Austin’s Shivery Shakes have been playing poppy, dreamy rock songs about good times for three years, and now—with the band’s first full album out October 21—they’re taking their love of jangly guitar music to a new level.
Give a listen to an exclusive premiere of the band’s own “Recurring Dreams” above for a listen to what that album, Three Waves & A Shake, has to offer. Then below, check out the playlist of some of the band’s favorite Texas artists—curated by Shivery Shakes lead singer and songwriter William Glosup, who explains the influence of everyone from Roy Orbison to Spoon to Doug Sahm.
(photo by Pooneh Ghana)“Summer Song,” Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison is a huge hero of mine, and is incredibly inspirational to the songwriting for Shivery Shakes. “The Big O” nails it every time, but this deep cut off of the album Crying knocks it out of the park. His impeccable vibrato and range give me goosebumps every time.
“Heartbeats,” Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly changed the fate of rock and roll music in so many ways, and he knew how to write one hell of a pop song. The “piddily pats” are so brilliant and catchy!
“Chicago at Night,” Spoon
Girls Can Tell ranks pretty highly on our band’s list of all-time favorite albums, and it comes close to perfect with this hauntingly beautiful song. Spoon’s ability to craftily arrange songs as a traditional rock band is impeccable. They find brilliant ways of making very few tracks sound massive, with intricate parts peaking in and out of their songs for short moments. Jim Eno’s little touches on the ride cymbal in the chorus, and the heavy tremolo on the rhythm guitar show off their dynamics very well on this cut.
“Night Life,” Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson is one of the most iconic Texas songwriters, and I find early Willie Nelson to be particularly interesting. Back in the fifties, big music industry folks in Nashville thought that he would be a failure, and Willie proved them dead-wrong with his clever lyrics and palpable sense of melody. Additionally, this song is my anthem when we are headed home from a gig at three in the morning.
“Pins and Needles,” A Giant Dog
There have been so many rad local bands that we have played with in Austin, but A Giant Dog might just take the cake with their explosive energy. I mean, there are literally fireworks going off in this song!
“Slip Inside This House,” 13th Floor Elevators
Texas stakes claim as a home to many pioneers of revolutionary genres, and Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators carried the torch for American psychedelic rock. This track speaks for itself.
“Broken Bow,” Royal Forest
The members of Royal Forest are tenured Austin musicians, and their previous band Loxsly was always a favorite of mine. Royal Forest’s Spillway is one of the most underrated records that has come out of Texas in the last few years, and this track is my personal favorite. Not unlike Spoon, Royal Forest makes the most out of a simple arrangement to make a huge effect musically.
“She’s About A Mover,” Sir Douglas Quintet
Doug Sahm epitomizes Austin music, if not Texas music as a whole. He is soulful, with a very explorative style of songwriting, and a great sense of humor. In Sir Douglas Quintet, Sahm managed to cross cultural barriers with an entirely Latino backing band, which industry representatives deemed “unmarketable” by dressing the band up like a bunch of British Mods. They broke down cultural barriers, and had a massive hit with this awesome tune.
