does the album capture the band's "fashionable post-rock charm". Barry Walters of Spin found the more drone-oriented songs tepid but noted that "the melodic bits are dreamier than ever", concluding that the album would benefit from "ruthless home-listener editing". Among more positive appraisals, Alternative Press remarked that "few bands make sweetly psychedelic pop as enduring as [Stereolab] do." USA Today critic Edna Gundersen said that although "ponderous drones such as 'Blue Milk' border on grating, the aggressively unorthodox band lapses into coherent melodies as effortlessly as Burt Bacharach." Elisabeth Vincentelli of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the album "takes time to work its charm, but it's well worth the effort." In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Tim Sendra stated that while "difficult at times, Cobra is Stereolab at their near best", effectively balancing the band's experimental and pop sensibilities. Reviewing the album in 2019 for Uncut, Louis Pattison commented that in hindsight, "its charms are more evident". The same year, Tim Gane cited Cobra and Phases Group and its follow-up Sound-Dust (2001) as his favourite Stereolab albums in an interview with The Guardian: "I like things that are sprawling and not identified really easily, not easy to digest but there's a lot of possibilities in them." Track listing Personnel Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Stereolab Stereolab – vocals, guitar, organ, electronics, drums, percussion, bass, electric harpsichord, clavinet, Wurlitzer piano, tack piano Tim Gane Lætitia Sadier Mary Hansen Morgane Lhote Andy Ramsay Additional musicians Mark Bassey – brass Colin Crawley – brass Sophie Harris – strings William Hawkes – strings Kev Hopper – saw on "Puncture in the Radax Permutation" and "Caleidoscopic Gaze" Simon Johns – bass Rob Mazurek – cornet on "Fuses", "People Do It All the Time", "Infinity Girl", "Op Hop Detonation", and "Strobo Acceleration" John McEntire – vibraphone, keyboards, drums Dominic Murcott – vibraphone and marimba on "The Spiracles", "Puncture in the Radax Permutation", "Caleidoscopic Gaze", and "The Emergency Kisses" Jacqueline Norrie – strings Sean O'Hagan – organ, electric harpsichord, clavinet, bass, acoustic guitar, tack piano, brass arrangements Jim O'Rourke – bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion, string arrangements Andy Robinson – brass Steve Waterman – brass Brian G. Wright – strings Production Fulton Dingley – production, mixing, and recording on "Italian Shoes Continuum" John McEntire – production, mixing, recording Jim O'Rourke – production, mixing, recording Steve Rooke – mastering Stereolab (credited as "The Groop") – production Design