I so love rock’n’roll. And feel like, at its best and most focused on what’s right, the music and its culture has in ways been a potent force in changing our world toward a greater and fuller progressive consciousness (more on that in a future missive).
It’s also a nuclear-powered source of sheer delight, inducing far more shivers down my spine that anything else in my many years on this planet. In recent decades I’ve worried about the genre’s health, and am saddened at how it has faded from its former commercial and pop chart primacy (with some exceptions). I know it will never quite die; when Roger Daltrey howls “Rock is dead they say; well, long live rock” in his longtime foil Pete Townshend’s song, I sing along like the true believer I am.
But unlike in my younger years, when most every week might bring more than one winning and masterful addition to the canon, or by the same token deliver a just-as-satisfying big barrel of plainspoken ol’ rollicking fun – the stuff that KOs me in the head, heart and/or hips (ideally all three) – great rock’n’roll albums are in far-shorter supply these days. Which is one reason why “Wreckless Abandon” by The Dirty Knobs was an immediate joy from the very first notes.
It’s the debut recording by the longtime side band fronted by guitarist/songwriter Mike Campbell, the late Tom Petty’s right-hand man for a good half-century in the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch, as well as T.P.’s solo projects. His many other musical associations include collaborations with Don Henley and Stevie Nicks, and he recently did a world tour as a member of Fleetwood Mac. As a guitarist, he’s one of the smart rock players who delivers economical parts and chordal rhythms rather than flashy lead riffs; his songwriting skills have helped yield a number of flavorful rock classics.
The opening of the album signals where this foursome’s deepest inspirations abide. An echoing backwards guitar part that sounds like a sitar summons up an incense whiff of the mid-to-late ’60s, followed by a booming chord that reminds of The Who, then a guitar pattern that evokes The Rolling Stones. References to The Beatles and Byrds swirl around in the mix throughout the LP To add even a bit more of the British Invasion aura to the whole affair, the album cover is by Klaus Voorman, the visual artist/bass player in close orbit of the Fab Four since their pre-fame days in Hamburg.
It’s the same stew that the Heartbreakers drew from for decades to reign as the standard bearers of real rock’n’roll from the ’80s until Petty’s untimely demise in 2017, and right up the alley of a rock fan like me, who grew up and came of age with the same musical passions and references. But you won’t mistake this set for an exercise in nostalgia or a throwback, no way. What it does instead is show how the longstanding verities of guitar rock can still power something urgent, distinctive and right up to date.
When Campbell sings, it’s hard to not hear echoes of Petty, and that’s a damn good thing if also almost unavoidable, given their interwoven musical kinship since their teens. When Campbell plays, it’s only the notes, chords and figures that matter – exquisitely tasteful and ultra effective. Every song has a cool groove, catchy moments abound. Yeah, there’s nothing pointed or political here, other than the delightful and slinky call out of lowlife types, “F**k That Guy.” “Wreckless Abandon” is simply yet musically and lyrically eloquent fun with modes that run from Southern rock to near-country to boogie and more that made rock’n’roll the sound of our times for my generation and those around it.
And who can argue with some fun and a bit of abandon? Especially in these fraught times.
Musical Album: “Medicine At Midnight” by the Foo Fighters – True confession time: Much as I like and admire this band, which is about as successful as any contemporary rock act, they’ve never captured my soul and imagination. Nonetheless, I’m a big fan of Dave Grohl’s earnestness, sincerity and deep love for rock’n’roll. But initial listens to their new album, the band’s 10th, find the set winning me over as the group expands on and mixes up their sound.
TV Series: “Mr. Mayor” – A fun show about government and politics couldn’t be more welcome in these ugly and fractious times. Created by Tina Fey and her partner Robert Carlock, it stars the ever-likable Ted Danson as a wealthy billboard ad businessman who gets elected mayor of Los Angeles and then has to figure out what the hell he’s doing. Holly Hunter is incandescent as an antic geek activist hired on to his staff. A delightfully wacky and sweet ameliorative to current reality.
Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email orca@prismnet.com.