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.