What the fuck is this shit? Some lost radio hit from the ’60s that fell through the cracks before Nuggets could snatch it up? No, no, it’s brand new, a recent recording by Vancouver, Washington’s the Shivas. On their 2008 debut Where Have You Gone To?, the Shivas played a brand of garage rock that defied any genre. Then late last year the band went into the studio again, this time with Pat Kearns, the Blue Skies For Blackhearts leader and producer-about-town. The recordings that resulted are something you can sink your teeth into.
What works best about the songwriting of the Shivas is that they don’t just take influences from one generation of songwriters, but rather cherry pick what they will from various eras and add their own charm and skilled instrumentation. Stand out track “We Go On” could be mistaken not just for some ’60s throwback, but also perhaps for some shoegaze anthem. The track starts with a mini wall of feedback before drums and guitar come galloping in, followed quickly by a smoothly confident bassline. Can we isolate just the bass lines? Eric Shanafelt soothes and tames those wild four deep strings until they sound just like a symphony, and it’s more than likely the bass part that will get stuck in your head. Colby Wait-Molyneux ’s skilled tasteful drumming, meanwhile, powers the track, driving it forward, demonstrating strength and wisdom. Singer Jared Wait-Molyneux ’s sleepy hazy vocalizing matches the loose rhythm guitar while lead guitar cuts in and across every so often.
The video would be some kind of grainy color Super 8 reel shot at the beach with everybody in sunglasses and short shorts, maybe a few shots of some surfing. Hey, watch it with that beach ball. Keep this song around to soundtrack your spring and your summer and your fall. Heck, keep it around to accompany you anytime you’re driving around in the sunshine or thrashing around in the dining room. I just wish my computer had a “repeat forever” option. Don’t you?
Arya Imig - Willamette Week Local Cut

All of the music is complete. All that is left to do is the artwork and the pressing. We don't know exactly when it will be out, but definately by the summer.

Originals-
Where Have You Gone To?
1.Where Have You Gone To?
2.Peele's Parfume Garden
3.The Ballad Of Grant Whitney
4.Big Man
5.Love
6.Mr. Marmalade
7.Butter Sun
8.Sunny Afternoon
9.Flying High
10.The War Song
11.Ode To A Tea Set
12.Doctor, Doctor
13.Sit Anywhere

Better Off Dead -
1.Look So Good, Be So Good
2.The Dead Land Man
3.Freezing To Death
4.We Go On
5.There Go The Birds
6.Songs We May Sing
7.I Know Your Name
8.Electric Child
9.You've Got To Set Me Free
10.Sigmund Says
11.Low
12.Velvet Revolution
13.Please Be Kind

Others-
Go On Girl (written by Kyle Pittman, Given to us)
The Sleeping Song
The Post Modern Man
Dead Man Walking
Death in a Black Box; An Ode To The American Spirit
Strawberry Magnolias
Islands
Brian Jones Is Dead
Brave New World
Offerer's Fishbowl Waltz
Apples and Oranges
Drink My Wine
Sun Don't Shine
The Secret To Self Medication

Covers -
I'm Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground
Yer Blues - The Beatles
Come Down Easy - Spacemen 3
Painting Box - The Incredible String Band
I Know You Rider
Motorcycle Song - Arlo Guthrie
Ghost Riders In The Sky - Stan Jones
A Hundred and Sixty Acres - Marty Robbins

Local Cut-Photo Review of show with the Rainy States
(Willamette Week)
http://localcut.wweek.com/2009/03/31/photo-review-the-rainy-states-southern-belle-church-the-shivas-friday-march-27-the-coop/

