Flat Duo Jets releasing early material retrospective, touring with The Blasters
“Dexter is no poseur. He loves American rock n’ roll and lives it 24 hours a day” is how Peter Zaremba introduced Flat Duo Jets frontman Dexter Romweber to viewers of MTV show I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge in 1985. (Dexter, at the time, also lived it in a gothic shack he called “The Mausoleum.”) Romweber and drummer Chris “Crow” Smith made howling rock n’ roll, inspired by Hazel Adkins and The Cramps. The band’s classic 1989 debut — which was recorded seat-of-your-pants style, live to tape — still sounds great.
That first album was part of a Record Store Day 2017 exclusive vinyl box titled Wild Wild Love which is now coming out officially as a two-CD set October 20 via Daniel 13 (the label run by onetime R.E.M. manager Jefferson Holt). In addition to their debut LP, it also includes their cassette-only In Stereo mini-album, and a second disc’s worth of other outtakes from those sessions. You can watch the rare video for “Wild Wild Lover,” directed by R.E.M. cohort Jem Cohen, plus their Late Night With David Letterman performance of that song, as well as the classic Cutting Edge clip and their segment from rock doc Athens, GA: Inside/Out, below.
Meanwhile, Dexter will be touring (minus Smith) as Flat Duo Jets, playing shows with Phil Alvin’s The Blasters, including NYC’s Hill Country Live on September 23. Tickets are on sale now.
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Tracklisting for Wild Wild Love –
CD1
(Flat Duo Jets)
1. My Life, My Love
2. Please, Please Baby
3. When My Baby Passes By
4. Madagascar
5. Mill Stream
6. Baby
7. Chiquita
8. Sing, Sing Blues
9. Wild, Wild Lover
10. Tribute To Gene
11. Pink Gardenia
12. Man With The Golden Arm
13. Dreams Don’t Cost A Thing
14. Strut My Stuff
(In Stereo EP)
15. Riot In Cell Block #9
16. I’m Sorry
17. Love Me
18. Theme For Dick Fontaine
19. Think It Over
20. Raining In My Heart
CD2
(The Outtakes)
1. Bring It On Home
2. Minor Swing
3. You Made Me Cry – 01
4. Love Has Its Jokes
5. Penetration 1
6. Rock Me Baby
7. Wild, Wild Lover (outtake)
8. Apple Blossom (Time Mix)
9. Bumble Bee Boogie
10. Look Down 2
11. Sleepwalk (Take 7)
12. Harlem Nocturne
13. Justine 1
The Blasters / Flat Duo Jets – 2017 Tour Dates
09/21/2017 – Washington District of Columbia US Hill Country Live
09/23/2017 – New York New York US Hill Country Live
09/24/2017 – Philadelphia Pennsylvania US Kung Fu Neck Tie
09/27/2017 – Hamden Connecticut US The Ballroom at The Outer Space
09/28/2017 – Pawling New York US Daryl’s House
09/29/2017 – Newport Rhode Island US Parlor Bar
09/30/2017 – Somerville Massachusetts US Once Ballroom
