Yakuza
Cobra Verde
Nightlife
(Motel)

It's not enough for Cobra Verde to just "play" undiluted rock and roll. Every orifice of the band is overflowing with the sweat, sex, and unbridled energy of Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beatles jamming in Hamburg, and the rowdiness of Judas Priest. On their latest album, Nightlife, Cobra Verde goes directly to the source, invoking the passionate spirit of rock and rollers past and present to create a well-performed, thinking man's rock album.

It's clear that there's more on singer/guitarist/songwriter John Petkovic's mind than getting drunk and rocking out. The front man raises poignant relationship questions on "One Step Away From Myself" while the band hammers out a melodic, yet thunderous mini-rock opus. Sexual politics and love are the focus of "Conflict," and passing love gets an analysis on Petvokic's psychiatrist couch.

While Petkovic is obviously a skilled lyric writer, his music doesn't suffer from lack of development. Tracks such as "Every God For Himself" and "Don't Burden Me With Your Dreams" are near perfect in their mixture of melody, angst, and slithery energy. There's obviously a lot of musical production here. Albums don't get much richer than this, so it's really up to the listener to strap himself in and digest this dense mutha.

David McGurgan