On its debut album, “Where Have You Gone To?,” The Shivas of Vancouver begin their journey riding a wave of psych-rock revival like a jacked-up Strawberry Alarm Clock. “There’s somethin’ happenin’ here, aaall right,” sings lead singer and guitarist Jared Wait-Molyneux on the title track opening, setting the scene as if the band was playing a party in the valley of the dolls. The band playing on the album is filled out by Eric Shanafelt on hand drums, Griffin Taylor on bass and Colby Wait-Molyneux on drum set.
The Shivas play with great control of the melodies they create. Their chord progressions and style transitions are effortless, in that “lost-in-the-groove” kind of way, but the level of musicianship on display has me believing the band knows exactly what it’s doing at all times.
The band is raw and energetic in opening tracks like a Southern California garage band in the ‘60s, occasionally bumping into retro surf rock territory. “The Ballad of Grant Whitney” sounds like Dylan jamming with The Seeds and offers a kind of wise-beyond-your-years songwriting not heard often from a group of high school kids.
The album opens up on “Butter Sun,” a Syd Barret-inspired track (one about as good as they come, at that), as the band catches a slow, meditative groove that transforms and progresses for the remaining six songs. “Ode To A Tea Set” balances sunshine pop with psychedelic, like something from a Harry Nilsson factory, while “Doctor, Doctor” pays a bit of homage to Jim Morrison and The Doors. The album ends far from where it began, with an introspective, ten-minute, sitar-led musical journey of uber Sergeant Peppers proportions.
A follow-up album to “Where Have You Gone To?” is recorded and will be out sometime this year, according to the band.
Ossie Bladine - Vancouver Voice..
SHIVAS - WHERE HAVE YOU GONE TO? (CD/WORLD IN SOUND)  reviewed by André de Waal for IO Pages (translated excerpt) - In the CD-booklet their are credits for band leader Jared Wait-Molyneux' parents. This couple must have drowned little Jared in the sounds of their record collection. How else could it be possible that this young dude plays this kind of psychedelic flower power rock'n'roll? 
From Aural Innovations 39 (May 2008)
The Shivas are a very young new band from Vancouver, Washington who live in the late 60's! The CD features 13 tracks in 69 minutes. Pretty much all the songs are written by singer and guitarist Jarid. The CD begins with the title track, which is a really great song, just under 6 minutes with some nice jamming with guitar and djembe. Peele's Parfume Garden is another over 6 minute track with a bit of a stoned surf kind of riff and some nice organ and a bit of Syd Barrett like guitar at times and some stoned vocals. The Ballad of Grant Whitney starts with some people talking first in German but then in Danish! Wow… This is a more organ based track and a really cool one as well. A lot of variety and styles on this CD and we are only on the third track. The vocal is very Dylan like. Big Man is a uptempo 60's rocker with a cool groove. Love features the acoustic guitar and a heavy bass and those airy 60's style psychedelic vocals. Mr. Marmalade has a stoney groove and laid back nature and Jarid has plenty of time and space for some nice guitar. Butter Sun is a laid back 8 minute track that reminds me of old Pink Floyd (69-71 era). Sunny Afternoon features some nice acoustic guitar picking. Flying High
and The War song and Ode to a Tea Set are all more acoustic laid back tracks but a nice mixture of Syd Barrett and Dylan. Doctor Doctor brings back the psychedelic rock and this one is totally like the Doors. The organ sound and playing as well as the guitar and the singing as well. A long lost Doors track from 1967? The CD ends with Sit Anywhere and is a 9 minute track with very basic sitar playing and a more psychedelic mix on the vocals than any other track. A long strange trip indeed. A great debut CD. If this record had been mixed in a more psychedelic fashion and had some really cool creative and not so boring artwork it could have turned out into an all time classic psychedelic rock record but it still is great stuff.
-Scott Heller
Very young.. music..ians often.. try out three..-..chord.. disto..rtion..-..punk riffs.., becau..se
they can quick..ly achie..ve a halfw..ays liste..nable.. resul..t with minim..al effor..t.

The
Shiva..s (..avera..ge age 14 years..) seem to come from a paral..lel unive..rse, as their.. sound.. reall..y is like that of an Ameri..can garag..e band of the mid-..sixti..es.

On their.. debut.., the boys bring.. flowi..ng songs.. with a chara..cteri..stic US beat that
quick..ly bring..s liste..ners to their.. feet.

Aggre..ssive.. uptem..po rocke..rs (.."..Peele..'s
Perfu..me Garde..n"), garag..e with a sizzl..ing Farfi..sa (.."The Balla..d of Graht
Whitn..ey"..), a song that calls.. to mind the San Franc..isco scene.. (.."..Love"..),
and even a bit of hippi..e idyll..s, conve..yed by acous..tic guita..rs and bongo..s (.."..Sunny.. After..noon"..), amaze.. throu..gh their.. high authe..ntici..ty and feeli..ng. The Shiva..s are one of those.. excep..tiona..l bands.. where.. you reall..y buy their.. attit..ude, and who set thems..elves.. apart.. from the many pseud..o-..psych.. combo..s that treat.. music.. like a fashi..onabl..e trend.. and end up recyc..ling borin..g stone..r riffs.. soon after.. their.. first.. album...

