Mary Ramirez (right), the Detroit Cobras fiery guitar player and co-bandleader, doesn’t pull any punches – onstage or during an interview.

Paired with the wonderfully raspy-voiced soul singer Rachel Nagy and a rotating rhythm section since 1994, the band has shown remarkable resiliency. They have carved out a niche with their search-and-rescue missions of obscure R&B songs, recreating them with a garage rock attitude. They can keep on keepin’ on for another 15 years as far as I’m concerned.

RC: What has the band been up to lately?

MR: We recently toured with Exene and John Doe and X and they were just amazing people. Everything just fit together – admiration on both sides. When something fits that good it’s really sexy. Right now, I have some ideas running through my head on what to do next. I’m working on some songs for the next record.

RC: Do you listen to old music voraciously?

MR: It’s all I ever listen to. You talk about the radio… Every year I think ‘how much worse you can get?’ It’s so foreign now, so pathetic. In Detroit we have NPR, but damn, I need to listen to music. There are no stations here! There are no instrument stores here either – we all have to go outside of the city. It’s insane. For burnt out buildings, we have everyone beat though!

RC: Who are your guitar influences?

MR: My favorite is Lowman Pauling from the “5″ Royales. He constantly went back and forth between gospel and R&B. We try to do a song of his on every record. It’s got elements of church music, but raunchy!

RC: When you first started doing this, was it a conscious attempt to add a punk attitude to old R&B?

MR: No! I wanted to be as good as the records I was hearing. I was trying to imitate them as close as possible. I knew I would never sound like those guys. You emulate the greatness of someone and your unique natural sound will come out.

RC: Have you ever tried to track down any of the old songwriters you’ve covered?

MR: A lot of them have passed away. We did find Jackie DeShannon in L.A. though. She’s was probably answering the doorbell thinking, ‘Who the f– could that be?’ One songwriters’ brother called to tell us that he actually wrote the song we covered. I said, ‘I’m not going to question it, dude.’ Then there is my true love, Irma Thomas. I knew some friends of hers and asked them to give her a copy of a song of her’s that we covered. I said, ‘Please don’t let me know if she doesn’t like it.’ They said she liked it, but Irma never got back to me. I was hoping for gushing reports of admiration! Really, I have the utmost respect for her.

RC: Do you have any thoughts on how Amy Winehouse can blow up but not the Cobras, who have an arguably superior voice in Nagy?

RM: It’s good she’s not on the line, she’d start screaming. Even Jack White has said the same thing, ‘If there’s justice, Nagy would be up there.’ To me, (Winehouse) is kind of hollow. I don’t see the R&B influence in her, I don’t feel it in her voice. It’s too bland.

… Before you hang up, I just want to say to St. Louis that we’re still not forgiving you for that World Series, don’t forget that!

Detroit Cobras with Fattback and the Tripdaddys

Off Broadway, 9 p.m. Saturday, $12/$15

www.myspace.com/thedetroitcobras