Search - Mob :: Let the Tribe Increase

Really solid stuff.

C. Burkhalter | 08/07/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Though 1983's "Let the Tribe Increase" was and is a great album, the real reason to pick this up is the collection of bonus tracks culled from the Mob's earlier singles. This is less polished material than the "Tribe" songs, a little crustier, a little more garage-y, and a lot more energetic. Songs like "Witch Hunt," "Crying Again," "Youth," and "Shuffling Souls" are essential to any good punk collection. The Mob had close ties to bands like Crass (who they recorded with), Flux of Pink Indians, Dirt, and the ever-underrated Zounds (who they lived with). Other than those bands, the Mob gets a lot of comparisons to Joy Division and Gang of Four. My long obsession with Go4's "Entertainment!" is what eventually turned me on to the Mob, as well as Zounds. Lyrically speaking, the Mob are a bit more bleak, playing a number of horrific post-apocolyptic anti-war songs. The Mob take some criticism for not writing particularly complex, focused, or mature songs. That, to me, always seemed unfair. The Mob kept specific political agendas out of their music (partly because their handle of anarchist politics wasn't especially strong), tending instead to rely on evocative lyrical imagery. As a result, their songs have a more timeless appeal now than some of the more didactic punk of other political punk bands of their time. This is a great and impressively comprehensive CD - well worth your purchase dollars. And for your reading pleasure, Lance Hahn wrote a great article chronicling the history of the Mob, with lots of great interviews, in the July 2001 issue of Maximumrocknroll. Check it out."

I forgot how good they were

Sid Crowe | London United Kingdom | 06/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have this album on record but it is so scratched, I still play it. Raised in prison is my favorite track, great music & lyrics. On the origanal record there are only 11 tracks so this cd is a bonus and contains another great song that was not on the origanal LP- No Doves Fly Here. Check it out one of the most alternative alternative bands I have heard."

The Mob - my world

Jokke Thenaerts | Leuven, Belgium | 12/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard them on the local radio in my (very small) hometown somewhere in Belgium when I was 17: Never understood, The gates of hell and The witchhunt. The music was more intense even when not being so hard as most punkbands. Their songs had the same feeling as Joy Division would put in theirs. The way they made that bass sound, oh man...Spizz Energi was another band with the same rawness/beauty. After buying the cd (my first, being a vinyl freak) and hearing 'Our life our world' and 'The Mirror breaks', 'Youth'...it had it all. Before going out I still play 'The mirror breaks' a couple of times and everything feels bareable.
I often wonder what became of those guys.
Anyway...The Mob for me is what music is al about...play it as you feel it."