LOS ANGELES, CA- This was my first time diving into The Bobby Lees, and man, I can’t get enough of this track. Their new single “Napoleon” hits like a blunt instrument: sharp, wild, and totally unpretentious. The vocals aren’t really sung as much as they’re barked, shouted, and hurled right at you. It’s the kind of delivery that makes you want to shake your head, stomp your foot, and just give in to the chaos.
I’ll be honest, I had to look up who Napoleon Hill was to find out he wrote The Law of Success. And pairing that reference with Winston Churchill’s “never give up” line kind of makes sense now… It feels like a peek into the band’s ethos. But the stuff that really grabbed me were the other lines, shouted with this mix of desperation and conviction: “Show me what to do / Tell me where to go / When this is what I am here for / And that is all that I know.” There’s no fluff here, no pretty polish. Just raw expression that bulldozes its way into your chest.
And then there’s this verse that made me do a double take:
“Now when it comes to making money, I don’t know anything about that / I believe you, and like a dumb rat I choke on the smoke of the industry trap / Till I, I am left on the floor, I’m dead and depleted, no longer able to fight / So the next time you see me comin, don’t you dare try to steal my light.”
Brutal. It cuts right into the grind of trying to survive in music without getting eaten alive by the machine. Delivered in Sam Quartin’s howl, it lands as both a confession and a dare.
The video for “Napoleon” is as bare-bones as it gets: the band tears it up in a hotel room. And honestly, that’s perfect. No gloss, no tricks, just noise and nerve. Watching it, I couldn’t help but think how explosive this trio must be live. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to find out.
Clearly, I’m not the only one impressed. Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Keanu Reeves, Henry Rollins, Juliette Lewis, and even Tom Cruise have all turned up at Bobby Lees shows. That’s not hype. That’s legends co-signing the real thing. Henry Rollins nailed it when he said, “The Bobby Lees are wild and different. Dangerous music is good for you.”
Since forming in Woodstock, NY in 2017, The Bobby Lees have been pushing their way through the underground with a sound that refuses to be tamed. Their records Skin Suit (2020) and Bellevue (2022) were raw statements of intent, crafted with heavy-hitters like Jon Spencer, David Sardy, Alex Pasco, and Vance Powell. Each release got bolder and more honest. And now with their signing to Epitaph Records (home to punk institutions like Rancid, Descendents, and Social Distortion) it feels like the stage is set for them to erupt on a much bigger scale.
Quartin has said their new material comes from “a more confident place than in the past,” and you can hear it dripping all over “Napoleon.” It’s feral, but focused. Frenetic, but sharp. This isn’t noise for noise’s sake: it’s a declaration of intent.
For me, discovering The Bobby Lees feels like stumbling into a live wire in a scene that can sometimes play it too safe. They’re messy in all the right ways. Loud in the way you need loud to be. The kind of band that makes you believe rock and roll can still be dangerous… and that dangerous music is exactly what we need.
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