Song of the Day — October 29
The Dirty Knobs — F*ck That Guy
The Dirty Knobs — F*ck That Guy
29.October.2020
The Dirty Knobs
“F*ck That Guy”
2020
Mike Campbell is to rock and roll and guitars as Martha Stewart is entertaining and cooking — flawless and brilliant.
Both know what they do well, and they stick to it and make every attempt to level up at their craft.
Serving as Tom Petty’s right hand for, well, forever, Mike Campbell became proficient at many things in addition to guitar playing — producing and songwriting being chief among them.
In between Petty projects and other side gigs, Campbell formed The Dirty Knobs with guitarist Jason Sinay, bassist Lance Morrison and drummer Matt Laug and mainly stuck to playing around Los Angeles.
After Petty’s untimely death and Campbell’s epic worldwide tour replacing Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac, he returned home to his Knobs.
They hunkered down and recorded a proper album scheduled to be released in March but got delayed. The Dirty Knobs Wreckless Abandon will officially be released on November 20.
The first single, “F*ck That Guy,” just came out. You may think by the song's title that it’s an all balls-out rocker …it’s not. Written by Campbell and Chris Stapleton, “F*ck That Guy” has a very laissez-faire sound and vibe to it, like you could picture guys on their porch saying just that.
It’s a cross between Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do” and Campbell sounds (and plays here) a lot like Mark Knopfler. Provided you like those things, you’ll like this.
Releasing it so close to election day, it very well could take on a different tone . Regardless of what political side of the spectrum you’re on, we’re so divided right now that the genius here is that both sides are saying the same thing about the other.
BUT, what makes the song is the video.
The Dirty Knobs play a kind of Keystone Cops character as they chase a personified COVID-19 around Los Angeles. It’s silly and fun and absolutely makes the song.
The song is good, but it’s really the video that puts it over the bar: