Flat Duo Jets - Two Headed Cow
A Reminder From A Band Forgotten
What it must be like to be an influential band that no one’s heard of. Early 80’s rockabilly outfit Flat Jet Duo know that feeling. For over a decade, they literally reinvented the sound of rock by offering a throwback to the likes of Elvis but with the grinding guitar as its spine persuading the likes of Cat Power and White Stripes to the sound they have today. Of course, you didn’t know this - nor do most. Thankfully, Austin based Chicken Ranch Records is releasing Two Headed Cow; a live set of FJD to coincide with a documentary on the band. Both will be overlooked - a shame really when the North Carolina troupe are arguably one of the most innovative artists of our generation. Yes, we said it.
Two Headed Cow is a blistering seventeen track quick tussle thru the bands catalogue of Dick Dale surf inspired numbers like ‘Tidalwave’ and B.B. King blues ‘Never No More.’ Fans of the act though will appreciate the live ambiance of favorites like ‘Mexicali Baby’ and ‘My Life, My Love’ but will froth over the Ray Charles cover of ‘Mary Ann’. And that’s just it about guitarist Dexter Romweber - he engulfed the spirit of so many blues and soul influences that he practically rewrote the book. He was that far ahead of his game. Here’s a man who resides at the end of rock and roll, on the doorstep of punk’s death rattle and yet he finds a way to generate music’s next wave. Problem is, the fruits of his labor wouldn’t be noticed until this decade. And so it went for the band. Despite Presley inspired ‘Rock House’ invigorating anything with a pulse, the band never went further than being blind blip on a radar paid even little attention to. Sure the sound quality on Two Headed Cow is suspect at best but nowhere else will you find a better studio nor live recording of the duo.
You can find Dexter’s work on a few solo releases post 1999 and the bands demise - but it was never this good; or remarkable. It spawned a new era of music long since forgotten and today sadly still underplayed. With Two Headed Cow, you have a piece of American music history at your side - even if you never knew it existed.
Sean Kendall
