Cobra Verde

Easy Listening (Muscle Tone)
by Craig Regala

Cobra Verde is the soul blowout of John Petkovic. He gets the troops and lights their fuse, they go to work to make these songs register. By his position, age, and literacy, John could be some sorta post-whatever singer/songwriter fuck. Instead, he takes the low road and risks the ridiculous (he has a rock band, fer christsake), trying to make emotional sense of this world with words, an acidic sleaze come-on, a couple guitars, and ye olde rock pulse. In many ways, Cobra Verde are the American Soundtrack of Our Lives. Less social cachet, more arterial spray.

This time around, the glam-era roots are bleached and shorn into nothing referential to anything specific but straight rock. Vocal hooks cut across melodies, clipped guitar riffs lay into integrated leads, a wiggly synth or something zibbles across the harmonies, and the punchline hits with a sublimated power pop bite. Do I need to chuck names into a blender? I mean, I can, ya know? Here’re some records and artists that’d surround this record in a half hour rock block in my minds eye’s playlist: Stones, Cockney Rebel, James White, Divine Horsemen, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Oasis, The Saints, Turtles… Cool, huh?
(8949 Sunset Blvd. #203, West Hollywood, CA 90069)