W/e 19/06/26 - The Bobby Lees, La Securite, Oral Habit, Olivia Rodrigo, Faith No More

Album Club — Week of 12th June 2026

Album of the Week: The Bobby Lees 🏆

The clear winner with a trimmed average of 7.47 — the most consistently loved record of the week, picking up praise across the board for its energy and punk credentials.

Tune of the Week: A close call between two Bobby Lees tracks — "All I Got" and "New Self" — each picking up multiple votes from different reviewers.

Happiest reviewer (excl. Faith No More): Phil C 😊 — averaged 7.68, clearly enjoying the week's selections more than anyone else.

Saddest reviewer (excl. Faith No More): Mark K 😞 — averaged 6.38, consistently less enthused than the group.

A few quotes on the best album — The Bobby Lees

Reviewers leaned heavily on punk and rock comparisons. Jim called it a highlight, noting the lyrical content stood out, while Sam felt it carried echoes of Rage Against the Machine in places, describing it as full throttle rock. Phil Cox was the most effusive, rating it his best of the week and praising its high energy. Simon picked up on a strong vocal performance and noted the band's nod to a P J Harvey cover. Andy was more reserved, feeling the record was barely substantial despite a decent sound.

A few quotes on the most divisive album — Faith No More ("Classic")

This one split opinion sharply. Andy was the most enthusiastic, calling The Real Thing one of his favourite albums of all time and saying this one came close, while Mark D praised a brilliant and crazy mix of funk bass and metal, supported at times by really haunting keyboards. On the other end, Justin found most of it simply painful, and Carlo felt the album was a nice balance and variety of songs, just not really for him. Guy summed up the room's broader hesitation, noting the shrieking got on his nerves and that the album lacked cohesion in style.

Guy

The Bobby Lees – Slightly heavier post-punk sound. Had hints of Amyl and the Sniffers in places. A little more memorable than La Securite. Good album length – 7.4

La Securite – Nice bit of art-rock / math-rock / post-punk although not hugely memorable – 7

Oral Habit – Had the feel of a decent pub band recording their first album without much production. Hints of Joy Division in the singer’s voice and by no means a bad listen but equally little to write home about – 6.5

Olivia Rodrigo – My daughter won’t like me saying this but I can’t really see what the fuss is all about. Decent mainstream pop but there are better and more interesting exponents – 6

TOTW – Napoleon by The Bobby Lees

Faith No More – As many of you know, this type of heavy metal / rock is not my cup of tea. One of the things that gets on my nerves is the shrieking. And yes we had some of that. But there was also an odd mix of tunes on this album with little cohesion in style. Best tracks were the last two which weren’t their compositions. – 5.9

Phil (New)

The Bobby Lees 8.4

High energy punk rock. Almost every track was a TOW. Score assisted by the length. Brilliant

La Securité 7.9

Playful, energetic dance punk sound. Occaisionally felt like the ideas had run out, and noise for the sake of noise, but another good album.

Oral Habit 7.9

Really disliked the opening track, but after that this was another high energy album for the week laden with guitar.

Olivia Rodrigo 6.5

My 14yo daughter is obsessed with Olivia. The Cure is a good track and she has a great voice, but otherwise the make up/break up pop is not really my thing.

TOTW New Self - The Bobby Lees

Faith No More 6

Theatrical metal rock, the melodic parts make it a bit different, but still not for me.

Andy

The Bobby Lees - This is barely an album which is a shame as they’ve got a decent sound. A bit of Fever 333 with a touch of PJ Harvey. I’ll look out to see if they make a proper effort in future 6

La Securite - Chirpy girl based indie types, a bit like the Go Gos with a bit of new wave thrown in. Enjoyable 6.5

Oral Habit - Decent lo-fi garage rock with Mark E Smith style vocals. 6.5

Olivia Rodrigo - This is excellent, although I need a few more listens to see where it sits compared to her first two. The nice thing is that she really means her Cure obsession and isn’t just being a try hard 8

TotW - stupid song by Olivia Rodrigo

Faith No More - An absolute blinder. The Real Thing is one of my favourite albums of all time and this is close. Roddy Bottum’s keyboards shine through and this is a marvellous mix of obvious bangers like Small Victory and Midlife Crisis with Hunter S Thompson like madness such as RV that give you an insight into Mike Patton’s mind and what you’ll later get from Mr Bungle. Love it 9.5

Simon

The Bobby Lees 7.5

Quite impressed by this, energetic punk rock with a strong vocal à la Sprints - they've done a decent job with the P J Harvey cover and it's not difficult to see her influence elsewhere on the album.

