Formed: New York, NY, USA
"The Mob started as a Jackson Heights, Queens high school Van Halen-style cover band - until they saw that Bad Brains gig with Heart Attack" - Stephen Blush, America's Hardcore.
The original lineup was:
Ralph Gebbia - vocals
Jack Flanagan - guitar
Jose Gonzales - bass
Jamie Shanahan - drums
Their first studio foray was in late 1980, producing a demo including the songs 'Hit & Run', 'Chant Out Babylon', 'Prisoner In Switzerland', 'Pin Stripe Suit', and a cover of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' (original!). A second demo followed in 1981, featuring 'Rock Your World', 'F.A.S.T.' and 'Zoo Crew'.
Over the course of the next two years or so they became an important - if now largely obscure - component on NYCH, gigging with local acts such as Reagan Youth, Kraut, Heart Attack, Beastie Boys and the False Prophets, as well as playing support slots to bands from elsewhere, including Bad Brains, Circle Jerks, Scream and SS Decontrol. They released two very fast and very short EPs - Upset The System and Step Forward - on their own Mob Style label (also home to Urban Waste).
We Come To Crush was recorded after a long-ish silence and was more of the same, just better played and produced.
The lineup at this time was:
Ralph Gebbia - vocals
Jack Flanagan - guitar
Christopher Hackett - bass
Jamie Shanahan - drums
The 1996 Mob compilation CD No Rules In This Game spurred a short-lived reunion, recording 'Tommy Gun' for the Clash tribute CD Clash City Rockers and an EP that was never finished. If it had been finished, it would have been called Fearless Force. But it wasn't finished, so that was that. In 1998 the band reunited for the first time in over five years, split up, played another show in 2002, and split up again.
Oh, and in 2012 they reformed again. A 7" in 2012 entitled Back To Queens was the first new Mob release since 1986.
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DISCOGRAPHY
Singles & Albums
Upset The System (7", 1982)
Step Forward (7", 1983)
We Come To Crush (LP, 1986)
Extraneous Releases
No Rules In This Game (CD, 1996)
The Truth Over The Airwaves (CD, 1998)
Various Artists
The Big Apple - Rotten To The Core: Sin City...5 Years Later US LP 1982 (S.I.N.): Common Criminal / 101
Meathouse 1 US Tape 1982 (Version Sound): Hit And Run
Noise Attack Germany Tape 1985 (Lärm-Deponie): Upset The System
The Big Apple - Rotten To The Core Vol 2 US LP 1987 (Raw Power): Z.D.F.
Sunday Matinee: The Best Of NY Hardcore US LP/CD 1994 (Another Planet): Step Forward
A Compilation Dedicated To Tim Yohannan - 1945-1998 US LP 2000 (no label): Unity Lives On
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