Dirty Streets Post “Get Out” Live Video
Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 10th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
As of two days ago, Memphis blues rockers Dirty Streets are on tour heralding the Sept. 29 arrival of their new album, Who’s Gonna Love You, through Blue Élan Records. They’re out supporting Radio Moscow-offshoot El Perro, and they’ve unveiled the second single from the upcoming record to further mark the occasion. “Get Out” appears in a live-in-studio video, as if to prove once and for all that Dirty Streets‘ mellow boogie isn’t the result of some studio chicanery, they’re actually just that sharp as players. The funk underlying “Get Out” is emblematic of a decent portion of Who’s Gonna Love You in songs like “Bitter End,” “Just for You” or the earlier “Blinded,” and it builds off the maddeningly catchy hook of album-leadoff/prior single “Alright” in hinting at some of the shifts throughout the 11-tracker as a whole.
To wit, “Who’s Gonna Love You” — the title-track quickly arriving behind “Alright” — meshes acoustic and electric guitars atop an ever-solid rhythmic foundation provided by bassist Thomas Storz and Andrew Denham dropping hints early of sweetening up the groove of “Helter Skelter” but taking its own direction ultimately. The subsequent “Poison” ups the bluesy quotient with a soulful underpinning in guitarist Justin Toland‘s vocals, which are always a strength for the band and help ease the dynamic shifts from “Poison” into “Blinded,” “Blinded” into the semi-twang ’90s
ballad “Not That Man,” “Not That Man” into the soft-shoe reset of “Get Out” as the centerpiece, and so on. “Ghost” is as quiet as they get, approaching a minimal take on heavy blues, which fits the back and forth as “Bitter End” looses its strut to begin the closing salvo with “Just for You” and “Sunday” wrapping in likewise more rocking fashion, the latter pulling from Led Zeppelin similar to how the title-track worked off The Beatles. But let’s be honest. This is the sixth full-length from Dirty Streets. Their sound is nobody’s but their own.
I suppose if that seems incongruous for something that’s also so much steeped in classic styles and atmospheres, then yeah, you get the point of what Dirty Streets do. They make that not incongruous. More than a decade after their second album, Movements (review here), sent them out on the road in 2011/2012, and four years since 2018’s Distractions (discussed here), their latest LP with the 2020 live album Rough and Tumble (review here) notwithstanding, Dirty Streets are assured of who they are, set on their process in terms of crafting sweet, almost-humble-feeling songs that balance heavier and softer, louder and quieter impulses while remaining memorable unto themselves. Long and persistently underrated among heavy rockers, Dirty Streets reaffirm their essential character on Who’s Gonna Love You while finding new avenues of expression through songwriting. If you don’t know them, the only barrier to getting on board is hitting play. They could hardly be more welcoming.
The live clip for “Get Out” follows here. The “Alright” video is down near the bottom of this post. We’re still a while away from the release date, but if you’re the preorder type or just enjoy marking your calendar for things, maybe that’s a thing worth thinking about.
Oh yes, and the tour dates are below as well, while we’re thinking.
Enjoy:
Dirty Streets, “Get Out” live video
DIRTY STREETS are releasing more new music – second single, “Get Out,” is available now and a live video shot at Southern Grooves Studios, is premiering today. The trio also just hit the road with El Perro for a U.S. tour ending July 1st in Louisville, see below for full itinerary.
Dirty Streets spent the last two years of their pandemic-induced forced time off creating new music and finding a new home with the Los Angeles-based independent label, Blue Élan Records. Their seventh studio album, Who’s Gonna Love You, was produced by Grammy Award winner Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine) and is set for release on September 29.
“Get Out” is a song about the illusion of escapism. As singer, Justin Toland explains it, “The first line refers to ‘moving out west to the rolling hills’ which is really just the concept of any place other than here. Moving around throughout my life and going on tour has really made me think more about how the idea of going to a new place can be so inspiring, but can also be a trap within itself. The song is really just about how there is no escape from life itself.”
DIRTY STREETS TOUR w/El Perro
Wed 6/8 – Lafayette, LA – Freetown Boom Boom Room
Thu 6/9 – Houston, TX – Black Magic Social Club
Fri 6/10 – Dallas, TX – Three Links Deep Ellum
Sat 6/11 – Tulsa, OK – The Whittier Bar
Sun 6/12 – Colorado Springs, CO – Vultures
Mon 6/13 – Denver, CO – HQ
Wed 6/15 – SLC, UT – Garage on Beck
Thurs 6/16 – Boise, ID – The Shredder
Fri 6/17 – Seattle, WA – Funhouse
Sat 6/18 – Tacoma, WA. – The Plaid Pig Live Music Lounge
Sun 6/19 – Portland, OR – High Water Mark
Mon 6/20 – Eugene, OR – Old Nick’s Pub
Tue 6/21 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Wed 6/22 – Los Angeles, CA – Permanent Records Roadhouse
Thu 6/23 – Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing Company
Fri 6/24 – Las Vegas, NV – Count’s Vamp’d Rock Bar & Grill
Sat 6/25 – Tempe, AZ – Yucca Tap Room
Sun 6/26 – Albuquerque, NM – The Historic El Rey Theatre
Tues 6/28 – Oklahoma City, OK. – Blue Note Lounge
Wed 6/29 – Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge
Thurs 6/30 – Eureka Springs, AR – Chelsea’s Corner Cafe
Fri 7/1 – Louisville, KY – fifteen TWELVE
DIRTY STREETS:
Justin Toland – guitar/vocals
Thomas Storz – bass
Andrew Denham – drums
