The new issue of Pollstar has Cobra Starship on the cover. This band holds a special place in my heart as it is the latest project of former Midtown frontman, Gabe Saporta. As an avid Midtown fan, you can image my excitement when the band was name dropped in the story's lede which is as follows:
"Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta felt that his former band, the punk-rock group Midtown, had gotten too serious. So this time around, he set out to make his new band all about having fun. 'I felt like the music was getting too self-righteous, too self-aware. My thing was that I just wanted to make fun of myself, laugh and make my friends laugh,' Saporta told Pollstar. "
What. The. Hell. The album he's referencing as "too self-aware" is Midtown's final release, Forget What You Know, which I would classify as one of the most succinct expressions of existential angst ever produced. Sorry, Gabe, but when you have the talent to capture the zeitgeist of a generation you're not allowed to walk away from that in order to write songs for the Snakes On a Plane soundtrack. There's no way the droves of teeny-boppers filling venues to see Cobra Starship could ever appreciate the following song, "Empty Like the Ocean," which proclaims:
"So what's wrong? I think too much
I don't want to fuck you, I don't want to touch
I just want to fill you with regret
I've said it all before, it's pointless"
...and so is the music produced by Cobra Starship. Watch the video, question the purpose of your life.
6 comments:
Can you really blame the band? They're in a genre where the bands boys like girls and fall out boy (Coincidentally your last post)have become extremely wealthy. They helped mold the genre to what it is today and now are forced to reinvent themselves to get any airplay.
I think the real shame is how disposable the music has become. I'm not going to go as far as to say pop-(punk is dead), but I can still understand his/their frustration with the genre.
Still, I think songs like "kiss my sass" aren't going to help him get more than 15 minutes of fame. I could be wrong but from my standpoint thats probably not the recognition he wants.
i really appreciate the fun attitude cobra has taken towards making music. the cd literally makes me laugh out loud, as i shake my ass on the dance floor. what more can i ask for? if i want serious music ill go to the other 90% of bands out there. these guys are perfect for ca ca crazy feel good music and i dont think they should feel ashamed for it.
--check out "damn you look good and i'm drunk (scandalous)" and you'll see what i mean. or the pie in the face video for "the city is at war"
Music as art > Music as disposable entertainment.
dear anonymous x2,
i agree with both of you that the current state of pop punk music is dire, creating a pattern of throwaway bands. i also understand that cobra starship is meant as a parody of this subculture.
i'm not saying i don't like the band's music, the new cd is in current rotation of my car stereo. but what more can you ask for you say? how about lyrics that force you to look at the world in which you live differently. songs like "kiss my sass" are gibberish. if i want to dance, i can listen to rihanna.
i can only imagine what it feels like for Saporta to be living the lyrics he penned on the title track of Midtown's sophomore release, Become What You Hate. i think bob dylan said it best when he sang, "all the money you made will never buy back your soul."
four year strong and forever the sickest kids if you want fun music
I'll admit that I liked Cobra Starship's first album. It was fun, dancy, and exactly what it was set out to do. HOWEVER, Midtown was an incredible band. The lyrics you posted are so powerful. "I just want to fill you with regret." Love it. What Gabe should have done is made cobra a side project and returned to Midtown, where he belongs. It's almost a slap to the fans of Midtown for him to tell Pollstar that he didn't like how serious he was before. He may not of but everyone else did, damnit. He isn't going to be remembered with Cobra Starship. It will leave no legacy.
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