Cobra Starship While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets CD

Cobra Starship: Ryland Blackinton (guitar); Elisa Schwartz (guitar synthesizer); Alex Suarez (electric bass); Nate Navarro (drums).
Additional personnel: Maja Ivarsson (vocals); Joe Trohman, Nick Wheeler (guitar).
Cobra Starship's Gabe Saporta first grabbed the world's attention with his catchy, tongue-in-cheek movie theme song, "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)" (and its attendant video's all-indie-star cast), and then enjoyed some notice for his Gwen Stefani pastiche "Hollaback Boy." Here, he enlists the Ivy League's guitarist Ryland Blackinton and bassist Alex Suarez for a full-length album of exuberant and clever pop-punk built on brash guitars, funny hipster-skewering lyrics, and a confident vocal swagger that both apes and mocks emo conventions. While snark-infested tunes like "Pop-Punk is Sooooo 2005" and "The Kids are all F*cked Up" are clearly meant to be goofy, "The Ballad of Big Poppa and Diamond Girl," with its appealing electro-pop feel and a stirring melody, indicates a serious songwriting talent underneath the blankets of irony.
Having been introduced to Cobra Starship (aka Midtown vocalist/bassist Gabe Saporta) through the ridiculously catchy "Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)" from summer 2006's horror-comedy Snakes on a Planes, who could blame one for thinking the band something of a joke? The dance-pop song was almost the perfect balance of unabashed fun, absurdity, and catchiness, but it still seemed like a one-off novelty, not to mention a total shock to those familiar with Saporta through his work with Midtown. What could an entire full-length from Cobra Starship actually sound like? Lucky for everyone, Saporta was smart enough to realize these doubts going in, evidenced by the opening track on While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets, which asks, "Can you hear me now/That I'm dumbing myself down?/Is it filling you with doubt that I am who you thought?" Saporta seemingly knows this is all a bit ridiculous, but who cares when it's this fun? The sparse, acoustic song ends fittingly with "It's time to get faded because I can't think anymore." The album then launches into its main attraction of exuberant dance-rock that's shamelessly fun enough to loosen up a packed mosh pit of tight jeans and Chucks, yet smart enough amid all the raging hormones, shallowness, and sweaty grooves to not completely lose itself under the sparkling lights of excess. After all, the album is surprisingly controlled at times, complementing the over-the-top demeanor elsewhere. So where "The Church of Hot Addiction" is all power riffing and egocentric dance beats proclaiming, "Tonight I am the drug you can't deny/G A B E gonna get you high," the mellow synths of "The Kids Are All Fucked Up" provide space for post-party reflection. Other tracks, like the Ted Leo co-write "Keep It Simple" and even "Pop Punk Is Sooooo '05" (which could very well pass as a remixed Midtown song), keep the album grounded instead of flying away under the example of "Bring It." A knowing wink from Saporta underlies the entire affair, and he never comes off as sardonic or superior to his audience -- pretty impressive considering the MySpace pop-punk generation has something of a giant target attached to its back. Cobra Starship is truly about having a good time, oblivious to the scene police or external troubles. Taking its title literally, While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets embodies both the giddy highs and winding-down lows that come from a carefree night out on the town with friends. It's nothing more and nothing less. But that's just fine -- that's really all it wants to be anyway. ~ Corey AparAlternative Press (p.204) - "Every single one of WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS' swaggering 11 tracks is immediately likable...He piles on layers of synth-beats and angular guitars with slick production to propel you into a dancefloor frenzy."