Byline: STEVE TERRELL

Garage-band sale

The modern-day garage band refuses to die. In fact, some garage bands from the distant past refuse to die as well.

Here's a look at some recent noise coming out of the allegorical garage.

* Hentch-Forth.Five by The Hentchmen. The Hentchmen is a Detroit band that arose in the mid-'90s steeped in the noble tradition of Michigan bands of previous eras such as The Stooges, ? and the Mysterians, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, and Amboy Dukes. As documented on the 2001 compilation The Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit, bands like The Hentchmen, The Dirtbombs, The Von Bondies, and The Detroit Cobras got back to rock 'n' roll basics in a most delicious way. However only one of the Sympathetic Sounds bands actually made it big -- The White Stripes, a duo well on its way to glory when that compilation was released.

On Hentch-Forth.Five, originally released in 1998, The Hentchmen, led by Farfisa fiend John Hentch (aka John Szymanski, aka Johnny Volare), had a bass player named Jack White who went on to become singer and guitarist for The White Stripes. Detroit's Italy Records has remastered the album, originally released on vinyl only, and rereleased it last week -- on the same day The White Stripes' new album was released. That's a complete coincidence I'm sure, and if you don't believe that, you're probably one of those evil cynics who believe that campaign contributions to politicians are somehow...