Khal Drogo’s punk rock friends deliver 20 minutes of mostly angry energy.
Sometimes, when nothing works anymore, you just need the muscle-bound leader of a fearsome cavalry nation. Or at least its actors. When The Bobby Lees wanted to take a break because their finances weren’t going well despite great critical acclaim, actor Jason Momoa, famous as Khal Drogo in “Game Of Thrones”, came forward and helped finance the fourth album of the band from Woodstock, New York, which was founded in 2018.
Thanks to the Khal there is now NEW SELF, and indeed one would have missed these songs bursting with angry power and infectious energy, which stagger back and forth between Rage Against The Machine, Chili Peppers and Beastie Boys. It’s been a long time since anyone has sung as angry and crazy and haunting as Sam Quartin in the title song about a life on the edge of madness, while the guitar digs deep furrows into the soul. “I just keep on getting fucked,” the frontwoman spits out in “Napoleon” – and despite the disgusted tone, it sounds more like a statement.
In “50 Ft,” bassist Kendall Wind and drummer Macky Bowman are in great form (the two also build the rhythm framework on the new album by Jon Spencer, who produced the 2020 Bobby Lees album SKIN SUIT). “Got Me Good” proves that raw energy also works acoustically, “All I Got” has amazingly touching moments, and “Red Hot” is pure holy anger again. And because that’s right, and because people can’t get upset all the time, because you have to know when it’s enough, NEW SELF only lasts eight songs or 20 minutes. But they have it all.