Detroit Cobras

It’s an album I’ve passed onto a few people but it’s not had the same effect on them as it has in me. It’s basically a Detroit garage band with a female vocalist doing rough covers of 60’s soul songs with a tendency to go for the obscure rather than the obvious. There that’s sold it to me all over again. Punk Rock Soul.

It includes covers of Stupidity (Solomon Burke)
Cry On (Irma Thomas and also the singer who vocalist Rachel Nagy’s style is closest to)
Shout Bama A Lama (I think Otis Redding wrote it for Arthur Conley)
Hey Say Lo Ney (I know a version by Micky Lee Lane…but there may be others)
Boss Lady (don’t know the original).

Shout Bama Lama and Boss Lady are my favourites. I always like records about dances, and Boss Lady itself manages to list the Watusi, The Dog, The Jerk, The Monkey and all in a song that owes a fair bit to Do You Love Me.

When singer Rachel Nagy says she’s the “Queen of the hot sauce”. I believe her. I also believe I would.

Shout Bamalama works because of the way the song repeatedly builds up and then breaks down again, a pause and then a rolling guitar bringing it back in. Again the nonsense lyric (sorry Otis) is given an urgency and an importance…. Yeah we all need to do it.

The album has a monochrome cover of a woman singing into old fashioned looking broadcast mike, wreathed in cigarette smoke and it’s on a great sounding label, Sympathy for the Record Industry.

Detoit Cobras also released 7 Easy pieces and Mink Rat or Rabbit (or as my mail order receipt called it Mink Rat or Rabbi…now that’s a better title). Similar formula but not as good. The far superior Life Love and Leaving though sounds like a band belting through some great songs which they obviously love, but aren’t afraid to shake up a bit. In my book, that makes for better performances than reverence and exact mimicry.

I’ve just looked round the net and there’s a new single Cha Cha Twist (Meg White apparently in the video), out in October and some UK dates. I fancy that…I don’t just listen to old music…I also like new bands doing old songs.