The madman behind Flat Duo Jets, Dexter Romweber is back with
Ruins of Berlin (Bloodshot), an amalgam of voodoo muzak and
croony cosmopolitan country — imagine Marty Robbins meeting
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins in a back alley for a murky tango. Joined on
drums by his low-key sister, Sara (Snatches of Pink, Let’s Active),
Romweber — who recently cut some songs in Nashville with Jack
White — immerses listeners in a smoke-encrusted, run-down
cocktail lounge where the twinkle of dirty glasses forms constellations
of lost love. Instrumentals like “Cigarette Party” are stuffed with
surfer soundtracks, exotica flourishes, and leopard-print go-go
gyrations, while “Camilla’s Gone” echoes woe-on-the-sleeve Nick Cave.
Romweber effortlessly twists and weaves his voice through
Frederick Hollander’s title track, becoming a snaky torch singer
evoking both piney-woods melancholy and brothels from Henry Miller’s
disheveled, seedy Europe. Don’t expect the primitive rumble and tumble
of knockabout Flat Duo Jets; Romweber’s newest slabs are still
percussive, twangy and swelling, just minus moments that pierce.
Instead, they contort in slinky reverb layers. Bring your smoking
jacket to properly enjoy his film noir swagger and sadness.
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2009.