There’s more to Detroit than The White Stripes.

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In April 2001, White Stripe Jack White compiled an album entitled Sympathetic Sounds Of Detroit that included tracks from many of the bands in the vibrant local scene. Two of the bands featured were The Hentchmen and The Paybacks, now signed to Rex Records in the UK. This week they’ve finished a joint tour and released a split 7" single.

“We came out here ourselves [to the UK] to show there’s a little more to Detroit than you guys might think,” says Johnny, The Hentchmen’s bass and organ player who also doubles as bassist in The Paybacks. “People sometimes get the impression that the Detroit scene just popped up overnight,” adds Wendy, frontwoman of The Paybacks. “For a lot of folks over here, The White Stripes and The Von Bondies were their first exposure to it.”

The Hentchmen have been around for a decade and celebrated their 10th anniversary on Halloween. “It was just a vehicle for playing the rock ’n’ roll we were getting into at the time,” say Johnny. “The Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry… kinda what wasn’t very popular at the time. So, needless to say, we didn’t have many friends.” One friend they did have was Wendy, who formed The Paybacks a couple of years ago and recruited two out of three Hentchmen as her rhythm section.

“In Detroit, almost everyone is in at least two bands,” explains Wendy, to which Johnny adds: “You can do it easily in Detroit for some reason.” John Speck plays guitar in The Paybacks and also belongs to another Detroit group, PC-ly christened The Fags: “I think it has a lot to do with the longevity of the Detroit scene,” he says. “I had the blessing of my band. They said, ‘You’ve gotta go do this.’”

The two bands are keen, however, to be seen as separate and distinct entities. “There’s people who go to see The Hentchmen wouldn’t go to see The Paybacks or The Fags,” says Speck. “The community’s always been supportive though, it’s not because somebody’s just become popular and people are riding coat-tails.” Tim Hench, of The Hentchmen, agrees: “There’s a core of good bands who’ve been around for five, six years that have reached their pinnacle in terms of writing really good songs.” So go check them out. Matt Walton 19 December 02

The Hentchmen and The Paybacks split 7" single is released 23 December 02 on Rex Records.
The Hentchmen's Three Times Infinity is available on import.
The Sympathetic Sounds Of Detroit is out now on Sympathy For The Record Industry.