On Distant Populations, in fact, Schreifels, bassist Sergio Vega and drummer Alan Cage find themselves facing the same conundrum as the rest of us, which is that age takes away as much as it gives. But since Distant Populations treads much of the same ground as Interiors-gauzy mixes render the two albums virtually indistinguishable-it’s now evident Quicksand can no longer stay one step ahead of time forever. And when the band finally released long-awaited new material with 2017’s Interiors, the shift towards a more vaporous, introspective style felt like a radical departure from the gnashing attack of 1995’s Manic Compression-about what you’d expect following a 22-year gap between records. Quicksand were never purists, so it stands to reason that maturity would reflect new shades of a group who possessed manifold shades to begin with. It should come as no surprise, then, that Distant Populations, Quicksand’s second post-reunion album (and fourth overall), charts a course that’s light years away in outlook and temperament from the angsty style that secured the band’s legend.
And though it would be somewhat off-target to label Quicksand as emo, per se, if you were to draw a line from Rites of Spring to Sunny Day Real Estate to The Get Up Kids, it’s hard to deny the commonalities. At times, thanks in large part to the ingenious heroics of former lead guitarist Tom Capone, the band’s atmosphere-heavy style verged on space rock. Quicksand’s crossover potential didn’t stop there, either. Quicksand’s 1993 full-length debut Slip, one of only two albums they released before calling it quits in ‘95, also resonated with fans of metal-adjacent acts who harbored no reservations about gunning for maximum commercial success-tourmates, for example, like Rage Against The Machine, Living Colour and White Zombie. Right out of the gate, Quicksand’s style appealed to supporters of independent-minded groups steeped in underground ethics who nevertheless saw hardcore as a jumping-off point-Fugazi, Jawbox, Helmet, Drive Like Jehu and just about any band tagged as “post-hardcore.” The appeal extended even further, though. Quicksand didn’t quite turn out that way, but Schreifels and his bandmates landed on a formula that bypassed barriers and then some. Believe it or not, his intention was actually to create a rap-metal hybrid. However, frontman/bandleader Walter Schreifels-a scene veteran by the ripe old age of 20-set out to buck hardcore convention with a more open, melodic, flexible sound that incorporated elements of metal. As a result, Quicksand screeched into existence shrouded in an aura of preordained street credibility that persists to this day. When Quicksand first got together in 1990, the collective resumé of the then-upstart group’s members included more than half a dozen hardscrabble New York-area hardcore outfits like Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits and Burn.