L-Seven was an American

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

band from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, United States. The band existed during 1980–1983. Some band members had been formerly active in Detroit punk bands The Blind, Algebra Mothers, and Retro.Detroit Punk Archive: L-Seven. Available from https://detroitpunkarchive.com/bands/l-seven/ Anecdotally, they lifted their name from the

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

album Bustin' Out of L Seven.Coombe, D. (2020 August 19). L-Seven is the Detroit post-punk band that time forgot — but Third Man Records is looking to change that with a deluxe reissue. ''Metro Times'', retrieved from https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/l-seven-is-the-detroit-post-punk-band-that-time-forgot-but-third-man-records-is-looking-to-change-that-with-a-deluxe-reissue/Content?oid=25157958 In February 1982, they recorded a self-titled three-song EP at Multi Trac Studios in

Redford, Michigan Redford, officially the Charter Township of Redford, is a charter township in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The township shares its eastern border with the city of Detroit. The population was 49,504 at the 2020 census. History ...

. The EP was released as a 7" titled "L-Seven" by Touch and Go Special Forces in 1982. Although Touch and Go Special Forces was created to issue records of a different nature than the hardcore records that Touch and Go was issuing at the time, L-Seven's record was the only release under the "Special Forces" imprint. During their brief existence, L-Seven supported many well-known post-punk bands such as

The Gun Club The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. It was formed and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. History Early days (1979–1980) The Gun Club ...

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (bass). Their first album, '' Killing Joke'', was released ...

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the " Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who w ...

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 2 ...

, U2, and The Birthday Party. The last of these was one of the inspirations for the

Laughing Hyenas Laughing Hyenas was an American post-hardcore band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, that existed from 1985 to 1995, fronted by Negative Approach vocalist John Brannon. According to AllMusic, "At first, the band specialized in dirges overlaid with the ...

, the band Singer Larissa Stolarchuk (under the ''nom de plume'' Larissa Strickland) went on to form with former

Negative Approach Negative Approach is an American hardcore punk band, formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1981. The band is considered among the pioneers of hardcore punk, particularly in the Midwest region. Like most hardcore bands, Negative Approach was little known ...

singer John Brannon. In the Hyenas, she switched to playing guitar, relinquishing vocal duties to Brannon. Stolarchuk died on October 9, 2006. Drummer Kory Clarke fronts the long-running band

Warrior Soul Warrior Soul is an American rock band, formed by lead singer and producer Kory Clarke. Clarke started the band on a bet from a promoter at New York City's Pyramid Club, after a solo performance art show called "Kory Clarke/Warrior Soul". Clar ...

. Guitarist Dave Rice would go on to form the bands The Linkletters and Sandy Duncan's Eye and at one point auditioned for British post punk band

Public Image Limited In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichke ...

. In 2020, with the involvement of Sonic Youth drummer and Michigan native

Steve Shelley Steven Jay Shelley (born June 23, 1962) is an American drummer. He is best known as the longtime drummer of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, for whom he played from 1985 until their 2011 disbandment. Biography Shelley was born in Midland, ...

, a long time fan of the band,

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—wit ...

released a compilation of unreleased L-Seven Demos and live recordings, which includes live renditions of the

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

song "London Dungeon" and the

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

song "You Drive Me Nervous". The website Detroit Punk Archive has a compiled an oral history of the band.

Discography

References

External links

"L-Seven"
at the "Touch and Go Records" website
Corey Rusk notes the death of Larissa Stolarchuk
{{Authority control American pop music groups Musical groups from Detroit Touch and Go Records artists Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 1980 establishments in Michigan