COBRA VERDE
"Copycat Killers" (Scat)
Indie Disco
October, 2005

Everybody loves covers and I'm no exception. But a good covers record is hard to do, requiring exquisite song selection, novelty, and fidelity. Cobra Verde?s Copycat Killers scores on all counts.

First, there's the sheer balls of covering Pink's two year old hit "Get The Party Started." Not since Elvis... Then there's New Order's Temptation. Not only do these songs have (almost) everything you liked about the originals, they have something else. They're almost interactive like, ok: I Feel Love, original artist Donna Summer. What are they going to do with that? You kind of want to know.

There is something really fun about trying to figure out what an indie guy band from Ohio is going to do with, say, a Donna Summer song, and then hearing it and finding out that it?s actually good and not at all what you expected. This record has nice touches all over the place - psychedelic organ, soulful saxophone, all kinds of raw groovy guitar - and most of the time, you pretty much forget you're listening to covers at all.

In addition to the more dance oriented tracks noted above, CV cover Hawkwind, The Fall, Bauhaus and the Troggs, among others. Plus a few mystery tunes: who does Underpants, I'd like to know?

Copycat Killers is a sneaky record. It starts out as a trivia game and ends up weaseling its way into your jaded indie heart.