Personally, I have a little different look on that whole topic than most people. And this is from personal experience.
No, you can't do JUST shakes and nothing else, because your metabolism will totally shut down. BUT, I use protein shakes for ALL of my protein when I cut.
Every meal is a protein shake ALONG with a whole food, such as a salad with olive oil for the fat, or rice and baked potatoes for the carbs.
Still eat the whole foods, but I use all shakes for the protein, I still drink 6 or 7 shakes a day while cutting, ALONG with those whole foods, and it works great for me for cutting.