Cobra Starship - Viva La Cobra Album Review

Cobra Starship
Viva La Cobra
Fueled By Ramen
Album Review

With it’s origins in Uruguay, where main man Gabe Saporta was born, Cobra Starship are perhaps best known for their ‘Snakes On A Plane (Bring It)’ track, which accompanied the Samuel L. Jackson movie of the same name. Now releasing their second record, the label mates of Fall Out Boy and Paramore will be on a huge headlining tour of North America at the beginning of 2008.

Being with a record company that seem to specialise in pop-punk, it comes as a pleasant surprise to find that Cobra Starship are something of a departure from the likes of Panic! At The Disco. Instead, their brand of catchiness originates in a crossbreed of dance, electro and rock. ‘The City Is At War’ combines groove with crunching chords and hands-in-the-air chorus, which seems somewhat wrong when you consider that the song warns against the peril of urban violence. Equally infectious are ‘One Day, Robots Will Cry’ and ‘Guilty Pleasure’, which features a europop sound that Steps would have been proud of in their heyday. With a darker sound is ‘Damn You Look Good And I’m Drunk (Scandalous)’, which borrows from Destiny Child’s ‘Bootylicious’, and while it is a tirade against girls with only looks to get them by, the chances are you won’t notice what it’s about as you head for the dance floor.

To their credit Cobra Starship try to infuse their music with different styles, with sounds from decades past featuring prominently. Mixing computer games effects and r’n’b swagger, ‘Kiss My Sass’ is loaded with cool attitude, while ‘The World Has It’s Shine (But I Would Drop It On A Dime)’ begins in similar fashion, drops in heavy metal chords, then throws in a Queen-esque twirling solo and piano piece. If that’s not to your liking, there’s always the disco direction of ‘Angie’ or the latino flavoured ‘Smile For The Paparazzi’. It all adds up to a decent party album that everyone should be able to find something to dance to, without sounding overly manufactured or annoying.

Alex Lai