For a young rock band in the 60s, the opportunity to make a second LP usually meant getting trippier and more ambitious. And so it goes for Quilt, a young rock band influenced by young rock bands from the 60s. On the Massachusetts trio’s 2011 self-titled debut, the ghosts of the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and Mamas and the Papas were summoned via jangly, well-written pop songs that never strayed far from their harmony-rich melodies. On Quilt’s sophomore release, Held In Splendor, band members Shane Butler, Anna Fox Rochinski, and John Andrews grow more expansive in their instrumentation, blowing out their simple psych-folk ditties into strings-laden multi-part suites that build toward thrilling, guitar-heavy climaxes. It’s a clear progression that nevertheless manages to keep Quilt tucked firmly in the milieu of paisley-colored retro pop-rock.
Lesser groups working the same territory tend to lose sight of their songwriting while in pursuit of just the right Rickenbacker guitar sound or the precise vintage of Farfisa organ. The strength of Quilt’s debut was that underneath all of the flower-power window dressing there were strong hooks and disciplined classicist arrangements. The members of Quilt thankfully haven’t lost those qualities on Splendor, even as many of the songs have grown in sophistication. “Tired and Buttered” begins as an aggressively driving rocker that suddenly downshifts into a dreamy shuffle, and then shifts again into a slowly building rager. The gorgeous “Just Dust” glides seamlessly into the instrumental reverie “The World is Flat”, which showcases the understated but magnetic musical interplay between Butler, Rochinski, and Andrews. The closing “I Sleep in Nature” is another shape-shifter, moving from a discombobulated prologue to a jauntily melodic mid-section that’s pure 60s pop whimsy, albeit with a darkly sinister edge.
Where Splendor diverges from Quilt is in the use of three-part harmonies—while they were all over the first LP, principal singers Butler and Rochinski switch off on lead vocals here. Butler is a more conventional “60s psych-rock dude” singer, favoring an aloof croon on songs like the rather pedestrian “Eye of the Pearl”. Rochinski, on the other hand, has emerged as the band’s star*.* Her delicate and lilting alto is capable of conveying innocence (like on the album-opening “Arctic Shark”) as well as beguiling sexiness, even when she’s singing nonsense like “planetary truth is born of lightning” on “Tie Up the Tides”.
As Tame Impala proved with its 2012 masterpiece Lonerism, psych-rock still has the power to communicate with listeners not already pre-disposed to care about the genre. Held in Splendor is a good example of a record that successfully executes the tropes of psych—it sounds like it could’ve been recorded in 1967 without directly ripping off any artist in particular—without every truly transcending them. In order to do that, Quilt will have to make an even more ambitious third record. Given its evolution thus far, they are well on their way.
