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Hot Mess (album)

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Hot Mess
Studio album by
Cobra Starship
ReleasedAugust 11, 2009
Recorded2008–2009
Genre
Length37:24 (normal edition)
56:55 (deluxe edition)
Label
Producer
Cobra Starship chronology
¡Viva la Cobra!
(2007) 		Hot Mess
(2009) 		Night Shades
(2011)
Singles from Hot Mess
  1. "Good Girls Go Bad"
    Released: May 11, 2009
  2. "Hot Mess"
    Released: October 26, 2009

Hot Mess is the third studio album by the American musical ensemble Cobra Starship, released through Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records on August 11, 2009. The album is the follow-up to 2007's ¡Viva la Cobra!. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on sales of more than 42,000, by far their best chart performance ever.[2]

The first single from the album, "Good Girls Go Bad", features actress Leighton Meester and was released on May 11, 2009. The song peaked in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and at number two on the New Zealand Singles Chart.[3]

Songwriting and recording

[edit]

Cobra Starship toured extensively in 2008, headlining the Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour during January–March, and playing the Warped Tour for two months during June–August.[4] They were pressured by their label to make another album while on the road, and after Warped concluded they had about ten song ideas. When the label directed them to record the songs in September 2008, the band entered a New York City studio and attempted eight of the songs. Lead singer Gabe Saporta was diagnosed with a cyst on his vocal cords,[5] but there was a much bigger problem: the band did not like the music. For instance, the song that eventually became "The Scene Is Dead; Long Live the Scene" existed only as a verse and chorus under the working title "Bright Lights", and Saporta later recalled, "I hated it. It made me cringe." Cobra Starship had been able to write the previous album, ¡Viva la Cobra!, while touring in 2007, but the band was little known at the time, and they spent their free time writing. By 2008, the band did not have enough time to themselves for composing music. The song ideas from 2008 were subpar; bassist Alex Suarez said, "We know we can do so much better."[6]

The band shelved the recorded material while Saporta treated his vocal cords. Cobra Starship determined to hammer out better songs for the album. In January 2009, the band moved into a cabin in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania for an intensive songwriting session.[6] They spent two weeks in the cabin, four days of which were live-streamed with their fans via Stickam.[7] Happy with the results,[6] they returned home to New York City to collaborate with other songwriters and musicians to flesh out the songs.

Actress Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl agreed to sing on "Good Girls Go Bad", and she brought songwriter Kara DioGuardi—a judge from American Idol—to add a lyrical hook. Producers Jacob Kasher Hindlin and Kevin Rudolf assisted Saporta in writing the music, which included an interpolation of the stomping percussion of No Doubt's "Hollaback Girl". Meester recorded her vocal part in Los Angeles, directed by Saporta.[8]

The opening track, "Nice Guys Finish Last", was created as a fusion of Brian Setzer's retro big band style with Adam Ant's new wave hit "Goody Two Shoes".[9] The backing singers, billed anonymously as the Goodie Two Shoes Gang,[10] included Cobra Starship keyboardist Victoria Asher, wealthy Nigerian socialite Abimbola Fernandez, country/pop singer Cassadee Pope from Hey Monday, and the girlfriend of session engineer Tal Herzberg, along with more of his friends. Fernandez also modeled for the cover photo and inner sleeve artwork.[9]

Other influences on the album include electronic rock band Ratatat throughout,[7] and Arcade Fire's backing vocal style for the song "Fold Your Hands Child". The song "You're Not in on the Joke" uses the band's touring security guards to sing on the chorus.[9] Britney Spears's "Womanizer" was interpolated in "Nice Guys Finish Last", which resulted in songwriters Raphael Akinyemi and Nikeshia Briscoe of the Outsyders receiving writing credit. The song "Living in the Sky With Diamonds" samples "Maneater by Hall & Oates.[11] Cobra Starship intentionally sought out pop references to bring to this album, to create a party vibe.[8] Guitarist Ryland Blackinton said, "We just wanted to make music that was fun and kinda make people just forget about whatever shitty problem they might be having during the week."[5]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(72/100)[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk.net(39%)[13]
Allmusic[14]
Billboard(favorable)[15]
MTV(positive)[16]
NOW[17]
People[18]
The Phoenix[19][12]
Rock Sound(8/10)[20]
Rolling Stone[21]
Spin(7/10)[22]

