| Quilt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1991 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Label | Matador | |||
| Producer | Lenny Kaye | |||
| The Shams chronology | ||||
| ||||
Quilt is an album by the American band the Shams. [1] [2] Released in 1991, it was the band's only album. [3] [4] "Only a Dream" first appeared on a single put out by Bob Mould's Singles Only Label. [5] The Shams promoted the album by playing at CBGB during the 1992 CMJ Music Marathon. [2]
The album was produced by Lenny Kaye, who was tipped to the band by Richard Hell. [6] [7] Most of its songs were written by Amy McMahon Rigby. [8] [9] All three band members were in their 30s when they recorded the album. [10]
Robert Quine and Will Rigby (Amy's husband at the time) played guitar and drums on the album, respectively. [11] "Time" is a cover of the Richard Hell song. [12]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Chicago Tribune |   [13] |
| Robert Christgau |  [14] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |  [10] |
Trouser Press wrote that "the beautifully constructed frustrated-love songs 'Stuck Here on the Ground' and 'Watching the Grass Grow' would be on oldies radio every eight hours if they’d only been recorded 20 years earlier." [12] The Austin American-Statesman noted that "instrumentation is kept to a minimum, harmonies are blended to sound human rather than studio slick and songs are intended to reflect everydayness rather than rock glamour." [5] Robert Christgau praised "Watching the Grass Grow". [14]
Entertainment Weekly commended the "crisp production and stick-to-the-rib-cage songs," likening the album to "a drowsy summer sing-along on a city fire escape." [15] The Washington Post called "Down at the Texaco" "a lively but hardly abrasive rocker that revives the spunky spirit of the Shangri-las' blue-collar love songs." [11] The Chicago Tribune concluded that "it's the good to great songs, artlessly terrific singing and sparse arrangements that make Quilt a keeper." [13] The Time Union deemed the album "positively delightful," labeling it "a cross between the Roches and the Shangri-Las." [16]
AllMusic wrote that "there's something decidedly postmodern about the Shams' approach to music, which combines girl group '60s pop with off-kilter jangliness and a sort of country twang." [17]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It'll All Catch Up to You" | |
| 2. | "Stuck Here on the Ground" | |
| 3. | "Dark Angel" | |
| 4. | "Dressed to Kill" | |
| 5. | "Only a Dream" | |
| 6. | "Ice Tea" | |
| 7. | "Watching the Grass Grow" | |
| 8. | "File Clerk Blues" | |
| 9. | "Down at the Texaco" | |
| 10. | "Brown's Diner" | |
| 11. | "Always with Me" |
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