Tag Archives: cover band

Respect in Taste

The Detroit Cobras Scour the Archives and Revitalize Long-Lost Hits

The Detroit Cobras are good at what they do. So good, they kept the critical media scratching their collective temple as to why the band struck a familiar chord, but the origins were not quite traceable. Four albums and a gang of singles deep, the Cobras’ garage and R&B nostalgia earned them the company of their most-beloved songwriters and a friendship with a particularly notable Grammy Award-winning, Detroit-raised producer.

It is old hat to fuss with clever ways of calling the Cobras a cover band. The Detroit Cobras are a cover band. Don’t let them tell it with a fine slant. The good news is, they’re a band with exceptional taste rooted in the vaults of lesser known Ronettes, Irma Thomas and Otis Redding hits. Guitarist Maribel Ramirez sums it up with, “To me it’s not important whether you write or you don’t write, it’s that you come up with great songs.” The Cobras are far too rad to play your cul-de-sac soirée, Fire Department barbecue fundraiser or wedding reception. It leaves the covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” to the animatronic band in Chucky Cheese restaurants.

“We’ve never reported ourselves to be a cover band. It’s not like we’re doing Motown review and I’m coming out with my hair in a beehive doing Supremes songs,” lead singer Rachel Nagy said. “Once one critic found out, other critics started raving, but we never said we wrote them. It’s not a hidden issue.”

It’s been four years since Tried & True, making my first inquiry quite obvious–what’s the haps on a new record? Turns out, the Cobras are waiting on fellow Detroit native Don Was, a man whose production is well worth the delay. If the name is not ringing a bell, perhaps these will: Lyle Lovett, Iggy Pop, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Garth Brooks and The Rolling Stones.

“The whole Don Was thing is kind of nebulous right now. He’s a very busy man.” Nagy said. “We’re talking about maybe mid- to end of summer to start recording. We may even do it backwards now that all the hip kids are putting out singles. Just start putting stuff out as we record it.”

While the Cobras wait for Mr. Was to grace them with his time and expertise, we took to discussing the meat and potatoes of the Cobras’ next step in being the best darned (cover) band around. With the cat out of the bag and old songwriters coming forward at their shows, it’s an exciting new time for the band, in which perhaps an original or two might sneak into the tracklisting.

It’s been a while since the last Detroit Cobras record. What’s the motivation going into the new record?
Maribel Ramirez: Being able to record a little better. We make decent records, but we’d like to take it a little further than we already have–make it more powerful. We’ve done a decent job by ourselves. In talking to Don [Was], it’s something we both want to do.

Will there be a shift in the bands that influence the music?
MR: It’s digging deeper. It’s almost attitude-wise, you know what I mean. We’re a little more grown up and we still want to make a dance record, but dance by our definition.
Rachel Nagy: Was said to us, “Look, I won’t do this if I don’t know what to do. If I don’t understand this and don’t know what I can bring to you guys, I won’t try to fake through it or turn you into something you’re not.” And that’s what we needed to hear.

Does the band feel pressure of possible misrepresentation, considering the songwriting process is built upon previous works? Do you ever get approached by disgruntled fans or the original songwriters?
MR: You’d think we would have, but to tell you the truth, most people don’t know the records. People aren’t really going to come up to you and tell you negative things anyway. When we cover a song people go looking for it. Most don’t say, “Hey, I know that.” When we were in Europe, it was cool to see the effects of having done this. People come out and say, “Let me show you what I’ve got.”

In Los Angeles a person came to the side of the stage and said, “There’s a person here who says you covered one of their songs.” I remember thinking, “I thought most of them were dead?’ Who the fuck is standing at the door.” It was Jackie DeShannon [one of the first female singer/songwriters in rock ‘n’ roll]. We went to a little studio and wrote a couple of songs with her. One of the songs we wrote during that session I want to use on the next record. I at least want to give it a shot.