La Sécurité 8.2

I thought this was ace - catchy as hell, loved the cheap synth sound and it's all propelled along nicely by relentless, heavy bass riffs. Most of all though it's enormous fun - haven't enjoyed listening to an album as much as this for a while.

Oral Habit 7

Lo-fi basement rock, quite engaging although thought the production left a bit to be desired - not bad at all for a debut.

Olivia Rodrigo 6

As pop albums go it's immaculate, and 'expectations' is a banger, but I couldn't get excited by the rest - the slow songs in particular are just dull and Robert Smith wasn't able to liven up proceedings.

TotW: La Sécurité - Chill Pill

Faith No More 6

Like Guy, this isn't my cup of tea and I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed listening to it - that said, they were clearly good at their trade, although not sure their cover of one of the greatest film themes ever written did it justice.

Sam

The Bobby Lees : this was ace ! Shades of Rage Against the Machine at times . Full throttle rock . 8.6

La Securite: great fun bouncy Canadian rock ! Got me moving . 8

Oral Habit : very well made , quite dark rock . The Glove is a belter . 8.2

Olivia Rodrigo : much of this was yawnsville . But it improved a bit towards the end . 5.5

TOTW : New Self by Bobby Lees

Faith No More : it’s strange that i love their previous album so much but i don’t know this one well . It’s brilliant! The last 2 songs are pointless but the rest of this is majestic rock at its best : 9

Mark D

Bobby Lees 7.75

While since I listened to RATM but agree this felt like them at times. Few tracks were bit middling but otherwise great with real energy and imagine they'd be fantastic live band. Give and All I Got were very strong.

Olivia Rodrigo 7.25

She is some of the best mainstream out there and has distinct style in saturated genre but this isnt as strong as her last album where every track was as standout as The Cure or My Way. Album is a couple of tracks too long and agree its the lower key ones which let it down.

Oral Habit 6.5

Really strong opening few tracks but then quality dipped and at times felt more like a band just jamming and all a bit unfinished? Faux Fidelity nearly TOTW.

La Securite 7

Electro-pop-punk? Very tight album and band. Loved the bass and drums throughout. Tracks were simple but had enough little variations in them to keep it a great listen.

TOTW Give - Bobby Lees

Faith no More 9

Such a brilliant and crazy mix of funk bass and metal supported by, at times, really haunting keyboards at the fore. There really wasnt anyone who sounded like them and this is their peak for me. Small Victory / outro of Jizzlobber just top stuff..

Mark KE

The Bobby Lees - 6.5 - punky noisy Beasites vibes, shades of the 80s US hardcore sound, not totally up my alley but would be righteous live I imagine.

La Securitie - 6 - some interesting quirky B52s meets The Gossip stylings, maybe just suffering from a lack of anything really resembling a tune, not bad though.

Oral Habit - 5.5 - veers from shuffling indie to wannabe King Gizzard time signature wackiness without really nailing either

Olivia Rodrigo - 7.5 - fair play to her, she knows her way around a tune, although most tracks are co-writes with the bloke who wrote Pink Pony Club amongst many others I discovered. And she really does have a thing for Bob Smith doesn't she.

TOTW - The Cure, by Olivia Rodrigo

Phil (OG)

The Bobby Lees 6.9

On the cusp between punk and metal but not making much of a case for themselves. I even gave this an extra spin, such was the level of support for it, to see if I’d missed something. It got a slightly higher score as a result but still didn’t quite make 7.

La Securite 6.7

The first two or three tracks were quite enjoyable but after that their sound started to grate. Probably decent live but the album didn’t light any fires.

Oral Habit 7.2

This has a bit more going for it than the rest of the week’s offerings. I always like ramshackle and this lot are certainly that. They do occasionally take it too far – Matter 2 is a discordant mess – but they show promise.

Olivia Rodrigo 6.6

I’m generally well-disposed towards the current crop of post-Swifty girl popsters but I found this fairly dull. I enjoyed the first couple of tracks but after that it was the law of diminishing returns. Unfortunate as it’s by some distance the longest album of the week.

TOTW – Oral Habit - Chekhov

Classic

Faith No More 6.5

Until I became a Hannah I had no idea that heavy rock/metal had so many variants. Not sure I feel any better for the knowledge. This was OK – certainly preferable to most of the pop/metal of the 80s – but it didn’t make want to hear any more FNM albums.

