Metallica, Super Mario Brothers and Folgers coffee may seem to have nothing in common, but these images are related to members of Shy of a Dozen — they are all part of the group’s musical repertoire.

For five years, Shy of a Dozen has been performing original a cappella arrangements of contemporary songs, replacing guitars and steel drums with voices.

“We started something that people really get into,” says Ben Martin, family and consumer sciences special student.

Since the beginning, the group has had to deal with many member changes, as members have graduated over the years — but the rotation hasn’t deterred the group. With only four of the original members remaining in the band’s lineup, the group was still able to keep focused and come out ahead.

Shy of a Dozen won the Varieties vignettes competition in 2001 and 2004. It has performed two full recitals, in addition to performances with Statesmen and other gigs, most recently at Dance Marathon. Its appeal led it to record its first studio CD, “Not Quite Twelve.”

“We got to the studio [in Chicago] at 6 p.m. Sunday and left at 4 p.m. Monday. We slept for three hours in their lobby,” Dan Jongewaard says. “It was 11 stinky guys sleeping on the floor. It’s the biggest thing we’ve undertaken — not many people record a CD.”

The accolades may be impressive, but everything the band has been able to accomplish is the result of hard work. One of the band’s biggest obstacles has been the departure of its core songwriters, meaning reliance on the remaining members to step up and take the creative reins.

“A lot of us had to step up,” says Ryan Burnley, senior in mechanical engineering.

Some of the music had previously been arranged for an a cappella group, but Shy of a Dozen members arrange most of their own music.

This is something which the group is proud of, Rider says, especially as none of its current members are music majors.

“[We sing] a few songs you wouldn’t expect an a cappella group to do,” Burnley says. “People our age love it, and I like the audience reaction.”

One such song is a cover of “Some Fantastic” by The Barenaked Ladies. The unusual choice of songs can sometimes draw a crowd reaction as unusual as the songs themselves — for example, at a performance at a nurses convention, Martin says the women could hardly control themselves.

“They went nuts,” Martin says. “One lady started crying. We had middle-age women throwing themselves at us.”