''The Shadow of Your Smile'' is the debut album by the American band

Friends of Dean Martinez Friends of Dean Martinez is an American instrumental rock/ post-rock band featuring members of Giant Sand, Calexico, and Naked Prey. The band combines Americana with electronica, ambient, lounge, psychedelia and dub and intertwines surf rock ...

, released in 1995. The band included members of two Arizona bands: Joey Burns and John Convertino, of

Giant Sand Giant Sand is an American musical group from Tucson, Arizona, United States. Its most constant member is singer-songwriter Howe Gelb. The group started as Giant Sandworms in the late 1970s post-punk and paisley underground scenes. They later s ...

, and Bill Elm, Tom Larkins, and Van Christian, of

Naked Prey Naked Prey was an American rock band from Tucson, Arizona. United States, which was formed in 1982 by the former Green on Red drummer Van Christian and David Seeger, who had been in the original line-up of the Giant Sandworms (who later became ...

. The band changed their name from Friends of Dean Martin right before the album's release, after threat of legal action by Martin's representatives. The album was considered part of the mid-1990s "Cocktail Nation" trend of instrumental surf and lounge music.

Production

The album was produced by

Craig Schumacher Craig Schumacher is an American Record producer, producer and audio engineer based in Tucson, Arizona. He is known for recording and mixing albums by Calexico (band), Calexico, Devotchka, Neko Case, Giant Sand, The Jayhawks, Friends of Dean Martin ...

and the band.

Howe Gelb Howe Gelb (born October 22, 1956, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer based in Tucson, Arizona. Projects Gelb's approach to music is collaborative and he has recorded with a number of s ...

played organ and piano. Convertino played a vibraphone on the cover of "Ugly Beauty", by

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' wrote that "a lot of main writer Burns' originals have the jivey cool of an Angelo Badalamenti score, but the group's most potent and useful ability is to conjure up romantic visions of the desert at twilight." The ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' thought that "Elm's exquisite steel-guitar melodies and the unusual colors and textures of Convertino's vibraphone formed the core of their countrified instrumental pop, but with the punchy rhythm team of Christian on drums and Larkins on percussive detail they added up to something with considerably more magnitude than kitsch." The ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' labeled the album "fuzzy wafts of lounge music, maracas, vibraphones and flamenco guitars in full reverberating, stereophonic sound with a '60s flare." ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' called the band's versions of "Misty" and "The Shadow of Your Smile" "hilarious, spooky, and beautiful." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' determined that "the Friends sound like the house band in a ghost-town saloon, lacing their slow jams with the parched twang of landlocked surf music and the creamy scream of Bill Elm's slightly fuzzed pedal steel." ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'' deemed the album "lounge music for air-conditioned cocktail bars in the arid middle of nowhere."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the album "a post-modern fusion of Santo & Johnny, Dick Dale and the Ventures, with a heaping side order of Tex-Mex border music."

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow of Your Smile Friends of Dean Martinez albums 1995 debut albums Sub Pop albums