Guitars, Drums, Tones, and Saxophones

Cobra Skulls - American Rubicon

Nevada’s own Cobra Skulls are back, with a new full-length in 2009. Sitting Army was a fantastic effort, and has come to be one of my favorites of the past few years. Can the lightning strike twice? Especially on a 17-song album, in which only one song title contains the words “Cobra” or “Skull?” (“I Used to Like Them Better When They Put ‘Cobra’ In the Titles,” a roughly 30 second instrumental)

Well, the album winds up with “Time and Pressure,” and after a slow intro, the song is a quick-paced punk number that seems like a logical extension to the Sitting Army material. So far so good!

The follow-up, “There’s a Skeleton in My Military-Industrial Closet,” adds more of a rockabilly feel to the proceedings, and this is perhaps the biggest shift from the more straight-forward punk rock of their earlier material. The addition of this to their sound really helps set them further apart from their peers, in the best way possible. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the songwriting here is as strong, if not stronger than, that found on Sitting Army.

There aren’t any songs entirely in Spanish on this album, though “Thicker Than Water” has an entire verse in Spanish. That’s one thing that’s kind of a downer about this album; their songs in Spanish, while I admit to not understanding them, are awesome, and I like the change of pace it brings. I understand that not all material is, perhaps, best served by singing in another language, but it added some interesting variety to the music. Plus, watching kids try to sing along at the show was a good time.

Lyrically, the band continues to focus on the world around them, global and local, with songs like the aforementioned “Skeleton,” “Muniphobia,” “Overpopulated,” and several others. The topics are handled with their trademark mixture of outrage and humor, not always in equal proportions. The choruses are catchy as hell, and wonderfully sing-along-able.

This album is, I say confidently, one of the best things I’ve heard this year. These guys continue to get better and better with each release. If you enjoyed Sitting Army or the “Never Be a Machine” 7″, you should already own this record.

Tags: cobra skulls