Quilt
Studio album by
The Shams
Released1991
GenreIndie rock
LabelMatador Records
ProducerLenny Kaye
The Shams chronology
Only a Dream 7"
(1990)		 Quilt
(1991)		 Sedusia EP
(1993)

Quilt is an album by the American indie rock band the Shams.[1][2] Released in 1991, it was the band's only album.[3][4][5]

"Only a Dream" first appeared on a single put out by Bob Mould's Singles Only Label.[6] The Shams promoted the album by playing at CBGB during the 1992 CMJ Music Marathon.[2]

Production

The album was produced by Lenny Kaye.[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]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Chicago Tribune[13]
Robert Christgau(choice cut)[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."[6] 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."[3] 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."[15]

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."[16]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
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" 

References

  1. ↑ "Shams Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
  2. 1 2 Robins, Wayne (30 Oct 1992). "The Shams". Newsday. Weekend. p. 82.
  3. 1 2 "On the Mouth". EW.com.
  4. ↑ Schoemer, Karen (Jan 1992). "The Shams Are for Real -- Quilt by The Shams". Mademoiselle. 98 (1): 53.
  5. ↑ "Middlescence". EW.com.
  6. 1 2 McLeese, Don (23 Apr 1992). "Female rockers defy stereotype". Austin American-Statesman. Onward. p. 19.
  7. ↑ The Encyclopedia of Record Producers. Billboard Books. 1999. p. 383.
  8. ↑ Popson, Tom (24 Apr 1992). "The Shams: Pop, folk and scene's from women's lives". Chicago Tribune. Friday. p. N.
  9. ↑ Fricke, David (Dec 10, 1992). "On the Edge". Rolling Stone. No. 645–646. p. 177.
  10. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 943.
  11. 1 2 "The Shams: 'Quilt'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Shams". Trouser Press. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  13. 1 2 Kot, Greg (23 Apr 1992). "Recordings". Chicago Tribune. Tempo. p. 7.
  14. 1 2 "Robert Christgau: CG: The Shams". www.robertchristgau.com.
  15. ↑ Haymes, Greg (May 27, 1993). "MATADOR INVASION". Times Union. p. P4.
  16. ↑ "Quilt - Shams | Release Info". AllMusic.
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