“Phase 90,” with its prog-inspired cadences and contemplative harmonies, feels like it could have emerged from a different artist and album entirely. Prior soundscapes have sometimes sprawled or felt constrained, sounding at times less present, but now feel more cohesive than ever. Not because these songs need to be more concise to leave as much of an impact, but because as musicians, they’re capable of doing so much even in a relatively brief span. In equal measure, the band’s collective efforts to reduce runtime make sense sonically. Between the two of them, as proven on the band’s last outing Interiors, as much as feedback as there is, a good solid mixing of percussion does wonders to provide accents for the album. This unique blend of a percussive suite is because of Alan Cage’s drum work, alongside returning producer Will Yip. There’s a perkiness and unexpected polyrhythmic tangent on “Katakana” where the group takes on a fantastic The Police impression before assaulting the listener with a crushing, washed out tone of reverb. Yet, Quicksand obviously seeks to express a greater dynamism and range. Each represents similar modalities that other post-hardcore outfits would use as templated constructs. Yet even at their heaviest, Quicksand still reveal plenty of surprises-that very same song reveals a stunningly dreamy chorus.ĭistant Populations feels perfectly balanced between those two tracks. “Lightning Field” feels like a post-hardcore take on Candy Apple Grey-era Hüsker Dü, and there are grinding, heavier affairs like “Colossus,” with its pruned tempo and significant aural weight. Quicksand’s approach has changed considerably in the past three decades, still muscular and intense, but allowing themselves a certain measure of transient harmonizing and bold choruses. Following the release of their 2017 comeback, Interiors, their fourth LP Distant Populations continues the band’s legacy of revival, one that was pitted against somewhat stark odds. All the while their legend quietly (or loudly rather) grew, becoming the kind of band that would be mentioned in the same breath as Fugazi with equal reverence. A victim of the ’90s post-Nevermind signing binge, the group were never marketed particularly well, and following the release of 1995’s Manic Compression, the group would spend a decade in near-silence. In 2017, the band released their long-awaited third-studio album Interiors which saw Consequence of Sound praise the band for their sound “that nobody else has been able to replicate in all the time they've been gone.Quicksand has a fascinating history. They’ve since appeared at festivals like FYF Fest and Pukkelpop, and in 2013 embarked on their first North American tour in 15 years. After disbanding in late 1995, they reunited for a one-night performance in June 2012. Throughout the early ’90s, Quicksand toured with bands like Helmet, Fugazi, Rage Against the Machine, and Anthrax. In 2017, the band released their long-awaited third-studio album Interiors which saw Consequence of Sound praise the band for their sound “that nobody else has been able to replicate in all the time they've been gone." Club as “a nearly flawless record that combines the irony and heaviness of Helmet with Fugazi’s penchant to dismantle sound in the most energetic ways.” Arriving in 1995, their sophomore album Manic Compression appeared at #1 on the Top Five Best Post-Hardcore Records list from LA Weekly (who noted that “if there were any justice in the world, Quicksand would have been the biggest underground band of the ’90s”). And we can build off that and expand on that.”įormed in 1990, Quicksand made their full-length debut with Slip-a 1993 release praised by The A.V. “Our only conscious challenge for that period, really,” says bassist Sergio Vega, “was that we felt like we needed to make a record that was worth waiting that long for.” Its success proved that they met that challenge, and, he adds, “galvanized by that, we felt like we know what we are today. Critically lauded and deemed very much worth the wait, Interiors succeeded in reestablishing the band as the powerful and contemporary entity they had always been. Distant Populations, just the fourth full-length album of Quicksand’s career, comes as a comparatively swift follow-up to Interiors-which itself came a full 22 years after its predecessor, 1995’s Manic Compression.
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