A.S.
- Eclip..sed Magaz..ine - Germa..ny

Grung..e Is Dead,.. Psych..e Is Back-

After.. sever..al years.. toget..her, of writi..ng and of repet..ition..s, the group.. membe..rs are passe..d to the serio..us thing..s. The forma..tion,.. taken.. by Jared.. wait-..molyn..eux, of age scarc..ely seven..teen years.., is weari..ed of all that one can hear to the radio... Go out of the batch.., they drew other.. sourc..es of inspi..ratio..n in the music..al cultu..re of the sixti..es in order.. to compo..se from the rock songs.. and folk and to adapt.. them to the aujou..rd'hu..i world...

A style.. mixtu..re

The album.. one could.. call a melti..ng-..pot of music.. nosta..lgic style... The liste..ner plung..es back forty.. years.. behin..d, in the folk,.. the funk and the psych..edeli..c rock years.. 1965 to 1970... The influ..ences.. of the Velve..t Under..groun..d, of The Seeds.., Byrds.. and of the 13TH Floor.. Eleva..tors feel thems..elves.. immed..iatel..y. The group.. let a music.. reliv..e that,.. using.. acids.., trans..porte..d the hippi..e youth.. far of the Ameri..can dream... With songs.. that surpa..ss easil..y the seven.. minut..es, of long solos.. of guita..rs, and instr..ument..s such as the sitar.. and the conga..s, the trio creat..es melod..ies encha..nting.., manne..r sixti..es, as early.. as the first.. measu..res. But to stati..on the group.. to its fathe..rs would.. be too reduc..er so the music.. rings.. origi..nal. The first.. piece.., Where.. Have You Gone à?, is a true conce..ntrat..ed one of fresh..ness,.. taken.. by a rhyth..mic simpl..e one and induc..ing. The songs.. link quick..ly in an unbel..ievab..le frenz..y. Mr. Marma..lade chara..cteri..zes the resea..rch again.. music..al horiz..ons thank..s to a line of impos..ing low and trans..cende..ntal one. This is the sound.. of the passe..d and at the same time the sound.. of the futur..e, a trip in the time and a true music..al exper..ience... To the heart.. of this sonor..ous inten..se excit..ement.., the group.. marks.. anywa..y pause..s, as with To Mound.. Sun, calm and relax..ing, of which.. sweet.. voice..s of the choir..s lull the liste..ner. They try thems..elves.. also to the acous..tics with Sunny.. After..noon,.. that appea..ses by his fresh..ness and his softn..ess. A singl..e thing.. to do: to close.. the eyes and to leave.. itsel..f to go. With Sit Anywh..ere, the disc finis..hes on an exper..iment..ation.. key to the manne..r of Anton.. Newco..mbe, leade..r of the Brian.. Johns..ton Massacre...., of which.. influ..ences.. it is clear..ly tangi..ble. The piece.. is a sort of "..trip".. playe..d using.. a sitar.., and concl..udes a liste..ns gladd..ening...

"..Grung..e i's dead,.. Psych.. is back!.."

This is the enunc..iated.. expre..ssion.. on the group.. Myspa..ce durin..g the album.. recor..ding... The singe..r and guita..rist,.. Jared.., as well as his broth..er Colby.., pheno..menal.. to the batte..ry, and his frien..d Eric Shana..felt to the percu..ssion..s, propo..se a new music..al visio..n. After.. the depre..ssive.. grung..e of the years.. eight..y ten, here the retur..n of the psych..édéli..sme nosta..lgic style.., réint..erpré..té by artis..ts talen..tueux.. and creat..ive as Deven..dra Banha..rt, The Out Crowd.., The Lovet..ones,.. and hence..forth.. The Shiva..s. The album.. title.. could.. have been:.. that we liste..ned durin..g all these.. years..? Four decad..es passe..d and final..ly one comes.. about.. it back to the depar..ture point..: a rock power..ful, psych..edeli..c and livin..g one with a moder..nity zest... A retur..n to the sourc..es that one await..ed since.. well a long time.

