Cobra Verde includes singer-guitarist John Petkovic, Mark Klein (drums-vocals), Tim Parnin (guitar), Ed Sotelo (bass-vocals), and Frank Vazzano.

In a review of the band's 2003 album, Easy Listening, the Boston Phoenix compared Cobra Verde to the MC5, due to lyrics and guitars that "blur the line between revolution and hedonism.

"[2] The band has drawn comparison to '70s glam-rock because of the art work for Nightlife by noted photographer Mick Rock, who chronicled David Bowie, Queen, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop in the 1970s.

Petkovic, the sole continuous member throughout Cobra Verde's 20-year history, enlisted guitarist Doug Gillard and drummer Dave Swanson, with whom he had played in Death of Samantha.

To reflect the one-off nature of the project, Petkovic named the ensuing album Viva La Muerte (meaning "long live death"), after the battle cry of the Spanish Foreign Legion.

"[3] Rolling Stone called the Viva La Muerte album "provocative grime, like Diamond Dogs sabotaged by Final Solution-era Pere Ubu.

"[4] The same line-up also recorded Vintage Crime (an EP that included an appearance of Chris Brokaw, of the Boston band Come) before being recruited to play in Guided by Voices, backing Robert Pollard on the 1997 album Mag Earwhig!

A Magnet magazine article, "The Last Rock Star," attributed the band's over-the-top sensibilities to "growing up all wrong," which included Petkovic's parents taking him to nude beaches in Europe when he was a child.

A video for the opening track, "Riot Industry," starring Mike Watt, George Wendt, and Rudy Ray Moore was acclaimed by Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, and Billboard.

"[9] The New York Times wrote: "The dangerous, ironic aura of glam-rock fascinates Cobra Verde, a band from Cleveland that folds new paradoxes into the anthems and angles of the 1970's style.

In a Rolling Stone review of Copycat Killers, David Fricke wrote: "It helps to know a little about Cobra Verde's roots in Cleveland underground-rock lore to appreciate the breadth of repertoire on this all-covers album.

But the fun is obvious, as Cobra Verde remake Pink's "Get the Party Started" and the Fall's "The Dice Man" in their own glam-devil image and play the Troggs, Undertones, and Mott the Hoople songs here like they wish they'd written them.

"[12] Pitchfork wrote: "Cobra Verde's music has always simmered with nocturnal menace and seedy suggestion, but on Haven't Slept All Year, there's a greater awareness of the price for staying up all night: Having to make amends in the morning.

"[13] Dusted Magazine put "Haven't Slept All Year" in context with the band's history and the musical landscape: "The only thing more surprising than Cobra Verde's existence this far into the new millennium is the quality of its recordings.

Cobra Verde cast their net wide and work with whatever comes slithering back, compressing it all into a weighty chunk of glittering pop-rock smite to be hurdled at whoever needs a knock on the head.

Cobra Verde plays a Foreigner tribute band that has been hired by Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) to perform at a birthday party for his friend Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie).