Cobra Starship ~ Nightshades

So, it’s no secret that Cobra and I have had a falling out and they have pretty much become the reason I hate everything all the time (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, click here or here and then come back).

Against my better judgement I bought the new album as a “Congrats for getting bitches out of your life” present. Little did I know it was going to be more of a punishment than a reward.

None of the album really feels like Cobra Starship. It feels like the pop music machine got a hold of them and rang all of the talent and cheekiness that was Cobra Starship into a bucket and tossed it out the window like yesterday’s bath water. It has been replaced by awful, over produced melodies and lyrics to match.

At least two songs are very clear rip offs of songs that have already hit it big. I won’t go into the details about “You Make Me Feel…” because I already have gone through it once and just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.

What I can talk about is “#1nite.” I dare you to listen to it and not have a familiar taste in your mouth. I will give you the answer. The song is a mash between Usher’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” and Chris Brown’s “Forever.” On top of making me scratch my head for ten minutes trying to figure out what this sounded like the lyrics are awful. “I got one hand up, the other on you.” Come on, you can do better than that.

By far the worst song of the whole damn mess is “Disaster Boy.” This is the sad, sorry excuse for a chorus:

Yeah every girl has given up
But I’m the one who’ll stand by you
Can’t you feel my heartbeat
Listen up
Disaster boy I’m dialling you
Don’t you pin your heart on my sleeve
Don’t you pin your heart on my sleeve

It is only made worse by the fact that Vicky-T can’t sing. I don’t mean to be harsh, she kicks ass in almost every other way but she just shouldn’t sing lead. To really feel how bad this song is, just go listen to it, I guarantee you won’t make it through the whole thing (If you do, let me know, and I will personally send you a hand drawn picture of what ever you want).

The only redeeming song, mind you it doesn’t make up for the rest of the crap, is “Fool Like Me.” It has a fifties feel and some really great lyrics, “I’m sorry that I hit your dog with my bike, but he still got three legs, he gonna be just fine.” It is the only song that keeps up with their witty, cheeky reputation.

Once I waded through all the crap there is a glimmer of hope for Cobra still. Gabe’s voice is getting better all the time. It is crystal clear and he hits the notes perfectly. They need to go back to locking themselves in cabins on the mountains, and not let Kara DioGuardi get a hold of them again.

The Limousines- Get Sharp

I believe it is safe to say that I am in love. In love with yet another band and another album.

The Limousines have been on my radar since a camping trip last summer when I first heard “Very Busy People.” The song is a perfect explanation of how lazy and lax the long days of summer should be.

Since then I had been patiently awaiting a full length album. I checked and checked everyday, but nothing. And then about a month ago I stumbled upon “Get Sharp.” Turns out it was released in July two days after my birthday and I never knew.

But now that I am the proud owner of this wonderful collection of music, I can’t stop listening. I blame it on a number of aspects. First Eric Victorino’s voice is both raw and inviting, he has a way with the delivery of each line that in some songs, like “Dancing at Her Funeral”, is emotional and sweet in an unconventional way. But in other songs, like “Swrdswllngwhr (Wishing Well)”, Victorino’s voice is raw and unemotional which leaves the listener feeling dirty and unattached.

Another reason I can’t stop listening is the mastermind instrumentals. Each track is like entering a new universe where the lyrics and the instruments are completely in sync with each other. It has been a long time since I’ve discovered something so beautifully crafted.

I have not forgotten the most important part: the lyrics. Each song has been carefully crafted with lines that not only sound good but make you think. Such is the case with the title track “Get Sharp”, a song about feeling the push to be the generic working man. The lyrics read,  “I’ll get a hair cut. Buy a cheap suit. I’ll chase a pay stub. Guess that’s what I gotta do. Go try and get hired at a 9-to-5 behind a desk in a high-rise filing cabinet in the sky,” and the instrumentals are fast paced and push the listener through the song.

All of these aspects make me wish I could listen to the whole album at once, which I am sure would create an audio mess but I can never decide which song to listen to. I also do not believe I will ever get sick of this work of musical genius.

The Limousines have really created something special with Get Sharp. Now I will go back to patiently awaiting the next work of art from this underrated band.

3OH!3- Streets of Gold

This seems to be the year for maturity in the music business. 3OH!3 is the newest addition to this newly found adulthood.

The Colorado based band’s new album, “Streets of Gold” was released in early August and harbors a catalog of new songs and new out looks on life.

The duo is known for making songs that seem to center around how many negative references to sex and women they can get in a three minute track. They’re first hit single off their freshman album “Want”, “Don’t Trust Me” was a prime example of this: “Don’t trust a ho. Never trust a ho. Won’t trust a ho. ‘Cuz a ho won’t trust me.” But their beats were intoxicating and impossible to escape.

The band seems to be steering away from this profanity-for-profanity’s-sake ideal, even if it isn’t  a complete 180 degree turn around.

The first full length track, “I Can Do Anything”, is more of an anthem for the band’s success. The chorus rings out, “I ain’t gonna take no shit  from no one. I ain’t gonna take no lip from no one. You ain’t gonna try to get me to hold on. It’s golden now, why would I slow down.”

