Philadelphia City Paper
May 22 - 28

That Cobra Verde has been plying their brand of glam, bam, thank you ma'am '70s riff-rawk since before the current crop of "rock is back" snot faces were in prep school isn't what makes the Cleveland rockers special. What sets John Petkovic's group apart is that while bands like The White Stripes and The Strokes write songs as if they'd been dragged around the block a time or two, Cobra Verde writes songs because they actually have. In the wake of record label fiascos and the resultant hard touring, Petkovic and company, now a four piece, have reemerged with a new album, Easy Listening, on a new label (MC5'er Wayne Kramer's MuscleTone Records). Consisting of equal parts hair-tossers and Bic-flickers, Easy Listening swipes reverent swatches from all the important glam gods. When Petkovic sings "This is a drinking song: Drink to what isn't here/ Raise a glass to the dead and gone/ And drink till they reappear" (on "Throw It Away"), it's not clear whether he's mourning or conjuring.
—Brian Howard