The thing which will ultimately make or break Cobra Starship is whether or not the band have peaked too soon. ‘Bring It’ was arguably the soundtrack to the summer, made famous by a kitsch film sure to be talked about for months after it’s released on DVD. But the success of Midtown man Gabe Saporta’s new project will probably rest on whether or not he can build on the success of that first hit. My initial thoughts after listening to this record are possibly not…
For the uninitiated, Cobra Starship is the new band fronted by Midtown vocalist Gabe Saporta. Signed to Pete Wentz’s Decaydance imprint, the story goes that Gabe turned down a $500,000 deal with a US major to go with the FOB man’s label. Either he has more money than sense, or he realises being part of the ‘coolest’ label around right now is publicity a major can’t buy. Either way, ‘While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets’ has a very healthy dose of Head Automatica thrown into the mix. There are dance beats and eclectic guitar parts all over the place, but where HA stand up and be counted, in places Cobra Starship fall down.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some fine moments here. “Send My Love to the Dancefloor, I’ll See You in Hell (Hey Mister DJ)” is the album’s first fine moment, but only after a very dreary acoustic number and a disappointing start. But ‘…DJ’ is without doubt a fine song and one which could easily ignite a dancefloor in a club near you. The problem is, Saporta doesn’t really seem to know where he wants to go with Cobra Starship, leaving this record feeling more like a compilation at times. It means the quicker, more up-tempo tracks will be greatly received – “The Church of Hot Addiction” is frantic and begs to be listened to, but the quality lags behind with a couple of stinkers at the end. And despite the Fall Out Boy-esque tongue-in-cheek song titles, ‘Bring It’ is arguably the last good song on the album.
While Cobra Starship will inevitably sell a truckload of records, I have my doubts as to whether the project will see long-term success. The dancier elements and the faster-paced tracks are far and away better than their slower counterparts, so if this is the side Gabe intends to go down he may well see success. Snakes on a Plane has (rightly) given his band a swift boot in the right direction, but whether this can be maintained with a disappointing debut album remains to be seen. ‘While The City Sleeps…’ doesn’t flow that well, leaving a disjointed and ultimately disappointing debut.