The album still brings the ridiculousness that made 3OH!3 who they are. “House Party” is a throw back to the days in the beginning. There was a story that a track had  been leaked, so naturally I looked it up online. To my surprise I found “House Party” and still remember thinking to myself, “This has to be a joke. They won’t really put this on the album.” But, sure enough they did and it has grown on me. I may or may not rock out to it everyday on my way home from work.

The seriousness comes in on  most of the other tracks. There are songs about getting tired of the same old same old scene (“Deja Vu”), songs about embracing youth (“We Are Young”), and songs about long summer days (“Streets of Gold).

The track that makes the change so evident is “I’m Not the One.” It’s slow and tells a story instead of proving a point. The story is one of destructive love and how unintentional it can be. It’s slow and sweet in a punk rock kind of way.

By far the most surprising track is “Love 2012.” Appropriately, this song is futuristic and riddled with sounds that are new to  3OH!3. But the lyrics are not lost. One verse says, “Up,  up on the screen, I got a new disease. Cha-ching for your soul. Everything  must go.”

3Oh!3’s lyrics are getting deeper and more meaningful. I look forward to seeing them grow in the next few years and to hear what else they can do with their music.

Jason Mraz- Life is Good EP

Since 2002, Jason Mraz has been overlooked and under-rated. His music covers vast experiences and emotions. It is no secret that the only songs of  his that top the charts are the poppy, mind numbing tracks that are over played on all the local radio stations. After the 500th time I heard “I’m Yours”, I was no longer singing along, but turning the station only to find it just beginning on another.

This truly saddens me. Of all the songs Jason has to offer, the radio popular are not of the highest caliber. There are the beautiful songs such as “Love for a Child”. There are the sexually driven songs like “Butterfly” and “Geek in the Pink”. There are also super serious songs like “10,00 Motherfucker” and “Song for a Friend”. The fact that all of these are missed by the masses is a tragedy.

Over dramatic?? I think not. His music can be fun, but it can also move people in a way that is rare.

Recently, Facebook informed me that Mr. Mraz was working on some new music. I sat patiently waiting this new aural virus that was sure to infect my ears. And then it finally hit iTunes and I snatched it right up. But, I do this thing where I buy new music, get really excited, and then I get hungry or sleepy so I forget about it. I bought the new EP on the 5th when it was released, and by the 8th I had yet to listen to it.

Well, I finally got around to it and I must unsurprisingly say, I am thoroughly pleased.

The album’s lead song “Freedom Song” is infectious. It is a mix of funk, reggae and Mraz-y goodness. The album continues on in that fashion. It seems that Mraz will be leaning closer and closer to a reggae feel. This may have to do with his increasing global awareness. He has, over the past years, tried to use his fame for good. He is forever posting blogs about the newest organic smoothie he made, how wind energy can save the planet or that you should be nice to strangers. He is getting more and more earth—and people—friendly and it resonates in his music.

It amazes me that with all that he says lyrically, his instrumentals stay simple. His backing band is nothing complex. There is no auto-tune. There is no computer generated loops. It’s all Jason and it’s all good.

I am not a live album fan but Jason Mraz sounds good live and recorded, and the audience’s reaction to him is something special that should be captured and distributed. I am seriously saddened that of all the concerts I have seen, I have not been able to witness the great Mr. A-Z in person. I guess I will get there some day.

Cobra Starship- Hot Mess

Obnoxious, high-energy, keytar, offensive, sassy. Just a few words that come to mind when I think Cobra Starship. Not to mention, sexy, frickin’ awesome, and did I say sexy??

Their new(est) album, Hot Mess, is my favorite. It’s full of raunchy beats and smart ass lyrics in true, Fangs Up, Cobra style. (Insert awkward two handed cobra). It’s everything I’ve come to love about the New Jersey band, with a little maturity mixed in.

Classic Cobra fans have no fear; the smart mouthed, self-centered, fuck what you think attitude is still present. That is brutally obvious in the track “Pete Wentz is the Only Reason we’re Famous.” So titled from a quote attributed to some dude that apparently wasn’t very impressed with the band. But obviously, he had never listened to any of their work before. If he had, he may have heard that the negative attention only fuels the Starship’s fires. “I may not be loved, but they always recall my name,” makes it safe to say they live by the motto “no such thing as bad publicity.” The attitude is even more evident on the deluxe edition with the song “I May Be Rude But I’m the Truth.” Pay more money, get extra sass. Sounds like a lucrative plan.

What is quite possibly my favorite song brings in the new found maturity not heard in the previous albums. “The Scene is Dead; Long Live the Scene” is somber and full of self reflection. The chorus which includes the lyric “I got a pretty face, I guess that I can sing alright,” is quite obviously pointing a finger at all the so called “scene” followers, mostly consisting of teenage fan girls that fall  all over the next boy band with emo swoopy hair. I think this song is a lyrical representation of the mission Cobra Starship was formed on, getting the emo scene to get over themselves and just rock out to shameless funky beats.

Hot Mess is full of songs about love, girls, dancing, and fucking the scene. Hot mess is Cobra Starship on a disc, or if you are too hip to own CDs or records, it’s Cobra on a digital copy in your iTunes.