If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Karla Moheno For his latest single, Jon Spencer teams with Kendall Wind and Spider Bowman of The Bobby Lees and roots music legend Deke Dickerson for "Come On!" The song is described as a "Super-groovy garage-soul-punk protest song," although it's pretty sad that asking people to live their lives without hate is considered political in 2025. This song is pure vintage Spencer, and it's being attacked with an energy and vitality that we haven't seen from the former Blues Explosion frontman in years. This is the kind of protest song that dominated the 60's, but through a garage-soul-punk filter. "Come On!" is a great song that name checks legends such as Mavis Staples, Chuck D, Wayne Kramer, Kathleen Hanna, and more.  You can watch the video for "Come On!" below. The single is out now via Shove Records. For more on Jon Spencer, check out the artist on Instagram and Facebook . Upcoming tour dates are below the video and incl...

I first discovered The Bobby Lees since Jon Spencer produced their 2020 album  Skin Suit.  For  Bellevue , the signed to Ipecac Recordings. As you might expect, the album loses a little bit of the blues based punk you'll get with Spencer producing, but the noise and aggression has increased with the move to Ipecac.  Bellevue  is a gloriously loud and fast blues/punk record. Guitarist/vocalist Sam Quartin is just spewing venom and sounding impossibly cool while doing it. Despite just being filled with great songs, one of the appeals of The Bobby Lees is just how cool they seem to be. It's been a long, long time since a band sounded this raw and just seemed cool doing it. They even pull off a punk rock diss track with "Greta Van Fake," proving it's not just middle aged rockers that don't get the appeal of that band. My only regret with my two plus years of Bobby Lees fandom is that I discovered them the day after they played Boston in 2020, and they haven't ...

Artist : Alvvays Album : Blue Rev Quick Thoughts : Alvvays burst on the scene in 2014 and blew up with "Marry Me Archie," and haven't taken their foot off the gas since. This is easily the best listen of the week: song after song after song that is a winner. If you like the fuzzy indie stuff, make it a point to add this to your rotation. Songs of Note : "Pharmacist," "After the Earthquake," "Many Mirrors," "Very Online Guy," "Belinda Says" Artist : Johanna Warren Album : Lessons for Mutants Quick Thoughts : An impressive, somewhat stark affair recorded live to tape that provides a somewhat distant feel. The album is hauntingly wonderful and deserves a listen, but what's great is how this sticks with you over its runtime and beyond. In a busy week, it stands out in ways I didn't expect from someone's sixth album. Songs of Note : "Piscean Lover," "County Fair" Artist : ctrl + me Al...

Photo via Facebook Our favorite Woodstock, NY garage punks are back with a new song! "Ma Likes to Drink" is the latest from The Bobby Lees, and as expected it's an unhinged burner of a song. The band's move to Ipecac Recordings has seen the band ramp up the menace on their songs, and this track might be the best example to date. The song just sounds like it's about to burst out of control at any moment and The Bobby Lees are just barely able to stay in charge. It's noisy and fast but still falls into the category of garage punk. In a just world The Bobby Lees would be megastars. Maybe someday... In the YouTube description for the song, drummer Macky Bowman explains: “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 ...

Photo via Facebook I don't think I could possibly be digging The Bobby Lees more at this point. The Woodstock, NY's band has released a new single, "Dig Your Hips." It continues their step slightly away from the blues-punk sound of 2020's Skin Suit into more of a noisy punk sound. "Dig Your Hips" still has strong roots in blues, but this sound is much heavier than your typical blues-punk. "Dig Your Hips" is a full on rager that packs more into it's three minutes and eighteen seconds than most artists do in ten minute epics. It's all just pure groove and full throttle rock bearing straight down at you. Even the quiet parts are just festering with anticipation for the burst that you know is about to explode in your face. Vocalist Sam Quartin says of the new song: "This song’s about a psychotic episode I had while partying in the desert, and the feeling of wanting to set fire to your life and run away from it with someone you barely k...