Adrie..n Toffo..let - Le Magaz..ine - Franc..e
If you haven't yet heard, or heard about Washington-based Psychedelic band The Shivas, then the chances are that sometime soon you're going to. Nowhere does the old cliché that sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards fit better than describing what they are doing musically. Here are the sounds of the past, but somehow so obviously the sound of the future that it is impossible not to be blown away by what they're doing. Wearing their influences blatantly on their young sleeves, The Shivas conjure up the spirit of old legends like The Velvet Underground, The Doors, The Beatles and Syd Barret, and they conjure it up so well that when you play their new album "Where Have You Gone To" it's easy to finally forget that nostalgic ache for a time when music truly mattered at the deepest levels. Suddenly it's possible and still relevant for those sounds to be resurrected at the beginning of the 21st century. What The Shivas have done is to wipe the slate clean and go back to a juncture where we quite possibly took a wrong turning, and then taken off from there. What they've done even better than that – as is such an easy trap to fall into – is to avoid it sounding like a clumsy pastiche, and to convincingly make this music sound new and invigorating and important all over again.

Fans of the various Daydream Generation compilations will be familiar with a handful of songs that appear on this, the band's debut album due for release through World In Sound Records in March 2008. Here you can revisit the mod-funk celebratory jam of "Big Man", the VU inspired psych adventure of "Peele's Perfume Garden", and the blues-folk anthem that is "The Ballad Of Grant Whitney". And where often songs lose the spark of originality that made them magical low-fi demos when they translate to the big record, The Shivas have stayed true to the original fire, clearing them up and making them even bigger, rather than engineering the soul right out of them.

Led by the multi-talented singer-songwriter-guitarist Jared Wait-Molyneux, together with fellow band members Colby (Jared's prodigal drumming younger brother), Griffin Taylor (hip psychedelic basslines), and Eric Shanafelt adding the unique sound of congas that really gives the band an edge and a distinctive sound, "Where Have You Gone To" is a frighteningly great debut. Partly that fear is down to the collective age of the band (looks like it can't add up to much more than 80 years between them) and the almost perverse maturity of the sound that they produce. This is music made by musicians and appeals as much to the technical purists, as it will do to the kids who will inevitably spill onto the dancefloor to freak their hearts out when the band strikes up. But it's also frightening because debut albums just really shouldn't sound so completely flawless. Song after song as the Jim Morrison-esque vocals urge you back to an era of peace and love, and the tribal psychedelic sounds of sitars and bouhrans and djembes ring out, you find yourself wondering where can this band go wrong? There is brilliance written all over the sheer range of the record – in the folk-pop kookiness of "Ode To A Tea Set", in the sonic guitar driven "Love", the blissed out "Butter Sun", in the negotiation of the obligatory protest anthem that is "The War Song", and right down to the kaleidoscopic sitar loaded cacophony called "Sit Anywhere" that closes the album.

When I first stumbled across The Shivas while putting the first Daydream Generation compilation together, I saw the words "Grunge is dead, Psych is back" on their MySpace page. Aside from the fact that such a simple line read like a beacon of possibility from such a young band and was in such stark contrast to the seemingly neverending pages of angst-ridden nihilistic emo kids I was wading through, the most exciting thing about it was that here was a band that genuinely had the songs and the sound to back up the potential. A band that were not just blindly following, but sucking up all the coolest sounds from the last 50 years worth of music and making it happen again in a completely new way. Jack Kerouac once urged "do not seek to follow in the footsteps of your forefathers - seek what they sought" and The Shivas seem to embody this notion. Acclaimed records of the mid-to-late 1960s were as much an experience as a collection of songs – "Where Have You Gone To" starts from where the old road ended before forging its own way with mind-blowing melodies into unmapped and untapped territory. Unlike established contemporary underground Psych bands such as The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Lovetones, The Shivas are unquestionably a band with not only an album worth of great songs but further they have a whole lot of time ticking firmly on their side, and for that alone, they deserve your attention. From their You Tube videos and recorded live performances such as the one we heard at the Dreamstream festival back in November last year, you get a genuine sense that they are actually connecting with their peers, influencing minds, and gathering momentum everytime those congas begin to roll with the chords kicking in. If there's ever going to be a revolution in mainstream music back to the sounds of substance over style, and of poetry over profit, then it will be bands like The Shivas who are going to be in the vanguard of this change.

So if you love your psychedelic rock & roll go and buy this album. If you love The Doors circa 1968 then go and buy this album. If you dig White Light/White Heat then go and buy this album. If you like rolling congas and hypnotic guitars then go and buy this album. If you were too young to live through the Summer Of Love then you should go and buy this album. And if you want to hear what the beginning of a revolution sound like, then you really should go and buy this album.

