Dirty Heads

Following in the footsteps of their California brothers Sublime, Huntington Beach's Dirty Heads mix hip-hop, reggae, and rock along with a laid-back So Cal attitude. Debuting in 2008 with Any Port in a Storm, the band has remained a fixture on the Billboard rock and alternative charts with acclaimed efforts like Sound of Change (2014), Swim Team (2017), and Super Moon (2019). Following 2022's more concise Midnight Control, Dirty Heads delivered an amalgam of their core attributes on 2026's 7 Seas.

The band formed in 2003 when punk rocker Dustin Bushnell (aka Duddy B) asked his friend, rapper Jared Watson (aka Dirty J), to collaborate on a project that would focus on positive vibes and infectious grooves. Watson added singing to his vocal skills, and with percussionist Jon Olazabal, an acoustic trio version of Dirty Heads began playing shows and building an audience. They soon hooked up with producer Rob Cavallo and headed into the studio to record their debut album for Warner Bros., but differences with the label had them looking for other opportunities. Still, the band was able to retain most of its work, including sessions with drummer Josh Freese, along with the late-Beatles collaborator Billy Preston in one of the keyboardist's last recordings. The finished album, Any Port in a Storm, was eventually released in 2008 on the Universal Music affiliate Executive Music Group. A deluxe version of the album featured the track "Lay Me Down" with special guest Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome, and would top Billboard's Alternative Songs chart in 2010.

They followed up two years later with Cabin by the Sea and later recorded an acoustic version of the title track. This led to an entire acoustic album in 2013 called Home: Phantoms of Summer. Dirty Heads' next album, Sound of Change, would prove to be a breakthrough for the now-veteran band, debuting at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 while topping the Independent and Alternative Albums charts upon its May 2014 release.

Building on their renewed success, Dirty Heads enlisted a bevy of industry hitmakers to work on their self-titled 2016 follow-up, which -- thanks to its mainstream appeal -- again charted high on the Billboard Top 200. The band dropped its sixth studio album, Swim Team, in 2017, featuring the singles "Vacation" and "Staloney." Also included on the album was the track "So Glad You Made It," featuring 311's Nick Hexum. Described by Dirty J as a "70s sci-fi kung fu Western car chase soundtrack," Dirty Heads' seventh album, Super Moon, was produced by Dave Cobb and released in 2019.

2021 saw the band issue the greatest-hits LP The Best of Dirty Heads, which included new collaborations with Travis Barker (blink-182) and Aimee Allen (the Interrupters). It was followed in early 2022 by the Common Kings-assisted single "Heavy Water" which appeared on the band's more streamlined eighth full-length, Midnight Control, which arrived later that August. A co-headlining tour with fellow So Cal rockers Slightly Stoopid took them through 2024, after which they began work on their next release. The result was 2026's 7 Seas, a more wide-ranging album that covered the gamut of Dirty Heads' sound. ~ David Jeffries