The Bobby Lees, who recently released their Ipecac Recordings’ debut, Bellevue, head out on their first North American tour in support of the album, which Pop Matters dubbed their “most scorching and essential recording to date.”
“This will be our first time playing Bellevue in all of these cities,” said the band, collectively. “Come watch us play like it’s our last night on earth!”
The Bobby Lees tour dates:
February 3 Atlantic City, NJ Anchor Rock Club (w/ Jon Spencer)
March 30 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
March 31 Columbus, OH Rumba Café
April 1 Athens, OH Ohio University
April 3 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
April 4 Toronto, ON Monarch Tavern
April 6 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
April 7 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
April 8 Troy, NY No Fun
April 11 Washington, DC DC9
April 12 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
April 13 Atlanta, GA The Earl
April 14 Nashville, TN The Basement
May 2 Seattle, WA Barboza
May 3 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
May 5 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
May 6 Los Angeles, CA The Echo
May 7 San Diego, CA The Casbah
May 11 Austin TX Mohawk
May 12 Dallas, TX Three Links
May 13 Tulsa, OK The Vanguard
Tickets for all shows are on sale this Friday at 10 am local time. Ticketing links can be found via Ipecac.com/tours.
As soon as I heard “Shoo-In,” I knew this was going to be one of my favorite records of the year. These Austin, Texans play fuzzy garage rock that covers such subjects as drinking, sex, partying, break-ups, jerks, and weirdos. In other words, everything.
Cosmic rock keeps expanding, which is great news for people like me who love psychedelic sounds that are fit for exploring the desert or other planets. King Buffalo’s newest album fits the bill and sends you into orbit into the surprisingly warm void of space.
This is the best dance-rock record I heard all year. It’s a groove-filled EP with scathing lyrics about politicians, consumerism, the internet, celebrity, toxic masculinity, and sex.
And here’s the best punk record I heard all year. The Chats came back with a new guitarist and a renewed anger (and sense of humor) after the pandemic and gave us this wickedly sharp and funny album of barn-burners about the price of cigarettes, hot rods, and, of course, getting drunk.
The first thing you learn about The Bobby Lees upon playing their new album, Bellevue, is that they don’t waste time. The title track, which opens the album, explodes like ambush machine gun fire. It’s hard to determine who is going fastest. Is it Sam Quartin with her frantic vocals, Macky Bowman with his raging drums, Nick Casa with his blazing guitar, or Kendall Wind with her bonkers bass?
They only stop to breathe for the beginning of “Hollywood Junkyard,” which soon grows into a savage beast of a track that has Quartin ripping apart fame and all the trappings and expectations that come with it. “Ma Likes to Drink” ups the punk (and the funk on Wind’s bass). “Death Train” brings in monster surf elements and Quartin tells us to “shut up and dance.”
“Strange Days” takes a strange left turn, reminding me of some early tracks by Yeah Yeah Yeahs with its haunted house piano, rock star swagger, and air of mystery. “Dig Your Hips” lights a new fuse under your feet with some of Bowman’s hardest snare slaps on the record. I love how the whole band sings on the chorus of “Have You Seen a Girl.” Casa’s guitar solo on “In Low” is jaw-dropping. It sounds like the rest of the band told him, “Just go nuts.”, and he took them up on the offer.
“Little Table” might be a song about human furniture fetish, or a song about the interdependency of relationships. It could be both. “Monkey Mind” has Quartin protesting her inability to stay present. We can all relate to this, and to Wind’s dance bass groove. “Greta Van Fake” is, as you’d expect and hope, a brutal takedown of Greta Van Fleet (“I watch you from the crowd as you fake it, now watch us from the ground as we make it.”). The album closes with “Be My Enemy,” which has Quartin telling her detractors that she’s biding her time as they push her down so she can grow in strength and then smash them to pieces.
Bellevue is named after the upstate New York mental hospital, and Quartin has mentioned that she wrote many of the album’s lyrics while undergoing great stress during the pandemic. The album is manic, for sure, but there’s a tightness to it like a straitjacket that’s tearing at the seams.
The Bobby Lees offer a final preview of their forthcoming album, Bellevue (Oct. 7, Ipecac Recordings), with today’s release of “Ma Likes To Drink” and its companion video (https://youtu.be/ITo2lETlQfk).
Drummer Macky Bowman said of the track: “To paraphrase John Berger: there is a stark difference between being naked and being a nude. To be naked is to be natural. Stripped of societal confines you are free to be as languorous or wanton as you wish. Even in naked acts of exhibition the primary spiritual benefactor will be the model, not the voyeur. Conversely to be a nude is to be reduced to no more than your physical form, displayed as a trite odalisque for the pleasure of greasy slobs. On an unrelated note we are all very proud of this song and video! We really hope you enjoy. Love you!”
The static shot clip, featuring singer Sam Quartin on a stationary bike sandwiched between a pair of mannequins, was directed by John Swab who also created the band’s videos for “Dig Your Hips” (https://youtu.be/ny6Q-mTsk0g), and the video-meets-film short, “Hollywood Junkyard” (https://youtu.be/7dnTajHLeyQ).
The Bobby Lees recently wrapped up a European tour that included the Woodstock, N.Y-based band’s first stint in the UK. The four-piece band have several shows coming over the next few months including a free show on Sept. 17 at Rockefeller Center for Indieplaza Fest and an Oct. 9 performance at Aftershock 2022.
The Bobby Lees tour dates:
September 17 New York, NY Rockefeller Plaza (Indieplaza Fest)
September 18 Durham, NC The Pinhook
September 20 Atlanta, GA Masquerade Purgatory
September 22 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle
September 23 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
October 9 Sacramento, CA Aftershock 2022
October 25 Brooklyn, NY Baby’s All Right
October 28 Woodstock, NY Colony
November 5 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
September 18 to 23 w/Geese
“I named the album Bellevue because when I listen back, I hear someone going through that stuff, who is now able to laugh about it and have fun re-telling the stories,” Sam explains. “It’s a reminder for me that the most painful and intense things I go through end up being the most rewarding creatively.” The 13-song album, which was recorded live in-studio, was produced by Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, The Raconteurs).
Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Henry Rollins…these are just a few of the punk icons who have shown support for Woodstock, NY based band The Bobby Lees. Sam Quartin [vocals, guitar], Macky Bowman [drums], Nick Casa [guitar], and Kendall Wind [bass] — make music that is punk in spirit and soul; unfettered and resolutely honest. To say their sound is wild and untethered is an understatement. It’s the kind of aural exorcism any listener can tap into, something that struck a chord with Henry Rollins who brought them to Ipecac Recordings where Mike Patton and Greg Werckman signed them.
Album pre-orders, which include three vinyl variants: standard black, and limited-edition white and Coke bottle clear as well as a limited-edition white cassette, CD digipak, and digital pre-saves, are available now: https://thebobbylees.lnk.to/bellevue.
