After their second and more successful album, How Far Shallow Takes You, Gob tweaked their sound a bit in order to employ a bit more pop in their Pop Punk. While it was a surprise to their old fan base, it did result in a few big hits like "I Hear You Calling" (from 2001's The World According To Gob) and "Give Up The Grudge" (from 2003's Foot In Mouth Disease). After this, they began to space out their albums a bit more, with a four-year gap between the previous album and Muertos Vivos, a New Sound Album with more experimental material. They then took seven years between that and 2014's Apt 13, which continued exploring the territory on the previous record.
Besides Gob, Tom Thacker also recently joined Sum 41 as a full-time guitarist, and splits his time between the two bands.
The current lineup consists of...
- Tom Thacker: vocals, lead guitar
- Theo Goutzinakis: vocals, rhythm guitar
- Gabe Mantle: drums, backing vocals
- Steven Fairweather: bass, backing vocals
Discography:
- Gob (1994)
- Too Late, No Friends (1995)
- Ass Seen On TV (1997) (split with Another Joe)
- How Far Shallow Takes You (1998)
- The World According To Gob (2001)
- FU EP (2002)
- Foot In Mouth Disease (2003)
- Muertos Vivos (2007)
- Apt. 13 (2014)
Tropes associated with Gob include:
- Bowdlerise: The radio edit of "Give Up the Grudge" changes every instance of "Shut your fucking mouth," to "Better shut your mouth."
- Cover Version: Of The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black," and the Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman" for some reason.
- Darker and Edgier: Muertos Vivos with Apt. 13 continuing in this vein.
- First-Name Basis: They used to credit themselves in the album sleeve as such.
- Five-Finger Discount: The video for "B Flat" features a purse-snatcher.
- Genre Shift: Much as punk has changed a bit in popular consciousness over the two decades Gob have been active, they've always been willing to change with the times. They began as spunky cousins to bands like NOFX, but gradually they started to go for more accessible songs in the vein of Sum 41 at the turn of the millennium. Nowadays, they're much more broad with their influences and have settled into a sort of punky, post-hardcore, Alternative Rock sound which is pretty far removed from how they originally started. Despite this, live shows still usually emphasize their punk roots for their old fans.
- Punk Rock
- Revolving Door Band: Their bassist and drummer rotated a bit for a few years. They settled on Gabe as a drummer in 1998, and Steven as a bassist more recently, in 2009. Tom and Theo, however, have been there from day one.
- Three Chords and the Truth: Early stuff in particular.
- Vocal Tag Team: Tom and Theo on older albums. Starting with Foot in Mouth Disease Theo's role as vocalist significantly decreased to Step Up to the Microphone cases, with their latest album Apt. 13 not featuring any lead vocals from him at all.
- Wacky Guy: Theo and his big, goofy faces.
