(First published in L.A. WEEKLY) FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 The Detroit Cobras at Spaceland. Most cover bands are happy just to cop a feel, to play dress up, to approximate a small sliver of someone else's vision, defanged and devoid of context, and pretend that it's theirs. How then do you explain the Detroit Cobras, who reverentially take on R&B-pop hits and obscurities by Jackie DeShannon, Solomon Burke and Ike Turner, and routinely ace the originals with superior energy and charisma? Hoodlum guitarists Maribel Restrepo and Dante Aliano certainly push things along with a fervently punk immediacy, but it's lead singer Rachael Nagy who's sounds as if she's swallowed the sun, effortlessly radiating each phrase with soul-purifying authority, like Little Eva and Martha Reeves and Mary Wells and half of Phil Spector's girl groups, all wrapped up into one hard-livin', who-gives-a-fuck diva. Check out the spectral "sha-la-la-la"s on "He Did It," which imply reverb canyons full of first-love memories, the beguiling invitation of "Won't You Dance With Me," and the divinely lingering anguish of "Bye Bye Baby," from the essential new party-'n'-heartbreak album, LIFE, LOVE AND LEAVING (Sympathy for the Record Industry). (Falling James) (also from L.A. WEEKLY) Slush Motor City Madness Scenesters who were disappointed when trash-blues phenomenon the White Stripes were bumped from an eagerly awaited appearance last week on the David Letterman show (Dave ran out of time when the program's only other guest, news cheerleader Cokie Roberts, babbled on excessively about how she'd once written an essay in grade school about Afghanistan) packed Spaceland for the L.A. debut of another rising Motor City Combo, the Detroit Cobras, on a bill with Sympathy for the Record Industry labelmates the Lisa Marr Experiment and the Rapture. Muffs bassist Ronnie Barnett, the Humpers' Billy Burks and Scott "Deluxe" Drake, EMA 3's Fred Manchento, Sympathy for the Record Industry mogul Long Gone John, and "the Drew and Karie show" (i.e., the Dagons' Drew Kowalski and Karie Jacobson) were among the madding crowd spotted grooving to the Cobras' insidiously catchy renditions of R&B/soul-pop standards "I'll Keep On Holding On" and Otis Redding's "Shout Bama Lama." The band's secret weapon is trailer-park diva Rachael Nagy, who despite a rough sound mix and a sore throat, came off like an unholy mix of Dusty Springfield and Little Eva. Of course, Little Eva never said things like, "You're going to get your fucking spine ripped out through your fucking asshole if you don't shut the fuck up," as Nagy warned a heckler, only half-kidding. "Like we need to be reminded that Detroit sucks!" (Falling James) FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2002 The Detroit Cobras at Spaceland. Despite a sore throat and a frustrating, absent-minded sound mix that buried her vocals under the guitars, Rachael Nagy made a big impression when the Detroit Cobras played L.A. for the first time last year. One moment, she was urging everyone to "get prayerful," and insisting that she'd been been saved by Jesus. In the next breath, she was warning a foolhardy heckler, "You're going to get your fucking spine ripped out through your fucking asshole if you don't shut the fuck up." With such a radiant, soulful voice, Nagy -- like all the great divas -- can be as gloriously contradictory as she wants. On the Cobras' second Sympathy for the Record Industry album, LIFE, LOVE AND LEAVING, Nagy tears through uptempo '60s R&B covers ("Shout Bama Lama") and heartbreak ballads ("Cry On," "Let's Forget About the Past") with equal ease, ably backed by Maribel Restrepo's chunky riffing and Damian Lang's efficient, no-nonsense drumming. (Falling James)