Sound: In case you aren’t familiar with Cobra Starship, the band started with the simple parody of “Hollaback Girl” titled “Hollaback Boy”. The mastermind of the project, Gabe Saporta, claimed that he went to the Arizona desert to find himself and his purpose in life. One night, a cobra bit his neck and told him of the end of the world and mankind. His existence was based on two things, leading the human race into the end with "style," and he must teach hipsters to not take themselves so seriously and by telling emo kids to stop being pussies. Saporta, formerly of the pop-punk band Midtown, joined up with a various people to from Cobra Starship. So far, the band has released “While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets.” The album had some success for the band. The band also toured with Fall Out Boy this summer on the Honda Civic Tour. As the band toured, they wrote and recorded a new record with the help of Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump. This record was simply titled “¡Viva la Cobra!The band’s sound comprises of fast moving guitar chords, dance-inspired keytar, almost hip-hop sounding drums, and the pop-punk like vocals of Saporta. The combination of all of this forms a dance-rock band that makes you want to get up and dance. ¡Viva la Cobra!” shows the band’s evolution into a more full band sound. The songs range anywhere from alternative rock to possible hip-hop or pop singles to rock ballads to “Pleasure Ryland”. Most of the songs are very good for a band like Cobra Starship. The music grabs your ears and makes sure to keep you occupied. The opener, “The City Is At War”, is a fast moving alternative rock sing-along. The song grabs your attention instantly as you enter the world of the Cobra. “Kiss My Sass” features Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes. The track is a dance-rock track with sort of a hip-hop beat to keep you moving as you listen. “The World Has it's Shine (but I Would Drop It on a Dime)” is almost a rock ballad, complete with a pretty good guitar solo from Ryland Blackington. The song is probably the closest this album comes to a pop-punk song. “Smile for the Paparazzi” is a track that describes the constant struggle of the paparazzi. While it is doubtful the band has paparazzi after them, the song actually sounds pretty cool. It starts with a Spanish sounding guitar intro, as Gabe speaks Spanish. The song builds slowly to more of a rock song. The final track, “Pleasure Ryland”, is written and sung by the band’s guitarist Ryland. It is funny and one of those songs you just have to hear to get what it’s about. A few downsides to the album are that some of the songs just aren’t interesting enough. It’s hard to get into the tracks “Angie” and “One Day, Robots Will Cry”. They just don’t grab your attention like the other tracks. Those tracks aside, this album is solid from beginning to end. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: The band’s lyrics are actually more hilarious than they are serious. An example would be these lyrics from “Guilty Pleasure”: “I'm so bored, oh please don't talk anymore/shut your mouth and get down on the floor/so cynical/poor baby I can dish it 'cause I know how to take it/you're never gonna win 'em all/so f--k 'em if they can't take a joke/I'm just playing.” The lyrics are fun, but so simple. This may be the only downside to the lyrics, but they are so creative that they seem to make up for themselves. // 8
Impression: This album is a major improvement over the band’s 2005 release, “While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets.” You can tell the band worked hard on the album, and they are releasing something that they want to give to fans and people new to their music. If you are a fan of pop rock or pop punk or just getting down on the dance floor every once in awhile, you need to definitely check this album out. One thing to note about this album and band is that you will either love them or hate them. The music that this band puts out is great, but I can easily say that it isn’t perfect yet. In the words of the band “you can try, but you just can’t stop, Fangs Up Cobra style!” // 8
Was this review helpful to you? 
