By Erik Jarvis

“I discovered old Delta blues and 60’s / 70’s blues-based bands in college, which got me wondering, ‘Hmmm, what would it sound like to play blues-based punk-rock?’,” writes Matt Livengood, drummer of Detroit-based band, The ILL Itches.

With tracks like “Hallelujah” and “Lucille,” Livengood and his bandmates have answered this question. Matt Mruzek’s vocals sound like something of a cross between Little Richard, Iggy Pop, and Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka. Stephen Schmidt and Joshua Woodcock’s guitars deliver grit, fuzz, and on “My Sister’s Possessed,” even some surfy funk. Woodcock writes, “early on we were going for a…Stooges / MC5 / Buzzcocks sound” with their guitars. Mruzek’s punchy, often treble-laden bass, works in perfect tandem with Livengood’s hard-hitting drum sound to round out the quartet.

I was initially grabbed by how heavy they sounded in their recordings. It’s the kind of unvarnished depth and energy that cannot be faked with plugins and patches. Both the songwriting and recording processes help them achieve that sound. “Our songwriting is super collaborative,” Livengood writes. Woodcock continues, “It’s very ‘in-the-moment’ type songwriting. Most of it is done right on the spot. Sometimes our buddy Jack Daniels stops by to write a few lines… We like to cut live right in the studio. We try to keep the songs sounding the way they do live and try to play off of each other physically in the room as much as possible.”

Erik: What are your goals for The ILL Itches?

ML: Personally, I’d love to make it through a show without serving as Josh’s, or Stephen’s (or both of their) beer spittoon. We’ll finish playing, and I’ll be drenched – sweat? Or liquid bread projectiles? Could be either…

JW: We have a 7" record coming out on Jett Plastic Recordings in December. We just came back from an East Coast tour and are finishing up the last few songs of a full length we’re going to release next year…We’ll be out on tour in support of the full length. Stay tuned.

Erik: What is your band’s motto?

ML: “Hallelujah.” Or, “Hair.”

To listen to their music, check out to their tours, and more information on The ILL Itches, click here