From AMG Reviews
The Shivvers were one of those bands that,
in retrospect, seemed to have it all …
except for a hit record. They had great
tunes, impressive instrumental skills, energy
to spare, stage smarts and even good looks
(including a lead singer who would have
been every geeky new wave boy's dream date,
Jill Kossoris). However, they had the poor
fortune to be a great band in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, where they built up an impressive
local following without much hope of attracting
any major media attention (though Eric Carmen
was a big fan and was in line to produce
the Shivvers album that never was). Twenty
surviving Shivvers recordings their lone
selfreleased 45, unreleased studio sessions,
live tapes and demo tapes have been compiled
on the album Lost Hits From Milwaukee's
First Family Of Powerpop 197982, and while
that title may be clumsy it's also perfectly
accurate. In almost any alternate universe
you could care to name, some of these songs
would be hits, particularly the pure pop
wonders "Teen Line", "No
Reaction" and "No Substitute",
the 50's flavored "My Association"
and the slow and moody "Remember Tonight".
Kossoris had a great voice and was a fine
hand at the keyboards, guitarists Mike Pyle
and Jim Eanelli could fuse force and melody
with ease (Breck Burns took over for Eanelli
in the band's latter days), and bassist
Scott Krueger and drummer Jim Richardson
were a rhythm section who gave the songs
a lean and wiry drive. The result was a
group that could combine British Invasion
variety pop classicism with an almostpunky
dose of adrenaline, and the stuff on this
set is every bit as satisfying as anything
the Scruffs, Shoes or the Sneakers were
up to around the same time. Calling the
Shivvers the Great Lost Power Pop Band may
be going a bit far to make a point, but
judging from this album, there's more than
a kernel of truth in that description; fans
of great hooks should make haste to check
this out. (Fans should also know that if
you slip this disc into your computer's
CDROM drive, you can check out five video
clips of the Shivvers in action which make
clear these kids were as strong on stage
as in the studio.)
- Mark Deming, All Music Guide
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