruins of Berlin) and the lead track from the current album Is That You In the Blue?, "Jungle Drums." Filmed in and around Raleigh NC's Marsh Woodwinds, the music video harkens back to a time when there was a plot, a deeper visual curiosity behind the music and bands that inexplicably capture our attention. "The Death of Me" similarly draws out themes of failing love and clandestine emotions, with a hint of some shady activity lurking around the corner.
Dex Doc DVD in Rolling Stone
"Two Headed Cow" is finally out on DVD! Read about it in Rolling Stone. Available from Amazon.com.
New album Is That You In The Blue on Bloodshot
AND Jack White reissues classic GO GO HARLEM BABY LP!
Buy & download online: Amazon | FINA | iTunes
Dex Romweber is nothing less than an icon of the American music underground. Pioneering the template for the stripped to-the-essentials guitar/drums duo format in the (should be) world famous psycho-surf-rockabilly-garage-punk combo Flat Duo Jets - so often emulated, so rarely duplicated - Dex continues his resurgence with the new album Is That You In The Blue? With sister Sara on drums, the DEX ROMWEBER DUO is a potent combo that'll get your leg twitching with the beat and your heart racing - and sometimes breaking - with the feral excitement of music. If it don't, you might want to consider turning in your "I Heart Rock n Roll" badge. Seriously.
In Dex, you have someone who burrows into the guts of American roots music with a uniquely alchemical mania; he's a man clearly bored with, or oblivious to, genre constraints. With a mix of originals and obscure nuggets from rock and roll's dusky back closets, the DRD romps through the sweaty cinder block studios of Memphis of the 50's, channels street corners on the wrong side of town with existential blues and instrumentals that'd find a home in a Tarantino spy flick.
For pure rock and roll at its most glorious, Dex, his vintage Silvertone guitar and Sara's wall of sound drums kick out the jams, mf'ers, on "Jungle Drums," the dragstrip rave-up "Gurdjieff Girl" and the soundtrack for your next knife fight at the juvey home "Climb Down." Bust out your hip flask and hand jive to heaven to that wicked Bobby Fuller beach party groove on "Wish you Would," or strut down the Rio strand to the buoyant Bossa Nova throw down "Brazil" - a classic that runs a sonic spark plug from Xavier Cugat to Tav Falco's Panther Burns.
Beyond the wild ruckus the Duo conjures so well, Is That You in the Blue? is colored by Dex's broken romantic trips to the deep tunnel of un-love. From the slinky, cinematic revenge noir of "The Death of Me," to the unhinged, edge of the abyss vibe of "Nowhere" to the jazzy, ghostly howl at the "Midnight Sun," he's on a dark and sometimes vengeful ride he ain't taking alone. And the title track has as bitter and liberating a kiss off line that's ever been sung, the one we've all wished we could have come up with when she was walking out the door.
For Is That You In The Blue?, recorded at Southern Culture on the Skids Rick Miller's studio in North Carolina, DRD filled in their already formidable sound with Tarheel luminaries from the bands The Old Ceremony and Savage Knights, as well as Rick himself and fellow SCOTS Mary Huff. Since their last Bloodshot album, Ruins of Berlin (2009), the DRD recorded a 7" single of hillbilly folk-blues with Jack White as well as a live album recorded at his Third Man record store in Nashville.
Third Man Records recently announced the reissue of the Flat Duo Jets' classic 1991 release "Go Go Harlem Baby." The record was released on October 18th. The piece de resistance of Dex Romweber's voluminous back catalog, "GGHB" is as solid an LP as you will ever find. Some of you may remember Jack White dropping the needle on the Jets' version of "Froggy Went a Courtin'" in the "It Might Get Loud" documentary as an indicator of his early influences. You may also remember the White Stripes covering "You Belong to Me" or "Apple Blossom Time" in their live performances. Those songs, as well as all the rest featured on "Go Go Harlem Baby" are genuinely important in the pantheon of American music. Out-of-print on vinyl since it's original issue twenty years ago, Third Man Records worked solidly for a year-and-a-half to make this record available again.
"Dexter Romweber was and is a huge influence on my music. I owned all of his records as a teenager, and was thrilled at the fact that we were able to play together recently on tour. His attitude towards music is remarkable. And his songwriting, along with his love of classic American music from the south, be it rockabilly, country or R&B, is one of the best kept secrets of the rock n roll underground."
-- Jack White (White Stripes')