ALBUM REVIEW: The Bobby Lees – New Self

Epitaph

Released: 12.06.26

The first time I heard The Bobby Lees’ breakthrough track Drive I experienced a giddy rush of sheer electric joy I hadn’t felt in quite a while. A sub-3 minute full-tilt, adrenaline jab of garage-punk awesomeness, Drive was more cleverly constructed than I first noticed, but I was too busy smashing up my room with excitement and getting their name tattooed on my neck to notice subtleties. The accompanying Skin Suit album delivered on Drive’s promise and their shows around that time were amazing, this young snotty band of misfits totally killing it. The Bellevue album followed and though there was a lot to love, it was darker, things felt off somehow. And then they were gone: industry bullshit, money bullshit, Spotify bullshit. You know – bullshit. Rhythm section Mackey and Kendall morphed into Jon Spencer’s backing band, while singer/guitarist Sam Quartin – one of the most charismatic frontpeople around – already had some acting credits and emerged with a solo project, Ladyboy.

And then, in a genuinely batshit turn of events, Jason Momoa (yes, that Jason Momoa) contacted them professing his love and offering to fund a new record. A deal with Epitaph followed and here we are, very unexpectedly, with New Self. Blessed with a brilliant, vivid cover, New Self crams eight tracks into a whisker over 20 minutes but by the end you still feel pretty wrung out, such is the intensity on offer. Unexpectedly (for me at least) guitarist Nick Casa is still present here, although it was his farewell: the road life wasn’t for him and last I heard he was a landscape gardener.

Anyway, New Self sounds exactly as you’d expect a record from a plucky bunch of survivors to sound: it’s urgent, angry, taut, defiant and seeking revenge. Opener Give puts you on notice that the Bobby Lees sound has changed: there’s a harder, almost nineties metal feel. The following Napoleon is perhaps the closest to their old garage punk style on the album and Sam has never sounded more determined and in control. She is SUCH a great vocalist, expressive and almost conversational, like she’s jabbing you in the chest in the queue for the bar. The End is pretty much a straight-up punk track that could have emerged from the current crop of Aussie bands. The whole of New Self is more rhythm driven than previous records (Sam apparently built the songs around rhythm tracks Mackey and Kendall sent while they were touring with Jon Spencer), something particularly noticeable on a surprising cover of PJ Harvey’s eternal banger 50ft Queenie, a song which absolutely suits Sam’s persona although the staccato bass and drums sounds weirdly like a nineties sports metal track, It’s a nice idea but I don’t think it’s entirely successful. The rap-metal feel continues on the following title track, which somehow calls to mind Sabotage by The Beastie Boys. All I Got is positively epic compared to the rest of the album, with brooding, melancholy verses offset by a defiant ‘I’m still here’ chorus. Got Me Good has a Bo Diddley riff and a rockabilly sparseness, while Sam sounds positively demented on jerky, frenetic closer Red Hot.

It’s so good that the Bobby Lees are still here, against all the odds, and there’s a lot on New Self to enjoy – it’s ferocious and celebratory and inventive. But there’s also something a bit dated about it, tapping into an era of American rock music I never cared for. Still, it’ll be interesting to see where they go next.