Catch Laughs, Harmony With The Bobs

That a capella vocal quartet without boundaries, the Bobs, will be coming to The Met on Friday for a program of incredible vocal technique and, well, who knows? From song to song, they sound like rock, jazz, country or folk, but the category they really fit best is “None of the above.”

Matthew Bob Stull, asked about the difficulty of target marketing for a group without a niche, replied, “We have no target to hit. I don’t think any of us are capable of fitting into a pigeonhole. We talked about it years ago and decided it wouldn’t be fun, so we’ve made our own niche.”

Fun, however, is a common element in their material. Some songs are outright hilarious, some are comic social commentary and others just look at the world from an angle no one ever thought of before.

“No subject matter is safe from becoming a future Bobs hit,” Stull says. “Sometimes there is a slight delay, but nothing is sacred. If you can’t laugh at it, something’s wrong.”

Richard Bob Greene, the main songwriter for the Bobs, gets inspiration from just about anything. “Shut Up And Sing” came from an audience comment, as did “Sign My Snarling Doggie” after an offer of autographs. Driving through Ohio, Stull says the Bobs saw overpasses across a hundred miles spray-painted with “Larry loves Amy,” so the obsessive love song “Spray” was born.

For their concert in The Met, the Bobs will rely on repertoire from their recent “Plugged” album. Their “heavy metal” CD is a parody of all those “unplugged” albums, since everything the Bobs do is and always has been 100 percent natural and acoustic. But the four of them are able to make it sound like screaming electric guitars and drums are right there on stage when they want to.

Although it’s pushing the season a little bit, they may also do some numbers from their just-released holiday album, “Too Many Santas.” The modern spirit of Christmas is captured on this disc with “Christmas in L.A.,” “Fifty Kilowatt Tree” and the title song. In any event, in typical Bobs fashion, they will decide what they feel like singing right before they go on and may change the set midway, based on audience response.

Stull says the Bobs’ future includes another recording next year, an interactive Internet game coming out soon called “Castle Infinity” for which the Bobs did all of the songs and voices, and the possibility of a television special called “Bob Tales.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT The Bobs will perform at 8 p.m. Friday at The Met. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 the day of the show, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or call (800) 325-SEAT.