Austin Chronicle "Nobody Loves You Like We Do" Album Review

Be forewarned those of respectably sensible and genteel character: Austin's White Ghost Shivers are not to be trusted. The local septet may seem unassuming, but as always they prove to be such duplicitous masters of the double entendre that little can avoid the taint of perceived lewd innuendo. The Shivers' third LP mesmerizes with a rollicking, throwback vaudevillian routine, and yet the band manages to slip in perversions that can only be deemed corrupting by a civilized mind. Among the 13 tunes are hot jazz numbers about such licentious subjects as short-haired girls, eerily macabre and absurdist murders at the circus, and shimmying soundtracks for the devil. While such songs must be obviously shunned, the band may be lauded for its delightfully lighter side, which includes the Caribbean rhythms of "Sweet Banana" celebrating the delectable joys of elongated fruit and fuzzy coconuts and the cautionary tale of closer "We Never Mention Aunt Clara," exiled despite her dedicated performance upon the preacher's organ. So although certain tracks must be censored for their utterly modern morals, the Shivers may yet be saved and properly bowdlerized so that society at large can otherwise enjoy the dexterous fingering of their instruments.

Doug Freeman, Austin Chronicle