Hot Mess was met with positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream critics, the album gained an average score of 72.[12] An advance review by James Montgomery of MTV stated this was their most brilliant album.[16] Michael Menachem of Billboard fell in favor of the album, saying "If you don't finish this party record a hot mess, then you probably didn't have a good time."[15] Tim Sendra of AllMusic called Hot Mess "a complete success and shows that the band could possibly grow past the comedy and become something else entirely."[14] Daniel Brockman of The Phoenix gave a generally positive review, stating, "Only a music fan obsessed with the rules of authenticity and the requirements for lyrical profundity could find fault with the 11 odes to overload that make up Hot Mess."[19] Mikael Wood of Spin raved that "Hot Mess is flush with other stupid-smart highlights, including 'Pete Wentz Is the Only Reason We're Famous."[22] Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard said that "Sometimes the former Midtown singer's snark falls flat, as with the title 'Pete Wentz Is the Only Reason We're Famous' or the part where the singer brags about his ass. But Saporta does have some pop gifts, apparent on the disco 'Living in the Sky with Diamonds.'"[21] Edna Gundersen of USA Today gave the album three stars out of four and stated: "While unquestionably accessible, Cobra's retro, overly flashy Swedish-leaning pop isn't for everyone. It's daft, it's dorky, it's discofied, but it's also deliciously fun and kitschy."[23]

Bill Lamb of About.com gave the album 4/5 stars, using a comparison to praise; "You went digging around in your parents closet of old vinyl LP's from the 80's, found one with candy-coated colors on the cover, played it on their old turntable and discovered it really wasn't bad. Then a few days later after listening to it for the 15th time you realized you had fallen in love with the goofy, fun, sarcastic music. It's quite possible it sounded a lot like Cobra Starship's Hot Mess."[24] A negative review came from Roxana Hadadi of The Washington Post who stated, "If you have the patience to sit still for the album's entirety (about 40 minutes of straight-up torture), we commend you. All those lyrics about crews, hot messes and the 'scene' — it's enough to make anyone go crazy. But if you really must take the plunge down this rabbit hole of awfulness, we'll hold your hand through it."[25]

By October 2009, the album's sales stood at 80,000.[26]

Track listing

[edit]
Standard Edition
No.TitleLength
1."Nice Guys Finish Last"3:37
2."Pete Wentz Is the Only Reason We're Famous"3:03
3."Good Girls Go Bad" (featuring Leighton Meester)3:17
4."Fold Your Hands Child"3:13
5."You're Not in on the Joke"3:31
6."Hot Mess"2:52
7."Living in the Sky With Diamonds"3:20
8."Wet Hot American Summer"3:49
9."The Scene Is Dead; Long Live the Scene"2:44
10."Move Like You Gonna Die"3:49
11."The World Will Never Do" (featuring B.o.B)4:05
UK Version
No.TitleLength
12."New Edition" (explicit version)3:21
13."Good Girls Go Bad" (Frank E Remix) (featuring Flo Rida)3:23
14."Good Girls Go Bad" (video)3:17
15."Hot Mess" (video)2:52
iTunes Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
12."I May Be Rude But I'm the Truth"3:07
13."New Edition"3:20
14."Good Girls Go Bad" (Suave Suarez on Pleasure Ryland remix)3:58
15."Good Girls Go Bad" (Matt Haick remix)4:10
16."Good Girls Go Bad" (Cash Cash remix)4:40
Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version Bonus Tracks[27]
No.TitleLength
12."Good Girls Go Bad" (MoAzza remix)4:08
Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks[28]
No.TitleLength
12."I May Be Rude but I'm the Truth"3:07
13."Cobras Never Say Die"3:30
14."Good Girls Go Bad" (Suave Suarez on Pleasure Ryland remix)3:58
15."Good Girls Go Bad" (Isom Innis remix)4:10
16."Good Girls Go Bad" (Cash Cash remix)4:40
iTunes Germany
No.TitleLength
12."Monkey Magic"3:12
13."New Edition"3:20
14."Good Girls Go Bad" (Frank E Remix) (featuring Flo Rida)3:23

Personnel

[edit]
Cobra Starship
  • Gabe Saporta – lead vocals
  • Ryland Blackinton – guitar, backing vocals and synthesizer
  • Alex Suarez – bass and backing vocals
  • Nate Navarro – drums
  • Victoria Asher – keytar and backing vocals

All songs written and performed by Cobra Starship

  • Produced by Cobra Starship except:
    • Track 3 produced by Kevin Rudolf.
    • Tracks 6 and 7 produced by Mike Caren and Oligee and co-produced by Kevin Rudolf.
    • Tracks 10 and 11 co-produced by Jayson DeZuzio.
Additional musicians
Album artwork
  • Art direction and design: Mike Yardley / Skull with Hair
  • Photos: Matthew Salacuse
  • Live photo: Jack Edinger
  • Cover girl: Bim Fernandez
  • Tattoo by: James Kelly for Red Rocket Tattoo NYC
  • Art manager: Kristie Borgmann
  • Packaging manager: Michelle Piza
  • Inspiration for title Hot Mess – L.O. 43.

