The Dirty Knobs, featuring former Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Mike Campbell, have released a video for Fuck That Guy. Taken from the band's upcoming album Wreckless Abandon, the footage follows a COVID-headed protagonist around the streets of Los Angeles as he causes trouble and annoys locals.
“Fuck That Guy is a simple song that could really be about anyone you know," says Campbell. "The video is a bizarre and darkly humorous take on 2020. It’s been a hard year. It helps to just laugh. We shot the video in September, just last month. Sometimes life ends up imitating art in almost unimaginable ways.”
Video director Gilbert Trejo adds, “For the Fuck That Guy video, we leaned into some of the motifs from my favourite silent films, creating the ‘me against the world’ character that guys like Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin perfected, but we stripped away what made those characters so endearing and empathetic. There’s no need to empathise with the physical embodiment of COVID – seriously, fuck that guy."
Appearing in the video are Jeff Garlin, best known for his role as Larry David's agent in the HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, and actor Danny Trejo, perhaps most famous for playing former Mexican federale and all-round badass Isador Cortez in the exploitation movie Machete. The song was co-written by country music's very own Chris Stapleton.
The Dirty Knobs were originally formed 12 years so that Campbell had something to focus on while Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers weren't touring, but Petty's death has forced him to rethink.
“Losing Tom was earth shattering for me," says Campbell. "It was a total shock. It had felt like we would be playing together forever. For a while it was hard to imagine playing in my own band again, let alone one where I’m the frontman. Tom was always my beacon. But everything I’ve been doing since Tom passed, including this album with The Dirty Knobs, is in the spirit of honouring what we did together."
Wreckless Abandon is released on November 20.
Wreckless Abandon tracklist
1. Wreckless Abandon
2. Pistol Packin’ Mama (featuring Chris Stapleton)
3. Sugar
4. Southern Boy
5. I Still Love You
6. Irish Girl
7. Fuck That Guy
8. Don’t Knock The Boogie
9. Don’t Wait
10. Anna Lee
11. Aw Honey
12. Loaded Gun
13. Don’t Knock the Boogie (Coda)
