Artist Triple Cobra

Combining the glitz of vintage glam with the “look at me!” attention-whoring endemic of San Francisco, the proudly over-the-top Triple Cobra has been pitched as sort of a real-life answer to Hedwig And The Angry Inch, draping its peacock rock in so many theatrical flourishes it exhausts all synonyms for the word “gaudy.” Feathers and fishnets, flashing lights, face and body paint, half-naked dancers—no cliché is too gauche for the band, which somewhat heroically aims to rescue rock ’n’ roll from the clutches of buttoned-up indie kids and their tiresome modesty. The raunchy, riff-driven songs from 2007’s Live Fast & Die Beautiful recall simpler, Sunset Strip-era times, when thinking and rocking were mutually exclusive.

Updated 06/17/2009