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Hot Mess
Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[29] 51
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[30] 14
Japan Top Album Sales (Billboard Japan)[31] 96
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[32] 18
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 188
US Billboard 200[34] 4
US Indie Store Albums Sales (Billboard)[35] 14

Certifications and sales

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[36] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
Citations
  1. ^ Shotwell, James. "REVIEW: COBRA STARSHIP – HOT MESS". Underthegunreview.net. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  2. ^ "News from MTV Music News". IMDb. 17 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-05-17. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Cobra Starship feat. Leighton Meester - Good Girls Go Bad". Charts.nz. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  4. ^ Peters, Mitchell (June 6, 2008). "Pennywise, Motion City Soundtrack Join Warped Dates". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Ponce, Gina (2009). "Cobra Starship interview". Nth Word. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2024. Page 2.
  6. ^ a b c Staff (July 22, 2009). "Even Cobra Starship hate their own music". The Music. Australia. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Staff (March 20, 2009). "Spring Music Preview". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Futterman, Erica (May 14, 2009). "Cobra Starship Grab 'Gossip Girl,' 'Idol' Stars for 'Hot Mess'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Montgomery, James (August 3, 2009). "Cobra Starship Take You Through Their Favorite 'Hot Mess' Songs". MTV. Archived from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "Nice Guys Finish Last". Apple Music. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  11. ^ Hot Mess (liner notes). Decaydance. 2009.
  12. ^ a b c "Critic Reviews for Hot Mess". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  13. ^ Drew Beringer (2009-08-05). "Cobra Starship - Hot Mess". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  14. ^ a b Tim Sendra. "Hot Mess - Cobra Starship". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  15. ^ a b Menachem, Michael (2009-08-11). "Hot Mess Album Reviews". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  16. ^ a b Montgomery, James (2009-07-29). "Cobra Starship's Hot Mess Preview: Goofy Greatness, Unapologetically So". MTV. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  17. ^ Benjamin Boles. "Cobra Starship - Hot Mess". NOW. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  18. ^ Chuck Arnold; Joey Bartolomeo (2009-08-17). "Cobra Starship: Hot Mess". People. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  19. ^ a b Brockman, Daniel (2009-08-03). "Hot Mess CD Review". The Phoenix. Archived from the original on 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  20. ^ Ronnie Kerswell (2010-02-20). "Cobra Starship - Hot Mess". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on February 23, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  21. ^ a b Christian Hoard. "Cobra Starship: Hot Mess". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  22. ^ a b Mikael Wood (12 August 2009). "Cobra Starship, 'Hot Mess'". Spin. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  23. ^ Gundersen, Edna (2009-08-12). "Cobra Starship, Hot Mess: Hot Pop Excess". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  24. ^ Bill Lamb. "Cobra Starship - "Good Girls Go Bad" featuring Leighton Meester" Archived 2009-07-28 at the Wayback Machine. About.com. Accessed August 16, 2009.
  25. ^ Roxana Hadadi (August 10, 2009). "Neon Disaster: Cobra Starship, 'Hot Mess'". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  26. ^ Bell; Harding 2009, p. 57
  27. ^ "Hot Mess (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version): Cobra Starship: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
  28. ^ "Fueled By Ramen Webstore". Archived from the original on 11 July 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  29. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 24 August 2009" (PDF). Trove (1017). Australian Web Archive. 2009-08-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-04. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  30. ^ "Cobra Starship Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  31. ^ "Billboard Japan: Top Album Sales - Week of December 2, 2009". Billboard Japan. December 2, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  32. ^ "Charts.nz – Cobra Starship – Hot Mess". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  33. ^ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: Chris C. – CZR". Zobbel. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  34. ^ "Cobra Starship Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  35. ^ "Indie Store Album Sales: Week of August 29, 2009". Billboard. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  36. ^ "American album certifications – Cobra Starship – Hot Mess". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
Sources
  • Bell, Crystal; Harding, Cortney (October 10, 2009). "Dance of Days". Billboard. Vol. 121, no. 39. Prometheus Global Media. ISSN 0006-2510.
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