Shameless Tuesdays: Livre 171 | Detroit Illharmonic Symphony
If ska bands can hide under the guise of an orchestra, then punk bands should have the chance to dub themselves symphonies. That's what the LA-based Detroit Illharmonic Symphony have done, and their new album Everything is Shattered is filled with many songs in Major, Minor, and somewhere in-between. It may be made up of five musicians (multi-instrumentalist Cool Walt, drum programmer Raga Roni, turntable master Malyque Smith, violinist Cecilia Suhr, and saxophonistLukecage), but the sound they craft sounds like it was played by an army of anarchists!
From the wild title track (with TSOL's Jack Grisham on vocals) and the downright silly "Doo-Doo on a Stick" to the sneaky synth sounds of "Night of the Raccoons" and the commanding "If You Cooperate" (featuring Keith Morris of Circle Jerks), the fourteen fast-paced melodies aren't classically epic; they're cinematically epic! Considering some of the songs are featured in the animated film I'd Rather Be Turned into Cat Food, I'd say that wasn't an accident. But before the last thing finds itself in thousands of pieces, Detroit Illharmonic Symphony has conducted the first Shameless Tuesdays of 2026!
Here's what Detroit Illharmonic Symphony's Cool Walt has to say about this week's playlist:
Wow—a chance to create a playlist for BOSTON BASTARD BRIGADE!! Despite the fact that I play in a band called “Detroit Illharmonic”, I actually grew up near Boston, and have always loved the music scene there. So, I couldn’t help but include some of my favorite Boston musicians: the Dogmatics, the Visigoths, Guru (via Jazzmatazz), SSD and MOTO (who were a Boston band for a few years at least).
I also wanted to include some great music from the past and present that isn’t as well known as it should be, such as the epically amazing Melt-Banana. Sometimes, songs appear one after another that have a lot in common, though one might not think so at first; the Kinks’ “Village Green” and Henry Mancini’s “Inspector Clouseau Theme”, for example, share a chord structure that both probably stole from Bach.
And I wrapped it all up with two pieces of music that are so beautiful they absolutely destroy me emotionally: “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin and “Suddenly I Felt Joy” by Gretchen Yanover. It’s a fun listen, I hope!! Rock and Roll!!!
For more information on Detroit Illharmonic Symphony, check out their official website, Facebook, and Instagram. Check out Everything is Shattered below via their Bandcamp!
Promotional consideration provided by Shameless Promotion PR.
