Dex Romweber Duo

The Flat Duo Jets—and, at least partially, Jack White’s endorsement—made Dexter Romweber a cult rock ’n’ roll icon. His sister, Sara, shared similar status for her roles in both Let’s Active and Snatches of Pink. They didn’t have to come together two decades after making their names to record another career-defining record. But they did it anyway.

The Dex Romweber Duo—which, aside from its members’ resumes, and the rock ’n’ roll idiom broadly defined—has pretty much nothing to do with Snatches of Pink, Let’s Active or the Flat Duo Jets. Yes, it’s got a garage boogie, and a knack for hooks and a core of flash-fried rockabilly. It’s not a glory-days-revisited old-folks’ mistake. The older and wiser Romwebers play a tempered, steady rock with no shortage of urgency or finesse. The duo format showcases Sara’s graceful drumming, heavy and loud when it needs to be, but just as able to let the cymbals whisper. They highlight Dex’s snap-crackle guitar tone, a reliable slap-back sound that plucks and rings. His voice is no longer a young man’s impatient yelp, but the confident croon of a man who plays with consummate ease.

Dexter, the pop interpreter, rebuilds lost singles until they fit him. Indeed, much of the Duo’s oeuvre was recorded first by someone else. But hearing the Romwebers’ seamless amalgamation of rockabilly, country, lounge, surf, exotica and R&B breathe life into a long-lost pop gem, you’d think it was brand new. And in some cases, it almost is. Some of these songs—like as “It’s Too Late,” by the obscure Durham songwriter Roy House—are lost to all but a semi-reliable memory, until Dexter takes whatever pieces remain and give them a new body.

Aging gracefully is uncommon among rock ’n’ roll stars, but with the Dex Romweber Duo, it hardly feels like aging at all. —Bryan Reed