The Detroit Cobras were an American garage rock band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1994. Rachel Nagy was the lead singer and played piano and Mary Ramirez played guitar.
The Detroit Cobras signed with Sympathy for the Record Industry and released their first album, Mink, Rat or Rabbit, in 1998. After a three-year gap, they released a second album, Life, Love and Leaving. The two albums consisted entirely of cover versions of popular songs from the 1960s. Their retro-garage rock formula proved popular in the UK and prompted the London-based Rough Trade Records to sign the band. They released an EP, Seven Easy Pieces, in 2003 and their third album, Baby, in 2004. Baby broke with the Cobras' tradition in that it included one original song, "Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat)". Baby was picked up for release in the US by Bloodshot (who added the songs from the Seven Easy Pieces EP to the end of Baby. In April 2007, Bloodshot released the band's fourth album, Tied & True.
The band was known for multiple line-up changes. They generally had a touring line-up different from their recording line-up. Greg Cartwright of Reigning Sound (aka Greg Oblivian of The Oblivians) was a constant creative force along with Rachel Nagy and Mary Ramirez, who were around from the group's genesis. In the summer of 2008, The Detroit Cobras went on tour in support of X on their 13x31 tour. For the summer of 2009, The Detroit Cobras headlined a tour with the Dex Romweber Duo in support.
Rachel Nagy died of the 15th of January 2022.