Have you ever had someone try to pull the wool over you and pretend to be related to one of the deceased musicians to get paid in some form?
RN: The closest thing that ever happened to that was Mickey Lee Lane’s brother. I don’t think we met him, but I think he sent us a letter. It was cool, but then died. The next thing you know we’re getting these long e-mails from his brother. He started on the whole, “Yeah, I actually wrote that and here’s some other stuff I wrote that I’d love if you guys would do.” It was very obvious that he hadn’t written anything.

The other music he was sending us was terrible. It was really bizarre shit like I don’t think we’ll be doing a dance remix of the blues anytime soon. Other than that, we’ve never really had anyone try and play us.

Considering many of these songs are obscure hits that are either out of print or impossible to find, has there ever been an interest to do more for the originals beyond the band’s interpretations of them? For example, a label that focuses on reissues or a compilation?
RN: We absolutely have the utmost respect, it’s one of the reasons we do what we do. But this is our personal jukebox. We get together, share each other’s weird records, drink some beer and play the songs we love and find fun. Other than that it was not supposed to be anything deeper.

I wouldn’t really call us collectors. I’ve lost so many records. It comes down to the difference between boys and girls. The girls run around, dance and have a good time, while the boys are the librarians discussing who begat who.

We’ll leave all the reissuing to those boys that are great at cataloging and remembering and not losing their records and not moving from a house and forgetting two boxes in the attic.

Detroit Cobras will perform The Blue Lamp on Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 9 p.m. Also appearing will be Girl in a Coma. Tickets are $12 in advance and can be purchased at Eventbrite.com.

Something for Everybody

Utz! and the Shuttlecocks

The Blue Lamp, Sacramento, CA
Sunday, Oct. 11, 2008

Arriving fashionably late with just enough time to grab a drink before the Shuttlecocks come onstage, the crowd is simmering gently, warmed up and ready for the main act. Blue Lamp is your stereotypical venue: pricey drinks that are half the size as the last bar we visited and bartenders who furiously dole out drinks in attempt to keep up with the scene kids swarming around the bar. But, it’s a cozy atmosphere—brick walls and a classy-looking wooden bar, with a crowd that is more likely to start a dance party than a fight.

As the first notes from the band hit my ears, singer Sean Merold jumps across the stage—dressed in a clown suit? Turns out he is aptly dressed given his skill at entertaining the crowd as he and his female counterpart Debbie Niles take turns singing, firing off smooth musical chemistry as their highs and lows bounce off each other. Niles, a fiery redhead in big boots, is no wallflower, and knows how to rock the crowd in equal measure. Meanwhile, fellow band members Tony Whittaker, Michael Casagrande and John Hall are no strangers to rocking out.

Like a variety show taken to the max, this band knows their stuff. Rather than relying on over-played drunken karaoke cover songs like Journey or ACDC, the band impresses the crowd with a brand spankin’ new Coldplay song, “Viva la Vida.” From Coldplay to the Cure—with a little Kanye and Eminem thrown into the mix—it’s easy to forget that you’re listening to a cover band rather than the genuine article.

Midway through the show, as I coax a sound guy to let me climb onto a platform to snap some pictures, it hits me that the audience has grown in size, complete with a wedding party that ups the energy of the room tenfold. More than just performance artists, Utz! and the Shuttlecocks should be known as party artists, infusing the bar with power-packed jams and positive emotional energy. Everyone is dancing and screaming along. The end of the night winds down with some old school hip-hop before it’s time to pack up the instruments and call it a night.

It was a pretty seamless performance overall, and included juiced up renditions of too many songs to list. You may not know every song, but the hodge-podge set list this band puts together promises that whether you’re a rapster or a coffee shop maiden, you’ll find your groove during this show.

One More Time With Feeling

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Go into the Vault on Their Latest Release

During the 2004 presidential election cycle, Fat Wreck Chords head/NOFX frontman Fat Mike transformed from party punk icon to counter culture luminary. Rarely interviewed in years prior, Mike was almost ubiquitous in print and on television, firing shots at the Bush administration and trying to rally young Americans—especially punk fans—to vote. Though the result of that election may not have been what Fat Mike and his legion of punk voters would have wanted, his efforts did at the very least get a portion of the population that is often seen but rarely heard a voice in the political process.