Smally - The Daydream Generation
 
The Shivas have come a long way since playing their first gig outside the courthouse in downtown Vancouver. That was July, 25, 2006, and a little over two years later, a 'long way' means features on Psychedelic Velveeta, Trip In Time's Psychedelic Rock Reflections, All of Daydream Generation's Compilations, and, yeah, they're also on Your Psych Tunes' We Sell Soul.

Now, they're furthering their journey and really coming into their own with Where Have You Gone To? After a couple of plays of the new album, I've found that the songs have got a way of getting into your head and staying there. The Shivas make it easy for the listeners to completely lose themselves in the groove, something that's increasingly rare and refreshing to find amongst up-and-coming bands.

The album kicks off with the track that shares its name with the album title, 'Where Have You Gone To?' The song is a great welcome to the experience, and it doesn't take long for the head-bobbin' to kick in. The entire album has got a funk-folk vibe (an odd, yet surprisingly pleasing combination), and it is illustrated in this first song especially, in the solo and instrumental dialogue right through.

Continuing with the funk sound, and now infused with a Pink Floyd (the Barrett era Floyd, to clarify) undertone, Peele's Perfume Garden is one of the lengthier tracks on the album. Now I have to admit that most songs over or around 7 minutes might lose my interest, but this one's got enough energy and variation in it to keep the song fresh the whole way through. One of the things I liked most about this album is that though there are lengthy songs throughout, (the longest being 'Sit Anywhere,' a sitar-charged incantation ending up just a second under ten minutes long) they don't produce any amount of boredom or monotony.

'Love' and 'Big Man' are the two tracks that The Shivas released on different compilations to represent their overall sound, and I have to agree that these two are the definite highlights of the album. Both of them seem to me to elucidate The Shivas' overall feeling through the fast-paced, feel-good sounds that are accentuated in these two amazing songs in particular.

Another highlight that cannot be overlooked is 'Doctor, Doctor.' This track hits you hard, and immediately your hand reaches for the volume knob. You've got it up all the way, and by now you're freak-dancing in your car, living room, or wherever you happen to find yourself. This is the kind of song that becomes an underground smash. The organ is irresistible and inescapable, and you've just got to give in to the groove.

There are also callbacks to the very first days of psychedelic music. Song titles like 'Mr. Marmalade,' 'Butter Sun,' and 'Ode to a Tea Set' involuntarily trigger thoughts of bands like the Lemon Pipers and Status Quo. The Shivas have managed, however, to keep an original approach to psychedelic themes from the days of old, adding, as aforementioned, a certain funk that is subtly strewn into every song.

The question, 'Where have you gone to?' may seem simple enough before listening to this album, but after it's done spinning in your record player, and once your mind has let it go for a while, it becomes much harder to respond to. This album will take you away for a while and put you in a place you can feel more than alright visiting, and as a side effect, it doesn't forget to let you regain your confidence in the music being made today.

-celina o., your psych tunes
www.myspace.com/yourpsychtunes (reviewer, plus you can find other very very good bands at this site)
The best darn album I have heard all year! It's so cool that I ran to the radio station and told the Dj that was on to play track 13 Oh Man! Crazy Sitar!

-Randy Shone - Psychedelic Velveeta!
THE SHIVAS - WHERE HAVE YOU GONE TO?
The Shivas groove smooth with a rich mix of blues, funk and rock n roll. Not quite your meandering jam band, The Shivas work more around tight song spreads with lots of lead guitar and the occassional led bongo (I ain't shittin'!). Moreso, The Shivas are like a cool midnight ride, gliding down a fog shrpouded coutnry road with the sky filled with stars and the moon laughing at your ass, and you laughin' back. A couple of tiems I almost gonna grab the board, the babe and head for the surf as the retro organ pumps and Dick Dale style guitar takes center stage. I can visualize cool chicks twisting to the music, bead, barefeet and lots of pretty, swirling colors. A time or two, damn if it's not Dylan gone electric with a mad circus of soundscape flooding the senses - it's all going down man! Another amazing thing about this band is the guys are young cats, who sound like grizzled veterans! This disc by the Shivas is one of the more overall enjoyable ones I've gotten in the past few months, and gets my vote for one of the best of the year.
Todd West - Underground Records - Underground Sound Issue 39