Cobra Starship – Hot Mess

Artist: Cobra Starship
Album: Hot Mess
Label: Decaydance Records
Purchase: Amazon
Release Date: August 11th, 2009

Overall: 7
Music: 7
Lyrics: 5.5
Production: 8

Cobra Starship have been on their way to becoming what they are for a while now, so it should come to no one as a surprise that their third album titled Hot Mess is a melting pot of electronically layered pop-punk with lots of attitude and neon. While this album will garner so much hate it is unprecedented by any other band in the scene with such a career, it is still an album that has its moments and shines through at just the right times.

Unfortunately there’s no excuse to make a song like “Nice Guys Finish Last” passable as a legitimate Cobra Starship tune (especially the opener), it leads the album off on a bad foot as it sounds like a rejected Britney Spears song (Blackout, not Circus…). Already one might be contemplating their purchase of the album.

The aforementioned track is probably the only one that really brings Hot Mess down to any bad level. The rest of the tracks are either great, good, or just kind of a letdown. Nothing else really screams terrible or bad. Songs like “Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We’re Famous” and “Move Like Your Gonna Die” pay tribute to the sounds of their debut and sophomore album (more guitar and fast pacing) that make them shine on an album filled with electronic beats.

But the songs that do rock with a more mechanical song are also good. The falsetto led chorus of “Living In The Sky With Diamonds” feels good and dances along at a nice pace (also with probably the best lyrics on the album), and “Hot Mess” is anthemic in nature and really calls for some hardcore chanting at the chorus (don’t pay attention to the use of the word “boo” though).

It seems that Cobra Starship are genuinely happy with where they are at in music. And it just so happens that they are reaping the benefits with the lead single “Good Girls Go Bad” being played on radio stations nation wide. It’s good to see Gabe Saporta finally getting the attention he deserves, he’s come this far and the mainstream is his to call home now. While the lyrics aren’t really up to snuff most of the time, and the music can be overly obnoxious, it’s a fun record with catchy songs and a good time to be had.