Cobra Skulls – American Rubicon

Cobra Skulls are one of those bands who have a very vocal and intense following online. Their debut album, Sitting Army turned heads and got people talking about them and their sophomore effort –American Rubicon – just built on that buzz. All the buzz sounded good and painted Cobra Skulls as a band to keep an eye out on so when I finally got American Rubicon I was excited and wanted to like it a lot, I wanted to love it. Unfortunately, my hopes seem to have been placed too high because while I do like American Rubicon, it’s most definitely missing that it factor that will keep me coming back for more.

With equal parts pop-punk and rockabilly, Cobra Skulls are an unique amalgamation of styles and sounds working together to create an upbeat and energetic album that proudly displays a wide variety of influences on its sleeves. There’s some slight Teenage Bottlerocket pop-punk flare with earlier Against Me! activism contrasted against The Cramps and The Misfits bass heavy eeriness. The vocals teeter between that of Nick 13 from Tiger Army and a more straight-forward pop-punk delivery, creating an instantly unique vocalist unlike any other band out there; throw in the quick changes to Spanish lyrics inThicker Than Water and they’ve really crafted a sound for themselves.

But alas, there’s still something missing.

Tracks like Back To The Youth, HDUI (Honorary Discharge Under The Influence), Rebel Fate, Muniphobia and the piano-driven One Day I’ll Never are songs that are worthy for repeated listens thanks in part to pointed lyrics and unpredictable turns that will stop you in your tracks; and it’s on tracks like that that Cobra Skulls live up to the hype but other tracks feel, not necessary forced, but somewhat bland. With seventeen songs clocking in at just over thirty-six minutes, the album is a tad too long for comfort as they leave room for songs that aren’t de-facto bad but work as filler instead.

It becomes slightly aggravating after a while. After being treated to a song that simply blows you away, Cobra Skulls seem to fall back and deliver a song lacking that spark which creates for an uneven and disjointed listen. While far from being bad, it’s still not strong enough to compete against so many CDs coming out these days; it’s fun for a bit but not one you’ll be pulling out over and over again in the months to come – and that, is very disappointing.