External Combustion

For Mike Campbell, External Combustion – the second album by his first band as a leader, The Dirty Knobs – is proof that lightning can strike twice. The follow-up to their 2020 debut Wreckless Abandon beats a new set of odds and jumps ahead in vision and drive, proving the first record was no one-shot deal. Campbell experienced all of the above and more with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – riding shotgun with his friend and captain as lead guitarist, co-producer, and, at times, co-writer – when he met guitarist Jason Sinay at a session in Los Angeles in 2000. Once Lance Morrison joined in on bass and Matt Laug on drums, that turned into The Dirty Knobs, named after a faulty amp dial.

1. Wicked Mind
2. Brigitte Bardot
3. Cheap Talk
4. External Combustion
5. Dirty Job (feat. Ian Hunter)
6. State Of Mind (feat. Margo Price)
7. Lightning Boogie
8. Rat City
9. In This Lifetime
10. It Is Written
11. Electric Gypsy