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Boston Phoenix It might have been the tail end of Valentine's Day week, but when Cleveland-based rockers (and that's a specific tag, not a generic handle) Cobra Verde played T.T. the Bear's Place late last Friday night, the quintet left out any tracks from their recent singles compilation Egomania (Love Songs), instead going straight to the opening quartet of songs from their recently released avant-glam set Nightlife (both on Motel Records). Far removed from even their own recent garage-indie past, Cobra Verde were eager to display their newfound fondness for filtering 1970s-style glitter rock through 1980s new wave and indie. The outfit on stage was the brand new third incarnation of Cobra Verde (not counting the group's stint backing Robert Pollard in Guided by Voices a couple of years ago), a line-up led by one-time Death of Samantha frontman and long-time Cleveland punk institution John Petkovic. And Petkovic is fitting into his new lounge-lizardy skin well: donning the tightest of pants and with an effete rock-and-roll ciggie in hand, the porcelain-skinned singer weaseled through the quiet opening of "One Step Away from Myself," accidentally extinguished the cigarette on himself in a shower of sparks as the song itself ignited, and then proceeded to strut and flail like Iggy Pop. The incident was just an annoying mishap, not a genuine reflection of some strain of Stooges-style nihilism that Petkovic's been nurturing all these years. Cobra Verde's approach has always embodied at least as much academic aptitude as frivolous attitude. But there was more than enough love and prowess behind the T.T. performance to give the crowd a taste of a rock-and-roll ideal that may have existed before it was common for bands to "rock out" ad hoc, without sentience or grace. Cobra Verde broke from the new material to offer a potent cover of the R&B standard "Treat Her Right." There was no sax man on board, but keyboards and theremin filled in the gaps on that tune and elsewhere, as in the rich, moody Roxy-meets-Doors romp "Crashing in a Plane." Petkovic also gave old fans a treat by dusting off the politically charged "Until the Killing Time," a track from Cobra Verde's '94 Scat/Matador debut, Viva La Muerte, which was recorded when Petkovic's spiritual homeland of Yugoslavia was in turmoil. Strutting and pouting, Petkovic hammed it up something rotten, even getting that blank Iggy stare down tight. Retro-glam viva may be the new order of the day for Cobra Verde (and many more upcoming, younger bands, like the Go), but they aren't jumping on the Velvet Goldmine bandwagon. It's more a reaction, perhaps, to the way things are right now: strip away the modern and rap rock and remember the old way. -- Linda Laban |