Album/Comedy
Rating: 3.5/5
"Starbomb," the self-titled debut of a collaboration band between famous YouTube animator Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson and comedy band Ninja Sex Party (NSP), is a rather hilarious romp through the classic eras of gaming that falls short on the flag pole.
The songs that are funny are genuinely a riot but many of the tunes rely on a comedic crutch that is detrimental to the album: an overabundance of dick jokes. Whereas the comedy from NSP tends to rely on clever innuendos or generally surreal but funny situations, “Starbomb” tends to dish out just overtly sexual references with no rhyme or reason.
Particularly, the song “Kirby’s Adventure In Reamland” — a cringe-worthy, unfunny praise of Kirby’s apparent sexual prowess — demonstrates this overuse of the joke. While not every track relies on this crutch, it is peppered throughout the album and cheapens the comedy. Despite this, there is a lot to like from this album.
Most songs on “Starbomb” have catchy yet simple melodies, complimented by vocalist Danny “Sexbang” Avidan’s wonderful harmonies. Combined with Hanson’s rapping interludes, it’s an odd but somewhat-compatible combo.
The strongest points of “Starbomb” are when they twist the mythos of the games involved to absurdist or atypical lengths, especially with the excellent portrayals of famous characters by the duo of Hanson and Avidan.
While listening to the album, “Sonic’s Best Pal” became one of my personal favorites. The band made the character Tails the fox into a drug addict bent on violence (“Yo, fuck your rings, Sonic it’s time to get real/ I want to kill a motherfucker just to see how it feels.”) The contrast between Sonic’s peppy, bouncy background with Tail’s brutal metal rapping is side-splitting.
From the funky and complex “The Simple Plot of Final Fantasy 7” to the booming “Monster Mash” inspired romp “Crasher-Vania,” it’s hard to not crack a smile while listening to the diverse lineup of tracks.
Some songs on the album even suggest statements on gaming culture in general. Particularly, “Regretroid” explores a comic scenario where the alien enemies from the Metroid series shed their villainous purposes when they find out Samus is a woman, only leading to their immediate demise by the capable bounty hunter. There’s something satisfying about guest singer Emily Hughes voicing Samus’ displeasure of being belittled by her common foes (“Stop treating me like I’m a sex object/ Mother Brain’s a woman but she gets respect.”)
Other guest singer Rachel Bloom’s powerful vocals as Peach in “Luigi’s Ballad” really brings an addictive quality to the song, especially with how well her voice meshes in the duet portions with Avidan’s Luigi.
While not perfect, Starbomb’s first album has a lot of appeal for gamers with a sense of humor and an ear for fun music.
