Cobra Verde is an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1994, the group has released six albums, including the acclaimed Nightlife, Easy Listening and Haven't Slept All Year.
Cobra Verde's music has been featured on television programs such as True Blood, Entourage, The OC, Shameless, and Sons of Anarchy. In addition, the group performed on The OC as a Foreigner tribute band at a birthday party held at the show's fictional club, "The Bait Shop."
Cobra Verde includes singer-guitarist John Petkovic, Mark Klein (drums-vocals), Tim Parnin (guitar), Ed Sotelo (bass-vocals) and Frank Vazzano. This has been the longest-running line-up for the band, its origins going as far back as 1998.
The band's sound has been described as post-punk, glam rock, hard rock, and garage rock. 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."
Salon.com compared Cobra Verde to glam-rock, and specifically compared the band's 1999 album, Nightlife, to director Todd Haynes' film, Velvet Goldmine. "Haynes would have fared far better if he had consulted John Petkovic and his band Cobra Verde."
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.