Starbomb

-Kaz
Convention Reporter

As many are plainly aware, the idea of video game parody and fan-made entertainment is nearly as old as the industry itself.  As great as this content may be, it's not often that we get tasty jams that appeal to nerdy interests. Thankfully this dry spell has been broken through the combined efforts of Arin Hanson aka Egoraptor (Metal Gear Awesome, Sequelitis, etc. Check out his channel!) and Ninja Sex Party (Unicorn Wizard, The Ultimate Sandwich and many others) composed of Danny "Sexbang" Avidan and "Ninja" Brian Wecht. In this new comedy rap band, to quote the back of the lyric book includes their roles as follows:

Egoraptor- Rapping
Danny Sexbang- Singing and Rapping
Ninja Brian- Literally Everything Else

Regarding personal introductions, Egoraptor is a rather well known Newgrounds entity who has also established himself as an internet personality, originally gaining fame through his 'Awesome' series and other shorts. In time, he partnered with Jon Jafari (better known as JonTron) and the two created the gaming "Let's Play"/comedy commentary duo that would become Game Grumps. While the duo became an internet sensation seemingly overnight, their partnership sadly came to a close in mid 2013 as Danny from Ninja Sex party came into the fold as Jon's replacement.  Additionally, during the time Danny replaced Jon, Arin also married Suzy Berhow (Mortem3r on YouTube) who is yet another internet personality, makeup artist, fashionista and of course the Bandit for Game Grumps' group show, Steam Rolled.

Danny and Brian however have a similar but different take on their origins regarding Ninja Sex Party in the sense that this duo came together at a United Citizen's Brigade event and have appeared at various comedy clubs performing several comedic and raunchy numbers such Unicorn Wizard, The Ultimate Sandwich and a delightfully playful If We Were Gay. For those who may have seen me at SacAnime Summer 2013, I donned the guise of Danny Sexbang and even belted out a couple jams. That aside, once Danny became a part of the Game Grumps family, the river of comedy flowed anew and a Star Child was born.

Er... make that "-another- Star[bomb] Child was born."

The combined efforts from Egoraptor and NSP produced a wonderful mix of a wide vocal range, character immersions and an impressive musical score tantalizes the ears and yet still ties in with the games they were based on.  The lyrics are humorous, but I do want to stress that the album is listed as explicit and crude language is prevalent.  For those who are aware of NSP's music, that's pretty much par for the course as there are no songs -not- marked with iTunes' little red "E."  This does translate into Starbomb's music as lots of sexual humor does show up.  Case in point, check out Starbomb's first animated video, Luigi's Ballad!

The album itself likely went into production months prior to Danny's replacement of Jon on Game Grumps, but early hints were released during an episode of Friendzone! on the Polaris YouTube channel in June, 2013 by Danny as he explained that he and Ninja Brian were thinking of names for their new musical project.  It was formally named and unveiled on December 2nd, 2013 and eventually released on December 17th.  Even at the end of the album, Danny and Arin have stated that they would be working on a second album. While this particular album was mostly Nintendo themed, I can't wait to see if they continue the trend in their next album or if they branch out into other consoles.  Given another episode of Friendzone!, Danny did mention that another animated video would be coming out soon.

Given the band's internet personalities and the natures of their prior works, I have to say that their work on Starbomb really impressed me and I've been hooked since I first bought the album when it was available on iTunes.  On a personal note, my three favorite tracks on the album are (in no particular order) are Regretroid (Danny even mentioned it was one of his favorite tracks mainly due to the melody), Rap Battle: Ryu vs. Ken and Crasher-Vania.  Within the first week of selling, it hit #12 overall on iTunes and made #1 on iTunes' charts in both rap and comedy and even hit the #1 listing on Amazon's overall albums sold.

For the latest in their projects, feel free to check out Game Grumps, Egoraptor and Ninja Sex Party on YouTube for all of their shenanigans and updates and check the Official Starbomb Page to get your hands on some sweet jams however you like or click the picture below for the CD, poster and shirt bundle.