Plugged
How, you might ask, does an a cappella vocal quartet plug in? The Bobs haven't added synthesizers or electric guitars (though they do use cardboard-box percussion, a toy drum set, and coffee sound effects), but they have taken advantage of all the recording-studio knobs that affect the sound of a human voice. The result is the most original Bobs album yet. The Bobs have always aimed at washing the must of nostalgia off a cappella singing, and this time they've put the genre through an extra rinse cycle. Not only have they added an extra electronic edge to their performances, but the four San Francisco singers and their producer Scott Matthews have written 14 songs whose angular melodies and irreverent attitudes further strip the a cappella sound of its romantic glow.--Geoffrey Himes