The idea of starting a band based solely on the fact you have been asked to record a song for a movie soundtrack baffles me a little. What's worse is when the movie is Snakes on a Plane (fun fact: Did you know that Snakes on a Plane was originally going to be called Pacific Air 121 and star Benjamin McKenzie...you know, Ryan from The OC?). What's even worse is when you keep this band and its ridiculous name years after the fact and release god-awful "ironic" songs that really just latch onto current popular musical trends but pretend to be ripping this music a new one.
Gabe Saporta was once the vocalist/bassist for New Jersey pop-punk quartet Midtown. Over the course of their existence, Midtown put out three proper albums, an EP, and a couple of split 7"s. Nothing would compare to their final album, 2004's Forget What You Know, which broke away from their usual emo-inspired pop-punk (though not too far away). The album had a certain amount of depth, with songs not simply about relationships. The few songs on the album that are about relationships take on a darker, psycho-sexual tone that again stands out from what their contemporaries were singing about at the time.
By no means is Forget What You Know a masterpiece or one of the greatest albums of the 00's, but it marks a shift amongst a handful of bands from that period who attempted to transcend pop-punk and create more meaningful music—Deja Entendu, anyone?
That being said, what the fuck is Cobra Starship? Gabe Saporta's post-Midtown project practically nullifies everything Midtown accomplished with Forget What You Know and essentially sets humanity back about 75 years. Also, Gabe Saporta looks and acts like such a self-important hipster asshole in his new band.
Forget What You Know
