This feature’s been a little too Detroit Rock City-heavy. While ’tis true that the Motor City and the surrounding region was so incredibly loaded with fiercely competitive bands that collectors today gravitate toward that scene more than, say, the crummy garage-rock put out near Schenectady, Des Moines, and of course, Eau Claire…

…OK, OK, y’all’s convinced me to keep the Lo-Fi spotlight on Detroit. Here’s the Soul Benders’ cover of “Seven and Seven Is.”

What in the bleeping name of Pete Best are we doing with this cut, you may ask. Here’s the original “Seven,” below, done by Love, which might not be the most familiar name in rock. In fact it was the only top 40 hit for the band, a record left to the bonepile of obscurity for musicologists to rhapsodize about and lord their superior knowledge over people who would give them credibility.

In the world of cool no-hit-wonder garage bands, The Soul Benders are actually pretty cool, because they sound great, but more importantly, they were on Fenton Records of Sparta, Michigan. The big thing about garage and psychedelic music listening/fandom/collecting is that a lot of these bands sucked. They didn’t make it anywhere for good reason. (more…)