Go Go Harlem Baby

Go Go Harlem Baby
Studio album by
Flat Duo Jets
Released1991
RecordedEasley-McCain (Memphis, Tennessee)
GenrePunkabilly[1]
Length39:47
LabelSky
ProducerJim Dickinson

Go Go Harlem Baby is an album by the American punkabilly band Flat Duo Jets.[2][3] It was released via Sky in 1991.[4][5] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[6]

The album was reissued by Third Man Records in 2011; it was for a time one of Jack White's favorite albums.[7][8]

Production

Recorded at Easley McCain Recording, the album was produced by Jim Dickinson.[9][10] The majority of Go Go Harlem Baby was recorded in three days.[11] "You Belong to Me" is a cover of the Duprees' song; "Apple Blossom Time" is a cover of the standard made popular by the Andrews Sisters.[12][13] "Wild Trip" is a cover of the Ventures instrumental.[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[15]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[16]
Orlando Sentinel[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[1]
The Tampa Tribune[18]

Trouser Press wrote that "the ultra-live sound of the speedballs renders some of them generic, although [Dexter] Romweber continues to excel on the slower cuts, offering an atmospheric reading of the instrumental classic 'Harlem Nocturne'."[12] Spin called Romweber "the Crispin Glover of rock'n'roll singers," writing that he emotes "with a creepy edge that Jerry Lee Lewis himself would be hard-pressed to match."[19]

The Orlando Sentinel thought that "for a rock 'n' roll animal, Romweber has an amazingly pretty voice."[17] The Washington Post opined that "wild-eyed, gravel-voiced singer/songwriter/guitarist Dexter Romweber remains an original, his genius and his preposterousness inextricably linked."[20] The Tampa Tribune said that Romweber's guitar "can screech with icy feedback or sing in a warm rush of echo."[18]

AllMusic wrote that the band's "deliciously dirty and rough brand of rockabilly is unrivaled, and this disc is perhaps their finest."[15]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Flat Duo Jets Anthem" 
2."The Dainty Song" 
3."Go Go Harlem Baby" 
4."You Belong to Me" 
5."Frog Went a Courtin'" 
6."No Greater Love" 
7."I Don't Know" 
8."Harlem Nocturne" 
9."Wild Trip" 
10."Rock House" 
11."Stalkin'" 
12."Don't Blame Me" 
13."Love Has Its Joke Sometimes" 
14."TV Mama" 
15."Apple Blossom Time" 
16."Ask Me How I Live" 

Personnel

  • Dexter Romweber - guitar, vocals
  • Chris "Crow" Smith - drums

References

  1. ^ a b The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 249.
  2. ^ Unterberger, Richie; Hicks, Samb (August 25, 1999). Music USA: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides.
  3. ^ "Flat Duo Jets: Bow to Primitive Rock". Calendar. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 28, 1992. p. 7.
  4. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 491.
  5. ^ "Flat Duo Jets Biography & History". AllMusic.
  6. ^ Pahnelas, Bill (April 1, 1991). "Minimal Rock Soars to Maximum Effect". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. A11.
  7. ^ "Blues Genes: 15 of Jack White's Biggest Influences". Rolling Stone. May 29, 2014.
  8. ^ Sullivan, James (June 5, 2009). "A man out of time – the 1950s". The Boston Globe. p. G22.
  9. ^ "Dexter Romweber: Beyond the Flat Duo Jets". Perfect Sound Forever.
  10. ^ Earles, Andrew (September 15, 2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press.
  11. ^ Popson, Tom (May 10, 1991). "'Psyched-up' rockabilly from the Flat Duo Jets". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. M.
  12. ^ a b "Flat Duo Jets". Trouser Press. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  13. ^ Hyden, Steven (May 17, 2016). Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me: What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal About the Meaning of Life. Little, Brown.
  14. ^ Menconi, David (March 15, 1991). "One dynamic duo". Weekend. The News & Observer. p. 3.
  15. ^ a b "Go Go Harlem Baby". AllMusic.
  16. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 432.
  17. ^ a b Gettelman, Parry (May 17, 1991). "Flat Duo Jets". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 30.
  18. ^ a b O'Neill, Mike (April 12, 1991). "Flat Duo Jets". Tampa Bay Times. The Tampa Tribune. p. 19.
  19. ^ Menconi, David (May 1991). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 7, no. 2. p. 74.
  20. ^ Jenkins, Mark (April 19, 1991). "Don't Judge Bands By Their Label Size". The Washington Post. p. N18.
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