BAND OF THE WEEK: Cobrafuma
Dirty, dirty rock'n'roll hailing from Porto's sleaziest corners.
We all need balance, right? Sure, we like some fine things, we’ll spend time with proggy music, we’ll have our sensitive moments with quiet and heartfelt folk, we’ll go and see serious musicians ply their trade in sparkly venues like museums and libraries even. But sometimes, goddamnit, only the lowest of the low will do to scratch that particular itch, and all you really need to do is to scream dumb stuff and throw beers in the air in a dank basement with a pile of other sweaty drunk numbskulls doing the exact same thing around you, right?
If you identify with this scenario, well then, I have good news - Cobrafuma feel exactly the same way as we do, and they know how to provide the tunes for that particularly mood. This brand new band is made of old people - well, old in the sense that they’ve made other things before, but hey, they’re not babies either, so whatever - with time spent in other questionable gatherings of sleazeballs such as Plus Ultra, Greengo, Solar Corona or Killimanjaro, all of which I heavily recommend you investigate in case you’d like to shove a few more riffs into your brain while pushing out some other useless info like the names of your kids or whatever. Their debut album has been out for only a couple of days now via Lovers & Lollypops, it’s self-titled, and if you’re wondering about the band name, the whole thing about a snake smoking has to do with a popular saying that you can surely google about and go on a wild linguistic tangent in a shorter time than it would take me to write it down and explain.
Look, none of this is rocket science, okay? Even if it’s all sung in Portuguese and you happen to be from somewhere else, it won’t matter, the connection is established anyway and you’ll instinctively know what they’re yelling about. Their first single was called ‘Buraco’ (“hole”), and there’s other songs called ‘Aço’ (“steel”), ‘Meu Irmão’ (“my brother”) or, well, ‘Punk Hits’ (you get it). They call themselves a “misfit gang of Porto proto-veterans who heeded the Cobra's call amidst sketchy malls and rock'n'roll bars with sticky floors,” they like Motörhead, whiskey, weed and playing really loud. As should you. Now get on with it.
Cobrafuma are José Roberto Gomes (guitar/vox), Luís Chaka Santos (drums), Miguel Azevedo (guitar) and Rui Pedro Martelo (bass/vox).
You can find them and get the new album on Bandcamp. They’re also on Spotify, if you must.
And you know what? They speak, too. Check out the little chat we had with Miguel right after the jump.
“We do this because it feels good.”
— Miguel Azevedo
What are the origins of Cobrafuma? How and when did you get together, what was the main idea behind the band?
Miguel Azevedo (guitar): We had no goals, either behind or in front of us. The thing evolved very naturally, the origin harks back to a famous event (the fifth anniversary of Woodstock69 rock bar, pre-Covid), when me and Zé Roberto got together with Greengo (Martelo and Chaka) to play a few classic riffs that our friend Toni (the owner of the bar) likes. After that, the pandemic took over, and among all the tedium, the WhatsApp group we had created to plan the party was activated by Chaka: “So what now? Are we playing again?” To which Zé replied “I don’t do covers.” From that moment on to recording a new album was just a little jump.
Plus Ultra, Greengo, Solar Corona, Killimanjaro, there’s some pedigree in your other activities, lots of people will know you from “other carnivals”. What do you think you guys offer that’s different, in relation to the other projects people know you from?
Miguel: The only carnival with pedigree that I know is the one in Veneza and I guarantee you none of our bands have been there. 😉 We do this because it feels good. 😊 Maybe singing in the language of Camões is something new and a signature thing for Cobrafuma.
The album seems really spontaneous, like you spat it out with no unnecessary bullshit, something that a lot of bands lack, in my opinion. Is the writing of the songs as relaxed as the result indicates? Is the attitude the main thing?
Miguel: I’m happy with that review in form of a question. Everything is correct. No bullshit, no fucking around. We’re sick of that in our daily lives already. As for the making of the songs, everything is done in the rehearsal room, very much like take this riff, give me another one, and let’s keep the ball rolling. After the instrumental part is lined up, we start to shoot phrases into the air and they end up landing on the riffs. The ones that land right stay, the other are thrown away.
I do enjoy the fine poetic wordplay at work in these songs. What’s the main inspiration for those phrases you shoot?
Miguel: The verses and the poems are out there, on the loose. I remember my friend Kinorm showing up at one of those kinda clandestine rehearsals during Covid and saying - while drinking a Super Bock and smoking one - “fuuuuck… the world is slowing down and I’m always full speed ahead!” [TDM note: it sounds better in the original Portuguese than this half-assed adaptative translation - “Fodass… o mundo a fechar e eu sempr’abrir!”, trust us] This is a beautiful verse of spontaneous poetry and it ended up inspiring the lyrics on the song ‘Fumo A Fome’. It’s just one example of many that happen throughout the record.
Do you have any specific ambition with this project, other than making a filthy racket? Do you plan to continue, make more records, hurting more eardrums along the way?
Miguel: It’s a tough question, it’s like asking your new date “let’s get married, buy a house and have three kids?” It’s hard to predict. For now we just want to promote the record, play it live and evolve as a band. The future belongs only to Satan.
For those who never saw you guys live, what can we expect from a Cobrafuma show?
Miguel: Like Fast Eddie Nelson says: “Gandás Malhas!” [TDM note: “big tunes”, or something]. And Lidl whiskey, which is great. And great looking dudes like Zé Roberto! And other stuff. Don’t miss it.