Mobs – Gypsy On Journey 7“

Gypsy On Journey, another release with a title that’s no longer the preferred nomenclature, was the last 7“ by The Mobs. The guitar lead of the title track -a fast, melodic and somewhat melancholic hardcore song- bears an uncanny resemblance to the Asta Kask song Demokrati. The second track is a wild ride with a slap bass intro (with lots of chorus) and a really crazy synth. The last track is the most powerful one on this 7“, with metallic guitar leads and some nutty, almost clean guitar parts in the chorus/bridge/whatever.

Vi har demokrati så visst är du fri!

The Mobs – Projection Of Astral Body 7″

Musically, The Mobs’ 1985 ep “Projection Of Astral Body” is still pretty similar to “Diabolism”, but it’s pretty obvious the took the trouble of recording in a proper studio this time! The title track is a killer death rock instrumental, the three remaining tracks are fast, dark hardcore punk with rudimentary melodies. I can’t help myself, the most fitting description of The Mobs seems to be a mix of hardcore, death rock and Oi!

Oy vey!

The Mobs – Resurrection LP

Resurrection from 1985 is The Mobs’ only full-length release. By this time they had transformed their lo-fi hardcore punk to a mix of hardcore and death rock. All of a sudden the sound is tight, the band no longer look like they might snatch old ladies’ purses, and just look at those full stacks and the hardrock drum kit on the cover! How did they get the money for all that gear? Snatching old ladies’ purses?

Don’t tell me the photo’s staged!

The Mobs – Diabolism 7″

The Mobs were originally a dark hardcore/punk band not unlike Ghoul or Zouo, but later developed into something of a crude and primitive deathrock band. There’s really funny youtube footage of them in some kind of game show where they scare the contenstants wearing heavy make-up. This 7″ was originally released as a demotape, so the recording quality is pretty raw. One song (“Stead Fast”) is mentioned on the cover but not actually featured on the 7″, two more songs are demo versions of their tracks on the Hardcore Unlawful Assembly album.

Kill me all!

v.a. Hardcore Unlawful Assembly LP

This compilation LP from 1984 is something of a misnomer, since there’s quite a lot of non-hardcore on it: Cobra, Laughin’ Nose (absolute unlistenable and unbearable lyrics on this release) and Baws are more Oi!/punk than hardcore. The rest are real heavy weights, though: Zouo were the darkest band in japanese hardcore, Lip Cream deliver heavy thrash, Outo are pure distortion, Mobs play dark, somewhat melodic mid-tempo hardcore and GISM are pure evil (as usual)!

I thought this was a riotous assembly?