Astonishingly, this record didn’t make me want to set fire to myself in Buddhist monk stylee. All preconceptions were thoroughly buggered. Serves me right, I guess.
Cobra Starship’s links with Fall Out Boy (they were discovered by that band’s Pete Wentz) had me in cold sweats. But get this – there are actually some decent tunes on Hot Mess, which cracked the US Top Five. It’s not too hard to see why: the smash hit ‘Good Girls Go Bad’, in particular, is an electro-rock stomper which is sure to go down a storm in mosh-pits the world over. For good measure, it even pays a brief musical tribute to Gwen Stefani’s noughties classic ‘Hollaback Girl’. Resistance is futile.
Also notable is the title track, another cracking, singalong friendly rock anthem. For sure, there is the inevitable quotient of emo dross (hey there, ‘Wet Hot American Summer’). Hot Mess will satisfy its target audience and may even win over the odd floating voter. What a pleasant surprise.
PAUL NOLAN
Key Track: ‘Good Girls Go Bad’