Paul

The Bobby Lees (7.5)

Enjoyable high energy rock. Thought the vocals sounded a bit like placebo in places which is no bad thing. Would have liked a bit more.

La Securite (7.7)

Decent girl punk similar to Panic Shack/ Coach Party, bounced along nicely .

Oral Habit (6.5)

Average pub rock, wanted to like it more. Just felt a bit unfinished in places, which might be the point.

Olivia Rodrigo (7.2)

I’m not the target market but quite enjoyed it. It’s a pretty good pop album. My Way & Expectations were highlights.

TOTW - La Securite - Power Snoozer

Faith No More (6)

Didn’t get on with this, A Small Victory was a decent track but overall not for me.

Jim

The Bobby Lees 8.5

Loved this from start to finish. Idles and Sprints are 2 of my recent favs and this had plenty of both with some cracking lyrics/rap on top. Will be checking out some of their other offerings, of which I note their debut is even shorter. All I Got is tremendous, straight onto the prelim 26f.

La Securite 7.5

Funky and fun as you say Si. Ran out of steam a little, but will go back/look out for them.

Oral Habit 7

A little erratic but the majority is decent and Chekhov is a cracker. Top debut effort

Olivia Rodrigo 6.5

Not a patch on Guts, which was tip top pop. This is OK, more melancholy although Expectations reminds what she has in her locker – needed more like this.

TOTW Bobby Lees – All I Got.

Faith No More 7

Enjoyed the big rock tunes, some went into yeesch territory – I did not realise they went this heavy. Real Thing is more my Thang

Erol

The Bobby Lees – a riotous slab of mosh-pitting US punk rock that put me in mind of the early Red Hot Chilis at times. 7.8

La Securite - full of quirky synthesiser sounds and a very odd vocal delivery. I found this hard to like. 4.5

Oral Habit - very low-fi garage rock that sounds more like a bunch of mates jamming than a polished album. The drums were often at risk of overpowering the guitars. Still, not bad. 6.5

Olivia Rodrigo – even though I am not a 16 year-old who has just finished his/her GCSEs, it is hard not to enjoy this. Perfectly rounded pop for the younger generation. 7

TOTW - All I Got, the Bobby Lees

Classic - I never got on with these guys. Their sound is a bit too heavy, occasionally veering towards screeching. But they know how to put a track together and there are some good’uns here (like Everything’s Ruined). I’ll probably be shot for saying it, but the best is Easy, the final track. I love a bit of Lionel…! 6.9

Justin

The Bobby Lees - Rocky sound but not totally over awed. All I Got had a very Pixies feel. 6.5

La Securite - Just found this screechy and painful. 5

Oral Habit - Silly name which always annoys me, but I liked the rough indie sound. 7.2

Olivia Rodrigo - Not my type of thing but she does have a very good voice and the tunes are memorable. 7

TOTW Oral Habit - Chekhov

Faith No More - The last three songs were good although two of these are cover versions. The rest was simply painful. 5

Annette

The Bobby Lees: 8

La Securite: 7.5

Oral Habit: 7

Olivia Rodrigo: 7

TOTW: All I Got by The Bobby Lees

Classic: Faith No More - 6

Adam

The Bobby Lees 8

La Securite 7

Oral Habit 6

Olivia Rodrigo 7

TOTW Bobby Lees - The End

Classic 7

Carlo

THE BOBBY LEES – 7

Each track had enough vibrancy to make this an enjoyable listen. I totally get the Amyl comparison… but I think I prefer the Bobby’s, as it doesn’t have the vocal twang.

Oral Habit – 6.8

When the guitar and bass lock in with some tight drumming, it always helps. Let down slightly reverb-ed vocals that has unexpected key changes.

La Sécurité – 6.3

Started off strong. Another album that keeps you going when you need a bit of extra energy, although it tapered off towards the end as it just became a little more of the same.

Olivia Rodrigo – 6.2

My first full album listen from her. She has a great voice, which you can’t take away from her, but I found this quite boring. Nothing particularly special, apart from a Robert Smith solo!

TOTW: Olivia Rodrigo – What’s Wrong With Me

Classic: Faith No More – 5.8

A nice balance and variety of songs, just not really for me.

Matt

The Bobby Lees - 6.8

Oral Habit - 6.5

La Securite - 7.6

Olivia Rodrigo - 8

TOTW - Drop Dead, Olivia Rodrigo