Cobra Starship Brings It With a Side of Chatter

Cobra Starship's first headlining tour stopped at the 9:30 club Tuesday, and it wasn't long into the band's set before the keys to enjoying the performance became clear -- namely, covering your eyes and plugging your ears. Otherwise, the group hosted a helluva dance party.

Formed a mere three years ago, the quartet can be forgiven its missteps, which at this sold-out show included punishing overuse of strobe lights and the constant nattering of frontman Gabe Saporta. Saporta, who got sidetracked from his duties as the bassist-vocalist of Midtown when Cobra's first hyper-catchy single, "Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)," became a bigger hit than the movie it served, shows off a great sense of humor in his new project's lyrics and videos. But his chitchat, mostly endless expressions of gratitude and weak R-rated innuendo, felt less like crowd-warming stand-up than a strained attempt to pad the 75-minute set.

Whenever the band did actually play, however, its energy was infectious. Songs such as "The City Is at War," "The Church of Hot Addiction" and the terrific new "Guilty Pleasure" are built on keyboards-and-kick-drum foundations that have courted descriptions from electronica to rock to breakbeat. Whatever their genre, the tunes are pogo- and radio-ready; the worst that can be said about Cobra's two-album repertoire is that it goes to the "Bring It" well a little too often and can sound a little repetitive dished out all at once.

But at least repetition won't sear your corneas.

-- Tricia Olszewski