The Bobs

The Bobs are a "new wave" a cappella group founded in San Francisco, California. The group is known for humorous original songs and avant-garde arrangement techniques. Instead of covering more traditional doo-wop songs, Th

The Bobs are a "new wave" a cappella group founded in San Francisco, California. The group is known for humorous original songs and avant-garde arrangement techniques. Instead of covering more traditional doo-wop songs, The Bobs started out with songs like "Helter Skelter" (The Beatles) and "Psycho Killer" (Talking Heads). Although two of their albums are dominated by covers, the overwhelming majority of their repertoire is original, with songs discussing diverse subjects like lunar cattle farming, sleepy bus drivers, bumper stickers, laundry, hurricane-related flooding, graffiti, Oliver North, shopping-mall security guards, celebrity autographs, synaesthesia, post office violence, heart transplants, Heaven's Gate, spontaneous human combustion, turtles, rebellious footwear, tattoos, nicknames for genitalia, and felines intent on ruling the world.

The Bobs have broken with a cappella tradition several times by including instruments. The majority of the 1995 album Plugged is backed by toy drums. Plugged also made heavy use of studio equipment to make the voices sound more like guitars and bass guitars. Coaster includes a rock rhythm section on one song. But this original "band without instruments" usually uses just their mouths, hands, feet and "other body parts" to fill a room with a sound as big as an orchestra.