There's love for the
pop
and
rock
canons in every note
Cobra Verde
write, so a mirthy, clever, and well-played covers set from the Ohio combo isn't any kind of surprise.
"Get the Party Started,"
well, gets the party started, and the oft-licensed
Pink
jam proves its unfailing
mettle.
Verde
vocalist
John Petkovic
channels a particularly lecherous
Greg Dulli
as fuzz guitar whines in the background and the (live) percussion bumps along with smutty insistence. A run through
New Order
's
"Temptation"
isn't as successful, but the band's care in replicating the oohing backing vocals suggests that
Copycat Killers
is mostly about fun. Covering a song called
"Underpants"
(originally by Cleveland
punk
heroes
the Easter Monkeys
) suggests that, too.
add handclaps and sighing harmonies to
the Undertones
'
"Teenage Kicks,"
reinterpret
the Stones
"Play With Fire"
as a moody
cabaret
piece, and make
Hawkwind
's banned
acid rock
head-trip
"Urban Guerilla"
sound like it should have always been a vintage
Motown
stomper. You got time to bring it down! Other
highlights: the
space
-
disco
workover of
Donna Summer
"I Feel Love"
that begs for a
DFA
remix, and
Mott the Hoople
"Rock and Roll Queen"
played as straight and ragged as the barroom anthem it always will be. ~ Johnny Loftus