Gob

Emerging from Vancouver in 1994 as a punk revival quartet, Gob featured Tom Thacker handling guitars and vocals alongside Theo Goutzinakis on the same duties, with Craig Wood initially on bass before Steven Fairweather stepped in and Gabe Mantle supplying drums. Their first album, Too Late...No Friends, came out amid multiple split releases alongside other Canadian punk acts, after which the group completed the full-length How Far Shallow Takes You in 1998, seeing it reissued stateside the next year. Early 2001 brought The World According to Gob. Despite steady productivity, a strong Canadian fan base, repeated spots on the Vans Warped Tour, and their high-energy, hyperactive hooks, wider U.S. traction arrived only after fellow Canadian pop-punks Sum 41 invited Gob along on tour. That run produced a promising label showcase for L.A. Reid’s Arista imprint, prompting studio time with Mark Trombino, previously at the helm for like-minded acts such as blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World. Early 2003 saw the F.U. EP surface ahead of the full-length Foot in Mouth Disease, which landed in April. Once the Arista album proper was out, Gob launched a three-month tour supporting fellow Canadian and Arista artist Avril Lavigne.