TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review of two new albums that draw on rock's past for their sources of fresh inspiration. The first is "Mission Of Mercy" from guitarist Mike Campbell, who cowrote most of the hits you know from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Campbell's post-Heartbreakers band is called The Dirty Knobs. The other album is "Livin In The USA" by Low Cut Connie, led by Adam Weiner, whose fans range from Elton John to Barack Obama. We'll start with Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NO REGRETS")
MIKE CAMPBELL AND THE DIRTY KNOBS: (Singing) You loaded up your suitcase and your sleeping bag, took down all the pictures and your faded flag. The thunderstorm was raging and you were soaking wet, and you headed down the road with no regrets.
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: I've read a couple pieces recently about how country music is the place where rock 'n' roll now resides, or how guitar rock is an outmoded form that persists only as nostalgia. Then I hear new work by Mike Campbell or Low Cut Connie's Adam Weiner and I'm reminded once again that rock 'n' roll is always alive, always hiding in plain sight.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I REMEMBER")
MIKE CAMPBELL AND THE DIRTY KNOBS: (Singing) I remember, I still remember, I remember, I still remember you and how you made me feel. I remember, I still remember, I remember, I still remember you and how it used to be. Some things never change. Some things never change, baby. They always stay the same forever.
TUCKER: That's Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, from their new album "Mission Of Mercy," in which Campbell continues with unabated energy and skill to explore the kind of elemental rock he made for decades with Tom Petty. Campbell's new work always avoids nostalgia while carrying an air of hard-won serenity.
Low Cut Connie is Adam Weiner's vehicle for piano-based rock 'n' roll tinged with social politics.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PALPITATIONS")
LOW CUT CONNIE: (Singing) Drop your digs and go with me, babe. We'll live like hippies in the USA. And you know we may never get the chance again. The way you feel is written on your face. But two streets over, there's a different place we can go just to let ourselves dance again. So come and we'll live it, babe. Walk around this campus like we're out of place. Such a strange feeling, babe, getting palpitations in the United States.
TUCKER: For a decade now, as singer, songwriter and pianist, Weiner has fronted a shifting group of musicians putting on wild, sweaty shows that usually find him stripped to the waist and leaping off the piano. Weiner's method is liberation through controlled chaos, better living through rhythm and blues.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET ME SPEAK TO BOBBY")
LOW CUT CONNIE: (Singing) Let me speak to Bobby. 'Cause it's about to go down. So don't you jerk me around. Don't pull me out. Let me speak to Bobby. He rides around, stinkin' up the place. Big money's hangin' out of his pants. One of these days, I'm gonna put him in his place. Oh, the baby's gonna jump up and dance. Just let me speak to Bobby.
TUCKER: That's "Let Me Speak To Bobby" from Low Cut Connie's new album, "Livin In The USA." Weiner was one of the first musicians to decline to play at the Kennedy Center under the current administration. And given the tone of this collection and Weiner's recent statements, the Bobby in that song could be Health and Human Services Secretary Bobby Kennedy Jr. Now, and in some of his earlier work, Weiner has spoken of the oppression of people in matters of race and gender. Overall, this album's finest moments occur when Weiner's music embodies the soaring freedom promised by roots rock 'n' roll. He's done a superb job of updating it on a song such as "Can't Be Wrong."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CAN'T BE WRONG")
LOW CUT CONNIE: (Singing) Well, I'm feeling pretty good today. I'm feeling like I want to stay. Baby, anything you want to say, oh, baby, no, it can't be wrong. Getting naked in the afternoon, maybe later underneath the moon. Baby, anything you want to do, oh, baby, no, it can't be wrong. See me checking...
TUCKER: Weiner says in a statement accompanying the album that every song here was, quote, "recorded in one hot take. Just blurt it out, capture it and put it out - that's how rock 'n' roll was born." But, of course, Adam Weiner and Mike Campbell know that the music is more than blurt and release, that rock 'n' roll was born from performers who very knowingly transfigured their experiences to create revolutionary art. The revolution is over, but its passion, complexity and rewards remain as life-altering as ever.
GROSS: Ken Tucker reviewed new music from The Dirty Knobs and Low Cut Connie.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIVIN IN THE USA")
LOW CUT CONNIE: (Singing) Yeah.
GROSS: Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, my guest will be Andre De Shields. He won a Tony for his performance in "Hadestown." He's also in the new film of last year's London revival of the show. He's now on Broadway in "Cats: The Jellicle Ball." De Shields describes himself as Afro-queer, a longtime HIV survivor and an unreformed hippie who grew up in Baltimore's innermost inner city. He's frequently described by others as a Broadway legend. I hope you'll join us.
To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram - @nprfreshair. FRESH AIR's executive producer is Sam Briger. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our engineer today is Adam Staniszewski. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi, Anna Bauman and Nico Gonzalez-Wisler. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. Our co-host is Tonya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIVIN IN THE USA")
LOW CUT CONNIE: (Singing) Yeah. Pray for the children, let the children have a chance to stay. Pray for the children, let the children have a chance to stay. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
