By John Pecorelli
Alternative Press magazine
Every band hates the press. But when Cobra Verde vocalist John Petkovic says, “Most guys doing rock journalism couldn't write dialog for a porno flick,” it's not a case of sour grapes. Neither Cobra Verde nor his previous band Death of Samantha got many bad reviews—quite the opposite. Instead, Petkovic is peeved about the seeming dominance of rock writers who prefer gimmicks, gags, and irony over substance.
“If the Unabomber was being reviewed in today's rock magazines,” he says, “it'd be like, ‘Well, his stuff is a little heavy-handed. He could use some humor to lighten it up a bit.'"
Petkovic, a part-time rock scribe himself, says such trends aren't confined to journalism. Symptomatic of the trivial times, he says, are films like Tarantino's “piece of shit” Pulp Fiction and, of course, a good chunk of current music.
“I would rather be totally pretentious and manufactured than be some two-bit ironic joke or something like, ‘Oh, here's where our heart is,'” Petkovic exclaims. “I do not go for all that ‘Understanding who I am, my frustrations and my problems' stuff. I couldn't give a fuck! When I see a group, I don't give a fuck if the guy's the biggest pussy in the world or a rapist. Art has nothing to do with the people making it.”
The art Cobra Verde want to make is a stylized, “archetypal-sounding music,” something that will seem fresh five or 25 years from now. There's more to this than writing good, loud songs with sharp hooks (which Cobra Verde do alarmingly well). For Petkovic, at least, the process involves a bit of psychology, from incorporating strange guitar effects that “people might kind of remember from the backs of their minds” to working out five or six sub-melodies—per song—that might also sound vaguely familiar.
“I want our stuff to sell millions of records,” Petkovic says earnestly. “Not just for financial reasons—I don't need a car or a house. But if I can just do some serious shit to fuck up some things…just pay like a thousand people to sit in the middle of a city square and fuck all the traffic in New York City . Something that'll be remembered. What are people gonna remember about this era? The Unabomber, and that's about it. You might as well resort to terrorism to achieve artistic legend, because art ain't gonna cut it.”
Cobra Verde formed two years ago, retaining three-fourths of the members from Death of Samantha. The band—Petkovic, guitarist Doug Gillard (also in Cleveland's Gem), bassist Don Depew, and drummer Dave Swanson—are currently finishing up their second full-length studio album, tentatively titled Kill the Singer, Save the Song. While Cobra Verde's coagulation of late-‘70s punk, early-‘70s glam, and the mad unpredictability of fellow Clevelanders such as Pere Ubu might sound retro in words, the delivery isn't. As Petkovic explains, “The rock world has revolved around old things in a new context for the last 40 years.”
But Death of Samantha fans may not feel entirely at home with the new situation: Cobra Verde claim to have purchased the entire DOS back catalog and are perusing record stores across the country, determined to “eliminate all traces and evidence that Death of Samantha ever existed.” No disrespect intended, says Petkovic, DOS were a fine group for the ‘80s. But Cobra Verde, he insists, is more coherent and much better suited to today's environment. Even if that environment isn't particularly suited to them. Yet.
“Cobra Verde, in 1996, is working deep inside enemy territory with what we want to do,” Petkovic says. “We're content to be our own movement and our own subculture. This doesn't sound over the top, does it? We just don't fuckin' care.”