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!

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Cobra Skulls - Sitting Army

The Cobra Skulls hail from Reno, Nevada. The last two bands I paid any attention to (good or bad) from that state were the Killers, and Panic(!) at the Disco. The Killers are alright, but Panic? Not a strong showing from NV, though admittedly both of those bands are from Las Vegas. But if that’s what the Nevada music scene produces, what does it mean for these guys, whose name only reminds me of Cobra Starship, a thoroughly mediocre band (dear Gabe- reform Midtown).

That was a pretty awesome intro, right? Moving on.

Well, the Skulls know how to rock out. Their previous efforts, the Eat Your Babies and Draw Mohammed EPs, were faster and looser than this album; they’ve clearly sharpened their attack between EPs and album.

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