Quicksand transcend time and place on ‘Interiors’, their first record since 1995. Here the band bring together current influences without stepping too far away from the original sound that made them post-hardcore heroes.
Tracks such as Illuminant, Under the Screw, and Warm and Low, find them in a similar spot to the one we left them in on ‘Manic Compression’, but the work of Will Yip helps drag them into the present. The producer has smoothed out rough edges on albums by Tigers Jaw and Citizen this year, and he employs the same slick style on ‘Interiors’.
It helps that Quicksand partly paved the way for the more melodic punk that dominates the scene today, and it's also true that they aren’t the only band of that era to reappear with a new album after a long absence.
Shoegazers Ride and Slowdive have recently bridged the gap between then and now, for example, but the difference is that it feels like Quicksand frontman Walter Schreifels never went away.
Straight after their disbandment Schreifels, a NYHC veteran with Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today, went on to form an even more successful alt-rock band in Rival Schools, as well as exploring indie with Walking Concert and as a solo artist.
He later returned to his roots with the punk supergroup Vanishing Life and his latest project is the blues-rock band Dead Heavens, who released their debut this year. The influence of these bands has weaved itself into Quicksand’s new music.
The vocal lines, especially, are more melodic and at points, such as on closing track Normal Love, the guitars veer into gauzy alt-rock territory. The middle section of the album, meanwhile, brings in shoegaze guitars for the title track, Cosmonauts and Hyperion, which seems like a natural progression for the band when combined with Sergio Vega’s prominent bass.
Any time Schreifels darts towards something too delicate, as on the short instrumentals that break up the album, there is always a booming bass riff to balance it out. Perhaps that's because, having replaced the late Chi Cheng in Deftones, Vega has kept closer to his roots than Schreifels.
Deftones’ sound has developed over the years and the success of their last album, ‘Gore’, demonstrated that they still have the capacity to draw a big audience. That same audience will appreciate ‘Interiors’. Quicksand may sound nothing like modern post-hardcore, but just because they aren’t relevant to the youth scene doesn’t mean they are a straightforward heritage act.
‘Interiors’ is the kind of album Quicksand would probably be making if they had never split, so their return already feels familiar in a comforting way. It’s certainly nice to have them back for now. Until Schreifels creates another new band or decides Gorilla Biscuits need a new album, that is.
Quicksand Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri November 24 2017 - NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Sat November 25 2017 - MANCHESTER Sound Control
Sun November 26 2017 - LONDON O2 Academy Islington
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