10 songs to reminisce on Cobra Starship

Cobra Starship put out four full-lengths—While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets (2006), ¡Viva La Cobra! (2007), Hot Mess (2009) and Night Shades (2011)—in their nearly decade-long career before calling it quits earlier this month. Check out some of the highlights from the electropop act’s discography below.

“Bring It (Snakes On A Plane)” — While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets

This was the track that catapulted Cobra Starship into the forefront, straight from the big screen with the vocal assistance of several scene members. The Academy Is…’s William Beckett, Gym Class Heroes’ Travie McCoy and the Sounds’ Maja Ivarsson all blended well with frontman Gabe Saporta, but I think we can all agree that Samuel L. Jackson was the one who really stole the show with that infamous quote about snakes being on planes in the track’s music video.

 

“Send My Love To The Dance Floor, I’ll See You In Hell [Hey Mister DJ]” — While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets

Cobra clearly took a cue from Fall Out Boy bassist (and their label’s head) Pete Wentz, when it came to naming this track with an excessively long statement. Despite the mouthful, it is the perfect representation of the Cobra package with electronic beats blended in with rock instrumentation and calls to the dance floor. 

 

“The Church Of Hot Addiction” — While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets

The best part of Cobra’s music was that the majority of it just made you want to dance with your headphones on while screaming along to the lyrics. This track is one of the best examples of that with G-A-B-E explaining how his light is electric (hey, hey, hey…).

 

“Guilty Pleasure” — ¡Viva La Cobra!

If you were a fan of this band, and you didn’t try to learn the chorus hand dance from the home video version of their music video, then you’re lying.

 

“One Day Robots Will Cry” — ¡Viva La Cobra!

This song is probably one of the least Cobra Starship-like tracks in their discography, seeming more like a Cobra-Midtown lovechild than anything. It brought out more rock than pop, reminding us that Saporta hadn’t forgotten his emo roots, but the Cobra vibe wasn’t completely lost with the various twinkling sounds throughout.

 

“Hot Mess” — Hot Mess

The title track to their 2009 release was the perfect representation of what to expect from the rest of the album. Plus, not many artists can toss a line like: “And I’m like hot damn/Let me make you my boo” in the lyrics and have it not be weird.

 

“Good Girls Go Bad” featuring Leighton Meester — Hot Mess 

The synthpop act teamed up with Gossip Girl Leighton Meester at the height of her acting career, delivering this infectious number to the masses. It successfully swapped the club mindset for a “Hollaback Girl”-like call-and-return segment, allowing Cobra to stretch their musical muscles.

 

“You Make Me Feel…” featuring Sabi — Night Shades

Cobra Starship had a knack for mixing their electro-driven beats with pop vocals and making it work. Sabi joined Cobra for several live TV performances on The Tonight Show, the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards and Dancing With The Stars, making this two-time multi-platinum No. 1 of their most well-received tracks.

 

“Middle Finger” featuring Mac Miller — Night Shades

Included here for its experimental nature, the pop band mixed it up with the addition of a rapper over their synth beats. The venture was a far cry from Saporta’s Midtown days or even Cobra’s 2006 debut. While the lyrics were much more simplistic than past efforts, the band still pulled it all together with heavy vocal editing used for effect.

 

“Never Been In Love” featuring Icona Pop — Single


If you’re going to pick a song to go out on, then this is a pretty damn good one. The piano-driven track may have been one of the last the band put out but it was one of the first with ex-A Rocket To The Moon bassist Eric Halvorsen in the lineup. It packs a heavy punch with the Top 40 darlings Icona Pop, and Saporta was more focused on the quality of his vocals rather than how cool it is to layer them with sound effects.