Ken's Best of 2022 - #8: The Bobby Lees - Bellevue


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 been back since.

Songs of note: "Hollywood Junkyard," "Ma Likes to Drink," "Dig Your Hips," and "Bellevue"

On Repeat...

Liam Kazar - "Shoes Too Tight"

Dutch ReBelle - "GOONIEZ"

The Freqs - "Witch"