New York post-hardcore rockers Quicksand hit back hard after a 13-year absence, sounding better than ever. Walter Schreifels and company were in top form playing to a jam-packed Regency Ballroom in San Francisco last Monday. Coming out of the gate swinging, the band launched into classic track “Omission,” followed by blistering versions of “Unfulfilled” and “Head to Wall,” before blasting the roof off of the ballroom with their most well-known gem”Fazer.”
Although they never achieved true mainstream success, Quicksand released one of the greatest debut records of all time with 1993’s seminal masterpiece Slip, and after delivering two brilliant records over a four-year period, the band would go on indefinite hiatus. Their sound was and is still truly unique and has yet to be matched. A mash-up of Fugazi, Helmet, and Tool-before-Tool-had-an-identity, it’s raw, it’s angry, and somehow it’s undeniably catchy. They created the blueprint for what would become a new style of rock that would pave the way for the success of bands such as The Deftones and Taking Back Sunday.
Quicksand had a real knack for writing songs that were gritty but accessible, yet still hardcore enough for the metal kids and the punk kids both to love. I remember seeing them on tour with Rage Against the Machine in 1993 and thinking to myself, “This is the next big thing. This is a sound that is going to change everything.” Unfortunately, due to tensions within the band and their major label’s inability to get them to the next level, their genius was short-lived. I will never understand why some of the best bands in the world can’t make it past their sophomore release while other bands just don’t know when to hang it up.
This is a tour that needed to happen, though. Quicksand has a devoted following of hardcore fans, and with the lack of talent in the current music scene, it’s really nice to see a band like Quicksand come back and show us how it’s done. Now if they can only finish up that long-rumored third album, we fans can finally have some closure around a band that left us way too soon.
Were you at the show? What did you think of the band’s return? Please join conversation in the comment section below.
