Los Angeles – Much like the very “search engine unfriendly” name would suggest, Quilt crafts a warm, comforting tapestry of music. Pulling influence from psychedelic rock, krautrock, dream pop, and typical guitar-driven indie rock, the group’s songs sprawl out in all directions, creating a blanket of sound. Despite the fact that Quilt is just now making major headways in the indie rock scene, the band has been active for six years. Quilt just released a third full-length studio album, Plaza, in February. Last week, the quartet – that originated in Boston, Massachusetts but now claims New York City as a home base – headed to the West Coast for a headlining gig at The Echo, in Los Angeles.
While the band has no fear of exploring a riff or rhythm to its most distant reaches, many of Quilt’s songs are based around punchy, melodic choruses. Another asset to Quilt’s sound is the surprisingly husky vocal abilities of the band’s front-woman. Despite her very petite frame, Anna Rochinski has a huge presence on stage; Rochinski gave the impression that she was truly feeling every line she delivered. The early portion of Quilt’s set leaned towards the more experimental side of the band’s sound, and the catchiest songs saved for the middle and end of the night. The majority of the set was made up of tracks from Plaza, though they did offer a couple older cuts for those that have been following the band since their 2009 self-titled debut. Quilt just wrapped up several tour dates in the desert of the American Southwest. Quilt’s experimental psych-folk sound gives off strong vibes of the remote, dry wilderness, and the band fittingly projected vintage-style video clips of sites and monuments in the desert.
Quilt’s full-time lineup is rounded out by drummer/vocalist John Andrews, guitarist/vocalist Shane Butler, and bassist/vocalist Keven Lareau. Filling out the band’s sound towards the back of the stage was a keyboardist/sound manipulator, who was also the only member to not provide any background vocals. Rochinski held down the majority of the lead vocals during the set, but there were a few exceptions. Andrews took the lead for a mid-set song, and Butler did so on the Byrds-esque track from their latest album, “Searching For.” Andrew self-deprecatingly joked, as everyone tuned up before his song, that it would be a good time to use the bathroom. “Eliot St.” was another standout performance; it is also the first single from Plaza. Another song with vocals from Butler features a British Invasion influenced melody and chord progression in the verse. The most memorable of the Rochinski-sung cuts was a toss-up between the echo-y mid-tempo “Roller” and the funkier “Hissing My Plea.”
While stylistically there are thousands of psych-pop bands like Quilt out there, very few are able to keep things interesting, as well. The band has a very deep discography, which was put on display during Quilt’s set at The Echo, with older and newer tracks creating a set list that effortlessly captivated the audience for the entire evening.
Quilt has several shows remaining on a spring tour of North America. The band traverses the continent with stops in Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, and several other cities. Check out the band’s Facebook page for tickets and exact dates. (Ed. note: Learn more about Quilt by reading Best New Bands’ interview with Shane Butler.)
Matt Matasci
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