Wednesday, March 14   12:45 a.m.
Molotov Lounge   (719 W 6th St)

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  White Ghost Shivers - Mama Said
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Chances are not a single person reading this was alive in the Roaring'20s or Depression-era '30s, and only has remote knowledge of Tin Pan Alley jam sessions or the big-band sounds of Cab Calloway. Educate yourself then with a hybrid of that bygone strain as performed by Austin, Texas-based White Ghost Shivers. It's a honky-tonk reimagining of the Jazz Age played out through comically lurid ditties about sex, drugs, and well-intentioned lawlessness.

There are eight Shivers, each with their own nickname. The lone dame is called Cella Blue (even though she's a redhead). Rough yet alluring, no doubt, she proves she's no pushover on the duet "Weed Smoker's Dream," scolding violinist Curtains Thomas for his financial blunders in return for his demand that she "put that ass on the
market." Meanwhile, on "Strictly Ornamental," she pretends love has no meaning, but her cozy voice hints that she's just a hooker with a broken heart of gold. Fishnets and bustier — who wouldn't enjoy unwrapping that eye candy?

Chief among the gents is Shorty, the seven-foot-tall, uh, giraffe in the room. He plays ukulele, kazoo, and nose flute, and if the bartender serves him enough shots of brown liquor, he'll jump down from the stage and tap dance among the crowd. On the title track, he searches for meaning in his band's name, which is derived from a song by the long-defunct Dixieland outfit the New Orleans Owls. Some of his ruminations: Dead-end job? Hangover? Jism?
Your call.

Shtick is all part of the act, of course. On Halloween, the Shivers are known to dress in cocktail attire, paint their faces, and score screenings of Buster Keaton's silent films. But don't let their theatricality camouflage their interconnectivity and generosity towards one another's musical expressions. After all, it takes a lot of patience when more than half of the players sing their own songs, including a couple by Smokebreak Slemenda that demand total group participation — from random meows and shrieks on "The Ghost Song," to telling carpetbaggers to "talk like us or shut your mouths" on patriotic anthem "My Land."

Voted "Best None of the Above Band" by The Austin Chronicle, the Shivers aren't really that difficult to classify. That's because they're in a class of their own. Got a hankering to slip into a flapper dress? Grease your hair with pomade? Dance the Charleston until you faint? Then pop in the White Ghost Shivers, and in no time you'll be at the West Egg after-party in your mind.