The Dirty Knobs, the band fronted by founding Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, have released their third album ‘Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits’ . The group treads similar sonic ground as Petty & the Heartbreakers, with influences including 1960s British rock, The Byrds, heavy blues and Southern boogie.
That being said, Campbell says that he made a concerted effort to create songs that didn’t mimic the music of his late friend and band mate. “[Tom and I] grew up in the same area, have the same inflections,” Mike notes. “And I noticed that, so I tried, and I think successfully, to filter a lot of that out and try to find my own voice. Of course, some of it comes out ’cause it’s in my DNA.”
Regarding how The Dirty Knobs differ from The Heartbreakers, Campbell says, “It’s a four-piece band. There’s no keyboards, just two guitars, bass and drums, and we turn the guitars up a little bit to fill out he sound…So it’s a little more over-amped maybe.”
Mike Campbell made his bones as the lead guitarist for one of the great working bands in rock & roll, so it should come as no surprise that the Dirty Knobs — the group that’s become his main gig since the 2017 death of Tom Petty and the subsequent disbandment of the Heartbreakers the band are hitting a groove three albums into their career. “Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits” arrives two years after “External Combustion“, which appeared two years after the group’s 2020 debut, “Wreckless Abandon”. During those four years, the Dirty Knobs underwent some visible changes — Campbell’s name went on the marquee for “External Combustion” original guitarist Jason Sinay was replaced by Chris Holt, who makes his debut with the band here, as does former Heartbreaker drummer Steve Ferrone — which isn’t turbulence so much as what a working band does: they persevere.
On “Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits”, the Dirty Knobs sound rougher and richer than they did before, expanding upon the roots they laid down on their first two records. All of Campbell’s signatures remain in place, not just from the Dirty Knobs but from the Heartbreakers, too: the group graft psychedelia upon the heavy blues crunch that’s their specialty. The slight studio trickery and willingness to float away on the Byrdsian chime of “Innocent Man” make “Vagabonds” a lighter, livelier affair than its predecessors, yet the Dirty Knobs still drive headfirst into down-and-dirty rock & roll: “So Alive” barrels forth on a heavy blues buzz, “Shake These Blues” stomps like a greasy “Jean Genie,” while Chris Stapleton and Benmont Tench help “Don’t Wait Up” boogie with abandon.
Campbell does drift into serious territory, such as on the bruised ballad “Hell or High Water,” but the fact that “Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits” ends with the riotous drinking song “My Old Friends” is telling: ultimately, the Dirty Knobs are about having a good time, all the time, a dynamic that this record achieves.
New album ‘Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits’ available now
The Fat Angel Sings 