THE MOBBS
It’s...
BB Rex CD / download
Northampton might be considered by many to be a cultural wasteland but there’s always been a thriving underground music scene present, throwing up bands like threesome garage power-poppers The Mobbs. This their debut album is heavily indebted to the Medway sound, in fact they went down to noted Rochester analogue studio Ranscombe to record it. Leader Joe B. Humbled is a proper Billy Childish-style Renaissance Man, not only a songwriter but also a poet and painter. His vision is clearly a singular one, and you’ll either get his music and pull it close to your heart or it’ll leave you confused. Opener ‘Gad...It’s The Mobbs!!!’ contains their essence: a penchant for exclamation marks, pre-war English expressions, a put-on posh voice, explosive guitar lines and all of it over in a flash (there maybe 14 songs on this album but it lasts less than half an hour!). The whole thing reeks of energy - I can almost imagine the album has a life inside my computer, kicking a football around and other such larks whilst other band's mp3s sit deathly still.
This is garage-with-no-limits music, with the blues influences most obvious on ‘Better The Devil You Know’ (with it’s lovely harmonica parts), and surf and new wave on the mostly instrumental ‘Pull Yourself Together!!!’. There is a Who feel throughout, though that’s been filtered through a Buff Medways processor to get there. There’s so much great abrasive pop here: ‘I’m Yearning’, ‘Jolly Good’, ‘Muck n Bullets'. If catchy upbeat garage pop is your bag then jump in, you’ll feel like a pig in swill. If not (what exactly is wrong with you?) then I still want you to enjoy this fine effort, so at least try before you buy.
PHIL ISTINE
The Mobbs play our London club ‘Happening’ at The Drop on Saturday January 7th, with European dates to follow in the Spring.
It’s...
BB Rex CD / download
Northampton might be considered by many to be a cultural wasteland but there’s always been a thriving underground music scene present, throwing up bands like threesome garage power-poppers The Mobbs. This their debut album is heavily indebted to the Medway sound, in fact they went down to noted Rochester analogue studio Ranscombe to record it. Leader Joe B. Humbled is a proper Billy Childish-style Renaissance Man, not only a songwriter but also a poet and painter. His vision is clearly a singular one, and you’ll either get his music and pull it close to your heart or it’ll leave you confused. Opener ‘Gad...It’s The Mobbs!!!’ contains their essence: a penchant for exclamation marks, pre-war English expressions, a put-on posh voice, explosive guitar lines and all of it over in a flash (there maybe 14 songs on this album but it lasts less than half an hour!). The whole thing reeks of energy - I can almost imagine the album has a life inside my computer, kicking a football around and other such larks whilst other band's mp3s sit deathly still.
This is garage-with-no-limits music, with the blues influences most obvious on ‘Better The Devil You Know’ (with it’s lovely harmonica parts), and surf and new wave on the mostly instrumental ‘Pull Yourself Together!!!’. There is a Who feel throughout, though that’s been filtered through a Buff Medways processor to get there. There’s so much great abrasive pop here: ‘I’m Yearning’, ‘Jolly Good’, ‘Muck n Bullets'. If catchy upbeat garage pop is your bag then jump in, you’ll feel like a pig in swill. If not (what exactly is wrong with you?) then I still want you to enjoy this fine effort, so at least try before you buy.
PHIL ISTINE
The Mobbs play our London club ‘Happening’ at The Drop on Saturday January 7th, with European dates to follow in the Spring.
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