Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

  My friend Brent recently directed me to Oxford American's excellent profile of Dexter Romweber. The author Aaron Gilbreath writes a very effective and cogent history of Romweber's musical career, most significantly his time with the rootsy lo-fi Flat Duo Jets, who are long overdue for critical reevaluation. Gilbreath intersperses his essay with live footage from YouTube, including some crazy early footage of Dex as rockabilly wild man in the Screaming Lord Sutch mold giving a tour of the mausoleum that the band practiced in. He also includes other early footage with just Dex and Crow, as well as a fairly sedate performance from David Letterman with a full band. Yet fairly sedate for the Flat Duo Jets is an understatement -- even at their most subdued, they are a rocking machine, capturing the magic and sound of early Sun studio sides, while maintaining their own signature sound. Dex is yowling into the microphone and playing guitar like a madman. Crow is flailing on drums, ...

The new Brendan Benson album, My Old, Familiar Friend i s somewhat of a revelation. After years of being under the radar, he finally made some headway by being the first mate in Jack White's side project, The Raconteurs. (I say side project, but the Raconteur's are as fully realized a project as any other White has been involved with, or for that instance Benson). They have become his full time paying gig. But those who listen to the Raconteurs as just a White side project are missing something; the classicist power pop of Benson adds new dimensions to White's music. Likewise, Benson sounds revitalized on My Old Familiar Friend gaining confidence from the collaboration with a real "rock star." The title works as perfect description, because the record does feel like an old familiar friend (fitting firmly into the classic ranks of the poppier side of power pop), even though Benson tends to rock out a bit more than most power pop artists this side of Cheap Trick...