Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band originating from New York City. The band originally started as a solo project by frontman Gabe Saporta, previously of Midtown. Saporta has embezzled that the idea of Cobra Starship was formed after Saporta went on a vision quest in the Arizona deserts and began building the idea for a synthpop band, however he has stated in the past that this was just a joke.

The band started off when Saporta posted a parody of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” titled “Hollaback Boy”, which become popular on the internet. This eventually led to Cobra Starship being signed to Decaydance Records, an imprint of Fueled By Ramen owned by Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz.

The band’s 2006 debut album While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets was all written, recorded, and co-produced by Saporta, with production help from Ryland Blackinton and Alex Suarez, who at the time were both writing music for This Is Ivy League. The two of them joined the band shortly after the debut was released. The song “Snakes On A Plane (Bring It)”, which was included on the album, was written for the 2006 film Snakes On A Plane and became a minor hit. The song featured the vocal talents of Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds, William Beckett of The Academy Is… and Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes. Beckett also helped co-wrote the single.

After the album was released, Saporta further enlisted the help of Nate Novarro and Victoria Asher to become part of the band. Cobra’s 2007 sophomore album ¡Viva La Cobra! was produced by Fall Out Boy vocalist Patrick Stump and was the first album the whole band was included on. The band went on to make 2009’s Hot Mess, their best-selling album, and their final album Night Shades in 2011. They announced their dissolution on November 10, 2015.