The Detroit Cobras

In an era when rock had seemingly lost some of its raw instinct, a band emerged from Detroit that brought back the primal, sensual fire of the ’50s and ’60s—dragging it, kicking and screaming, into the smoky clubs of the new millennium. We’re talking about the Detroit Cobras, a name that, for garage rock devotees, is practically a battle cry: no gimmicks, just pure groove and a fierce love for deep soul.

Formed in 1994 in the gritty heart of Michigan, the band was born from the partnership of the magnetic vocalist Rachel Nagy and punk-hearted guitarist Mary Ramirez (aka Mary Cobra). Two women who chose to dig deep into the history of African American music, unearthing forgotten soul and R&B gems and drenching them in fuzz, sweat, and blood.

Their debut album, Mink, Rat or Rabbit (1998), is a blistering collection of covers that feel less like tributes and more like rebirths. But it was Life, Love and Leaving (2001) that truly cemented the Detroit Cobras’ cult status—each track a gut punch wrapped in razor-edged guitars and Rachel’s gritty, magnetic voice. The Seven Easy Pieces EP followed in 2003, and in 2004 came Baby, where the band even dared to sneak in an original track—“Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat)”—without missing a beat. Their last studio album to date, Tied & True (2007), continued the band’s love affair with deep soul, reframed through the lens of a Saturday-night dive bar.

More than a band, the Detroit Cobras are a romantic idea: that music can still be discovered, rediscovered, and reimagined—with reverence, rage, and passion. And live? They were dynamite. Rachel Nagy’s voice—smoky, powerful, alive—breathed new life into every lyric, as if telling her own story.

Sadly, in 2022, the heart of the band stopped beating. Rachel’s passing left a massive void in the independent music world.

In August 2022, Mary Ramirez reunited the band with Marcus Durant (formerly of Zen Guerilla) filled in as the guest vocalist.