Pittsburgh local music spotlight: Shiver

Mike Palm
Monday, Oct. 27, 2025 7:05 a.m. | Monday, Oct. 27, 2025 7:05 a.m.

Craig Yeager

Pittsburgh’s Shiver

Steve Crist

Pittsburgh’s Shiver

After 15 years as a band, Pittsburgh’s Shiver went on hiatus in 2012 when singer Bruce Boul moved to California. There was never a plan to bring back the punk group.

”But even with all that distance, we never really lost touch — our group chat was alive pretty much every day. We kept up with each other’s lives, shared music, jokes and memories, so that connection never faded,” Boul said. “After more than a decade out west, I had accomplished everything I’d set out to do, and it just felt like it was time to come home — to friends, to familiar faces, to something real. SoCal had gotten so crowded and chaotic, and meanwhile, Pittsburgh had totally leveled up. The city’s got this amazing energy now — great food, culture, art, music — it’s thriving in a way that makes you want to be part of it again. Coming back just made sense.”

Now back in Pittsburgh full time, Boul and the reunited Shiver are at work on a new EP slated for release early next year.

“The new EP digs into a handful of unreleased and unfinished songs we were working on right before our hiatus — tracks that captured the direction we were heading back then but never got the chance to finish,” Boul said. “They carry that same evolution we were exploring after our lineup change — more metal-influenced guitar riffs, harder-hitting vocals and heavier breakdowns — but now we’ve got a second guitar in the mix, which really fills out the sound. It’s raw, melodic and powerful — exactly where Shiver was meant to go.”

They’re also opening for the British punk band GBH on Nov. 2 at Jergel’s.

Before the hiatus, Shiver had released an album, “Last Rides of the Midway,” which was produced by Darian Rundall (Pennywise, Suicidal Tendencies) and mastered by Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson.

”We were huge fans of Darian Rundall’s work with South Bay bands like Deviates and Pennywise. He had this reputation for being tough — really pushing bands to perform at their absolute best. Kind of like musical boot camp. That’s exactly what we wanted, so we sent him a demo,” Boul said. “He called us back, said he was in, and he lived up to his reputation. It was intense, but we came out of it sharper and stronger than ever. Once the recording was done, Darian sent the tapes to The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, (Colorado), where Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore mastered ‘Last Rides of the Midway.’ For us, it was surreal — Bill was a legend from Descendents and Black Flag, and Jason’s a Grammy winner whose work with Rise Against, NOFX and Alkaline Trio had defined so much of the era we came up in. Knowing our record was in their hands was the ultimate full-circle moment.”

In its earlier run in Pittsburgh, Shiver enjoyed playing at long-gone venues like Club Laga in Oakland and the 31st Street Pub in the Strip District, as well as Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale — “places that helped shape who we are as a band,” according to Boul.

Back in the day, Shiver also played the WXDX-FM studio several times as well as the Warped Tour, and nearly signed with a huge punk label.

“We also came close to signing with Nitro Records, which was owned by Dexter Holland of The Offspring,” Boul said. “They called us regularly, checked in and courted us for a while before eventually moving on. But things worked out the way they were supposed to — local label Screaming Crow Records, run by Eric Corbin, signed us and handled all our promotion and distribution. He even hooked us up with a tour van we shared with local punk legends Submachine and The Cheats.

“Playing the Vans Warped Tour — with Bad Religion, The Damned and NOFX headlining that year — was another one of those pinch-me moments. And having the late, great John Stabb of Government Issue jump on stage with us in D.C. and Pittsburgh was unforgettable. Naked Raygun singer Jeff Pezzati also joined us on stage once in Pittsburgh — a full-circle moment for a bunch of kids who started out covering their songs in a basement.”

Boul filled in TribLive on what else we should know about Shiver:

Band: Shiver

Band members: Bruce Boul (vocals); Mark Delfratte (lead guitar); John Heffron (drums); Dave Pietrzyk (guitar); Jon Sula (bass); Benj Auman (drums, 2002-2012)

Founding story: Shiver was formed in Pittsburgh in 1997, founded by four lifelong friends who cut their teeth in the city’s mid-1980s punk scene. The group grew up spending weekends at all-ages shows and playing in various local hardcore bands, including Mentally Exhausted, Arn City Pahnders and Hand of Doom. What started as basement jam sessions playing Naked Raygun covers quickly evolved into something more. Writing their own songs inspired by the melodic intensity of bands like Naked Raygun, Dag Nasty and Minor Threat, Shiver crafted a sound that honored their roots while carving out their own identity. After releasing a demo and a self-produced debut album titled “Never Too Late,” the band became a fixture in Pittsburgh’s punk scene — playing nearly every venue in the city and eventually opening for national touring acts. Their music caught the attention of 105.9 FM WXDX, earning them airplay, two in-studio performances on The Edge of the X, and a slot at one of the radio station’s largest music festivals at the Pavilion at Star Lake. Following a lineup change in 2002, Shiver leaned into heavier influences, blending metal elements into their fast-paced melodic punk sound. This evolution culminated in their 2005 album “Last Rides of the Midway,” recorded in Los Angeles and released on Screaming Crow Records. The band continued to tour up and down both coasts and performed on the Vans Warped Tour before going on hiatus in 2012 when I relocated to Southern California. During the break, Mark joined local punk rock ‘n’ rollers The Cheats while John, Dave and Benj formed Rising Seas. In 2023, Shiver reunited in Pittsburgh for a one-off show at The Government Center — this time as a five-piece with original guitarist Dave Pietrzyk and original drummer John Heffron returning behind the kit. Two years later, with myself back in Pittsburgh full-time, Drusky Entertainment tapped us to open for Strung Out and Death By Stereo. The chemistry was instant, the energy electric and the crowd response overwhelming. Now stronger than ever — with two guitars, five contributors and a renewed creative spark — Shiver is back to finish what we started, revisiting a handful of unreleased songs and channeling the sound and spirit that defined their beginnings.

Origin of band’s name: There isn’t a deep story behind the name Shiver. The band grew up immersed in the Washington D.C. hardcore scene, where many of their favorite Dischord Records bands — like Embrace, Ignition, Scream and Jawbox — had short, evocative one-word names. Shiver carried that same kind of raw, ambiguous energy. It sounded like something that could have come straight out of that era — simple, powerful and very “Dischord.”

For fans of: Punk and metal

Influences: Our collective influences span from Iron Maiden to Minor Threat, and all of it seeps into our sound — a fusion of driving metal riffs and fast-paced melodic punk. Shiver’s music blends technical precision with anthemic hooks, rooted in the honesty and urgency that defined the Dischord, Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph Records eras.

Releases: “Never Too Late” album, 2002, self-released; “Last Rides of the Midway” album, 2005, Screaming Crow Records; new untitled EP coming in early 2026

Next show: Nov. 2, opening for UK punk legends GBH and Slaughterhouse from L.A.’s South Bay at Jergel’s, Warrendale.

How to find them: Shiver can be found on Bandcamp, Facebook and Apple Music.

Three other Pittsburgh area bands to check out: Rising Seas; Teddy Duchamp’s Army; Illiterates

Favorite pizza shop: There’s no shortage of good pizza in Pittsburgh: Spak Brothers, Sir Pizza, Pizzeria Davidé and Badamo’s are some of our go-tos.

Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.

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