It should be pointed out, though, that Detroit’s musical blossoming occurred almost a decade prior to that of Cleveland’s. The psych cum punk of what would eventually be termed proto-punk would play out for a few years as the next wave of almost punk acts cropped up. Cleveland gave the world the Rocket from the Tombs and its associated acts. Admittedly, that clutch of acts was beholden to the Stooges as much as anyone. So it’s odd that the Michigan bands that followed acts from the ‘60s weren’t up to snuff. It might have to do with the fact that watching a group on a regular basis and simply dreaming about them must have affected each cohort differently.
Whatever the reason, though, as the ‘70s found Cleveland awash in the Dead Boys, the Pagans, Pere Ubu and Devo, Detroit wasn’t able to contribute any major players to the movement. And no, Destroy All Monsters doesn’t count despite the band being a natural progression from an earlier era. There just wasn’t a vibrant new blood out there. The Sillies, though, began kicking around as early as 1975.
As an outsider to the Detroit scene, it might be a bit difficult to place the Sillies within a proper context. The band certainly wasn’t bad, but then again, Detroit also supported second tier psych bands like SRC. So, there might be a touch of home town nepotism going on if someone lets you know about the Sillies being a great band. The band might be as much of a place holder as anything else.
Cobbled together on the cleverly titled America's Most Wanton is the Sillies total output. Surely, the band’s been reconstituted of late to take advantage of the newest spate of reunion tours, but hopefully it hasn’t continued a recorded legacy.
Alright, that’s too harsh. But even some of the Sillies’ better known tunes, like “No Big Deal” are just hard rock offerings with some distorted guitar sounds tossed in for good measure alongside that blaring horn section. At its best, the track comes off as an out take from the Saints first album. At its worst, it’s a bar band with one musicologist amongst its ranks.
What the band actually suffers from is being that place holder. The Sillies are all scatter shot ‘60s stuff – “Real Love Live” – and pseudo punk – “Apparition.” Of course, the lyrical content puts the band in skewed punk territory with songs like “Lesbo Love” presenting then current parents with a fiasco on its hands. Whatever the historical significance of the group, though, the Sillies aren’t really worth the time to investigate – unless it‘s your uncle on bass or something.