I've been catching up on Sons of Anarchy this week and so it only seemed appropriate to share a few tunes from Ubeda, Spain's Guadalupe Plata. No, founders Pedro de Dios Barcelo and Carlos Jimena are not Spanish Americans who grew up in 1980s Detroit. They are, ya know, real Spaniards. How they ended up trolling the depths of psych/garage/blue rock is anyone's guess.
I'm not guessing these three are headed for a Brothers-like eruption but I'm always keen to bump a band keeping the flame lit by Flat Duo Jets, Dirt Bombs and Blue Explosion.
Like most music fans, we here at Stark love to work backwards, piecing together the puzzle of influences that make our favorite artists who they are. The Dexter Romweber Duo is a group that would cause a lot of "ah ha" moments for mainstream fans if they weren't so damn obscure. The group is fronted by Dexter Romweber, singer/guitarist of 80's garage/rockabilly duo the Flat Duo Jets. One listen to a Duo Jets track is evidence enough that while these guys weren't even big when they were big, they had the ears of some future heavy hitters. Jack White wastes no time referencing Flat Duo Jets when asked where he managed to come up with "that White Stripes sound." Not only does White embrace the group's obvious influence on him, but he is also helping breath new life into Dex Romweber's career. In keeping with his "digital/vinyl" only approach, White teamed up with Romweber for a pair of records currently out on Third Man. "The Dexter Romweber Duo: Live at Third Man" LP hit shelves on February 4 with limited run 7" titled "The WInd Did Blow" currently awaiting a repress. For more info on the Dex Romweber Duo check out Third Man's website. And seriously, if you're into the garage-rock thing YouTube Flat Duo Jets. -Tim Emmerick, Stark Contributing Writer
