Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers Injects Protest Among Power Pop on ‘The Things You Left Behind’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

The warm roots rock of Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Nappers glows throughout their newest release, The Things You Left Behind as they inject power pop, country twang, love ballads and protest anthems into their well-worn sound.

Frontman/songwriter Migliorelli has assembled The Dirt Nappers, who have played with some heavyweights in the industry. Mike Heaphy on steel guitar (Steve Forbert), Danny A. Weiss on keys (Joan Osborne), Tony Tino on bass (Asbury Jukes, Gavin DeGraw), Sherryl Marshall backing vocals (Buster Poindexter’s Banshees of Blue) and Tommy Deihl on drums all contribute throughout.

Opening with the title track Frank, turns on his Nick Lowe as the group amps the energy in Big Star fashion, kicking off the record with an early highlight before “She Moves Like A Mystery” drops the players back into their more laid back Tom Petty Wildflowers flavored sound with Migliorelli cramming words and stanzas in folk rock fashion.    

The traveling acoustic “Vagabond Shoes” name-checks a pair of Jacks (Kerouac and London) as the rock gets worked out via a loud chorus, descending bass line and scratchy guitar solo during “Take It Back”. The group delivers some excellent smooth blues and fiery solo work for “The Key To Your Heart”, but are less successful on the mid-tempo “Fire Inside” which goes for a spooky groove but feels out of place on the record.

Much more exciting are the country flares on “I Wanna Know” with its steel guitar lines and the honkytonk kicker “Every Bartender In This Town Knows My Name” which is a dynamite number that any Nashville songwriter would kill for. The Beatles inspired ballad “She’s Not Coming Home” softly showcases the fantastic backing vocals from Marshall in a soothing tune.  

The gear shifts quickly from light-hearted tales of drinking, wandering and relationship issues to Migliorelli’s blistering attack on the NRA titled “Only Here”. Questioning why the USA is the only country who consistently has school shootings, the song uses a driving chorus calling for the total destruction of non-profit organizations as prayers don’t matter with all the senseless death. Frank sings to this directly with lines like, “Only here we seem immune to gunshots in the halls/Children hiding out in fear their blood splattered on the walls/Only here”.   

Frank Migliorelli and The Dirt Nappers The Things You Left Behind, welcomes the listener in with gorgeous production and top-notch playing before the late arriving protest song reminds the listener of larger world issues outside of their headphones and smartphones.