Buckle up on this one, because we're gonna have to get a little name-droppy. I absolutely loved The Bobby Lees' Jon Spencer produced 2020 album Skin Suit. This time around, the band have signed with Mike Patton's Ipecac Records, and were signed by A&R rep Henry Rollins. Does the band need any more indie cred? "Hollywood Junkyard" keeps everything I loved about Skin Suit. It's still punk rock meets garage blues, except the punk is amped up well past eleven. Plus, if you're even slightly familiar with Ipecac, you know that The Bobby Lees are going to have to crank up the noise, and they do. "Hollywood Junkyard" is a wonderfully intense song. It's a little more straight ahead rock and roll with a fair share of metal than I would have expected, but it's still loud and more than a little odd. If you also loved their last album, you're going to adore this new song. Sam Quartin of The Bobby Lees explains the new song and video: “The vide...

I first discovered The Bobby Lees back in February. We received a promo email mentioning that their upcoming album was produced by Jon Spencer, which is going to grab my attention. I listened to "Coin" once and became instantly obsessed with the Woodstock, NY band. Their blend of punked up dirty blues (with an emphasis on the punk) is one of my soft spots for music. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion influence is heavy on Skin Suit , but not overwhelming. The Bobby Lees take JSBX's sound and go off in their own heavier, more intense direction. As I started falling down a rabbit hole of my new musical obsession, I went to their tour dates to see if they were playing near me. That's when I realized they had played the night before at O'Brien's in Boston with two other bands I like (Zip-Tie Handcuffs and Baabes). No big deal, upstate NY is semi-local, so I'm sure they'd be back soon, especially with a new album. Oh, 2020, great dasher of dreams... That could...

By this time, it feels like we've heard the majority of The Bobby Lees's upcoming album, but I suppose when its release date was pushed back due to COVID-19, that's what happens. We're now a week away from the release of Skin Suit , and we have one last pre-release single for you. "Wendy" is exactly what we want from The Bobby Lees. It's high energy noisy blues based garage punk. It's buzzsaw guitars, vocals dripping with menace and attitude, and then handclaps to keep the party going. That's the true joy of "Wendy." It's a hard hitting garage punk jam that still sounds like you just walked into the best party in town. You can listen to "Wendy" below. Skin Suit , the new album from The Bobby Lees, will be out July 17 on Alive Naturalsound Records. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on The Bobby Lees, check out their website .

Our anticipation continues to grow for the new album from Woodstock, NY's The Bobby Lees. Their version of garage punked up blues is something I simply can't resist. Seeing how well documented my love of covers is, hearing that they have a cover of Richard Hell & The Voidoids's beyond classic "Blank Generation" thrilled me. The cover delivers. First of all, how could it not? Second... this is just perfect. The Bobby Lees keep relatively the same tempo as the original, but somehow it feels like this out of control song that threatens to explode at any time. They somehow took a song that's forty three years old and gave it back its menace. You can listen to The Bobby Lees's version of "Blank Generation" below. Skin Suit, the upcoming Jon Spencer produced album from The Bobby Lees, will be out July 17 on Alive Naturalsound Records. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on The Bobby Lees, check out their w ebsite . Current tour dates are b...

This is the week that the new  Jon Spencer produced  album from The Bobby Lees should be out, but due to COVID-19 it's been delayed until July 17. At least we have a new song to listen to while we wait an extra two months. "Drive" sounds like the song that wants to be the hit. It's still the hyped up punk blues that we're coming to love from the Woodstock, NY band, but this one is about as pop friendly as we're going to get from them. It's undeniably catchy, but more mainstream music fans are really going to struggle through the discordance that's still pervading throughout the song (which we mean in the best possible way). Plus, there's an all too brief J Mascis style guitar solo that threatens to plunge the song into total chaos. Luckily, The Bobby Lees use some scream along vocals that do that job quite nicely. You can watch the video for "Drive" below. Skin Suit , the upcoming album from The Bobby Lees, will be out July 17 on Aliv...