The Detroit Cobras "Seven Easy Pieces" 2003

The Detroit Cobras obviously love their record collection which must be very large and full of delightful obscurities from many decades. All their records are freshly recreated cover versions and here they tackle (in order) Melvin Smith (a local singer), the Olympics, Gloria Jones, the Kingston Trio, the 5 Royales, Dorothy Love Coates' Ninety-Nine And A Half Won't Do (not the Wilson Pickett song, as so many reviewers seemed to think) and Koko Taylor, all played with passion and verve. To make it harder to fathom their origins, they change or miss-spell some of the song titles or composer credits or omit them completely so some detective work went into finding the above list of names, but this is part of their charm. Great stuff. - By LozarithmCrawling out from the weed-choked lots of the once proud town, The Detroit Cobras whip out ass-shaking anthems to good times, wild times, and the high and lows of L-U-V; you best believe it and you best not mess with it. Blurring the lines between R&B and R&R and soul, the Cobras are THE go-to party band for those in the know. Singer Rachel Nagy and guitarist Mary Ramirez are the bad girls by the exit doors at the school dance, all leather and heels, sneaking smokes and passing the flask. They have no time for dewy-eyed love songs or girl group decorum; they’ll take care of business themselves with a bat of the eye or an elbow to the kidney. Rachel’s "warm as the half pint ofbourbon under the seat of your car" voice can boom to the back pews (Did we say "pews?" We meant "barstools") and Mary’s riffs let you know that love and good times can be found in the tilt of a hip or at the end of a fist. "You should hope and pray that they play your party."— SpinCredits:
Bass, Keyboards, Vocals – Eddie Harsch / Drums, Vocals – Kenny Tudrick / Guitar, Vocals – Greg Cartwright, Mary Restrepo / Vocals – Rachel Nagy

trax:
1. Ya Ya 2. Secret Agent 3. Heartbeat 4. You Dont Knock 5. Silver & Gold 6. 99 And A Half Just Wont Do 7. Insane Asylum