Is That You in the Blue?

The Dex Romweber Duo, featuring the Flat Duo Jets’ Dex Romweber and his sister Sara, once the drummer for Let’s Active, play a great weird mix of rockabilly, swamp blues, curdled pop and surf instrumentals. There’s both darkness and joy to everything they touch. “Gurjieff Girl” plays like a surf-gone spy track, while “The Death of Me” sounds like an old Western being sung by a rockabilly ghost. Big John Taylor’s “Nowhere” traces the melody of “The House of Rising Sun” and lands itself down a dead end street. Billy Boy Arnold’s “I Wish You Would” turns electric blues into an electrocution. Myron Lee’s rockabilly classic “Homicide” is played with pure passion. Romwber’s originals — the title track, “Midnight Sun,” “Jungle Drums” and “Climb Down” — all fit together flawlessly with the well-chosen covers. Recorded with Rick Miller at Southern Culture On the Skids’ North Carolina studio, Is That You in the Blue? is a powerful expression of Southern roots music as its reflection stares back from a funhouse mirror.