Fast forward four years later, and the U.S. is once again gearing up for another presidential quagmire. However, this time around, Fat Mike’s voice, at least publicly, is notably absent. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t kept himself busy. On July 8, Fat Mike and his cohorts in Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (who also include Joey Cape and Dave Raun of Lagwagon, Jake Jackson (aka Chris Shiflett) of the Foo Fighters and Spike Slawson of the Swingin’ Utters) released their seventh full-length album Have Another Ball. Comprised of material from the original Me First recording sessions, the album sees the band covering hits by Simon and Garfunkel, Barry Manilow and Billy Joel. From his car—while fiddling with his new Bluetooth headset—Fat Mike answered a few of our questions regarding the new album.

Where are you headed?
I’m just getting out of NOFX practice.

How did that go?
Pretty good, thanks. We’re demoing right now.

I was reading up on Have Another Ball, and I saw that this is older material from the first recording session. What made you release it now? Why hold on to it for so long?
Well, a lot of it has been on 7 inches. We didn’t use all the B-sides for our seven-inches, we just used these songs because these were the first ones we recorded. And I don’t know, we’ve always tried to recapture that sound of the first record, because it sounds so cool and bad. We thought it’d be cool to release it now, because it has that sound from 10 years ago that you can’t really recreate right now. Plus, I think a lot of the songs are better than the first album.

You cover one of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs on there, “The Boxer.” What kept these songs off the original record?
We did two songs by every artist. But that’s the thing; we picked the songs we liked the best at the time, but looking back, “I Am a Rock” is not as good as “The Boxer.” And “You’ve Got a Friend” isn’t as good as “Fire and Rain.” A lot of the songs were better on the seven inches, and we felt they should be put out digitally at some point. Unless you’re a seven-inch collector, most people haven’t heard these songs before.

This is the 10-year anniversary of the band—actually 11 now—did you ever think it would last this long?
Actually, we thought we’d be in this band forever, but when we first started, we weren’t even putting out CDs. We were just putting out 7-inches. The whole idea to be in a local band where we could play bars nearby and not have to tour and not have to worry about being good, or writing songs, because, you know, we don’t do any of that. Since we play covers, we don’t have to spend a lot of time with this band. That’s what we were looking for. This is just a band where you can hang out with your bros. So we accomplished that, but then we started putting out some CDs, and it turned out to be pretty big. We thought we’d be doing this band, and we still think we’ll be doing this band for another 10 or 20 years, long after our other bands call it quits. There’s no reason to not play in a cover band. It’s something you can do for your whole life.

I know people who are in bands, and they usually look down on cover bands because they’re not playing their own music. What’s your take on cover bands?
I don’t like cover bands. There are a couple of tribute bands that I’ve seen that I’ve liked. Yeah, cover bands are a bunch of fucking piss heads. They don’t enjoy what they’re doing, because most cover bands have their weekly gigs, or they play every night in Vegas, or whatever. I once saw a Sex Pistols tribute band that was pretty fucking good. They were called the Scottish Sex Pistols. They were way better than the Sex Pistols.

I saw a Sex Pistols tribute band dressed in drag called the Trans Sex Pistols; they played Sex Pistols songs while dressed in drag, and they were better than the original also.
Oh yeah. The Sex Pistols are terrible. The way Johnny Rotten sings now is fucking horrible. They would be fired if they were hired as a Sex Pistols cover band.

You said earlier that you all were hoping to do this after your other bands were retired. Do you ever envision Me First and the Gimme Gimmes getting a regular gig down in Vegas?
Sure, why not? Actually, if they open CBGBs down in Vegas like they said they were going to, we would have to be the house band.

How do you approach playing these covers as opposed to when you’re playing your own material? Are these songs you really like?
These are songs we really like, but it’s a weird thing. You don’t really get the same satisfaction by playing cover songs, that’s for sure. It’s fun to do. It’s another reason to go out and get wasted.

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