Gob – Muertos Vivos

After the release of Foot In Mouth Disease back in 2003, Gob went underground. With the collapse of their label, the band just dropped off everyone’s radar for a while. No one knew where they were and why they had disappeared, but then in early 2007 the band re-emerged. They announced they had just completed a new album with details to follow. So slowly news trickled out, song names, release dates, even a glimpse at some of the songs. For their triumphant return to the stage, the BC based band opted to do a Canada Day show here in Edmonton, a show which I instantly grabbed tickets for and a show in which they slyly inserted three brand new songs. With these three new songs ringing in my head, my anticipation for the release grew. Now, four months later, Muertos Vivos is actually in stores and I have to say I’m pleased with the results, albeit slightly surprised.

Muertos Vivos still features a heavy Gob feel; however, the record is definitely not one I would have expected to hear from the quartet. The record is a lot heavier, way darker and gloomier than anything the band put out in their previous four full lengths. Instead of the free spirited punk rock attitude of living freely and doing what you want that Gob previously had, the record is more depressing, constantly touching on death and depression and emptiness. “We’re the same, just afraid, what’s the difference when we’re all dying?,” (We’re All Dying) “We walk it straight and narrow, we take this path straight to hell/ we want a quick solution, we put ourselves inside a pill / Damnation, salvation, can’t see a difference anyway” (Prescription) and “I went out to find a funeral, no one died, I was waiting” (Underground) are just some samples lyrics; slightly different from “I want to jump in a lake, the sun shinning down on the beach in the summer” don’t you think?

The lyrics aren’t the only thing conveying the sense of foreboding darkness. The guitars seem heavier, Tom Thacker’s vocals are deeper and the entire structure just screams out darkness. Despite the gloom and doom though, Muertos Vivos is still – at it’s core – a solid pop-punk record. It kicks off with the highly energetic We’re All Dying, a song of rebellion built with the sense of a march in mind thanks to some heavy drumming and gang vocals. Prescription constantly reminds me of a Pennywise song, from the vocal delivery that sounds like Jim Lindberg to the background vocals and the guitar work. War Is A Cemetery follows where We’re All Dying left off with a chorus that you can’t help but scream along with.

The weirdest thing though, and the songs that feature the most evident change in structure, are the three four and a half minute songs grouped together half way through the album. Still Feel Nothing, Banshee Song and 18 are much slower than anything Gob have done in the past and feel as if they would fit nicely in a Sum41 release – it’s really quite an odd sensation. Almost as off as Face The Ashes which is a heavily digitized song with vocals that underwent some heavy, heavy distortion that doesn’t work out all that well.

Despite the few hiccups like Face The Ashes and Still Feel Nothing, Muertos Vivos is a good return for Gob. Not what you’d expect as it is darker and slightly slower than anything the band has spat out in the past, it’s still a record I see myself playing quite a lot and that does say something. Sum41 fans will probably really like it too.