Later, album closer Rodan uses the Japanese monster from which it takes its name as a metaphor for the terrifying news cycles many of us spend our lives with our eyes glued to. Elsewhere, seventh track Phase 90 deals in feelings of distraction and unfulfillment, with a general musical despondency matching its opening lyrics of “Tried to finish a book I was reading/I put it down for too long/I got distracted by other things, other dreams/Forgot the characters and the names”. Inversion lays this bare, with lines like “Distant populations going nowhere/So far away from us, you wouldn’t know where”. It’s a timely topic, and one that often lends the record a strong sense of emotional weight. Sixth track Missile Command is a particular highlight – the product of a rehearsal jam built around a repeated menacing riff.Īs the album name indicates, Distant Populations sees QUICKSAND exploring themes of isolation and disconnection. These tracks set the bar high for the album to follow, and the quality doesn’t really drop from there. The latter boasts more of a stomp, with a simple swaggering verse riff and a subtly anthemic chorus. The former injects a driving, punky pace to proceedings, landing briefly on a big beefy middle-eight breakdown. It kicks off a solid opening run in general, with following tracks Lightning Field and Colossus maintaining a similar energy. The track itself boasts a floating heaviness that makes it clear why QUICKSAND might enjoy the patronage of a band like DEFTONES. There are parallels to 1993’s Slip here, with a brief fill from drummer Alan Cage rolling straight into weighty riffing. The album gets off to a great start with opener and lead single Inversion. Like Interiors before it, this record shows that time has been kind to QUICKSAND, and makes for another solid addition to a strong back catalogue. It marked a triumphant return for the band, and now gets a welcome and comparatively swift follow-up in Distant Populations.
Hopes were high then when the New Yorkers announced 2017’s Interiors – their first album in 22 years.
AT THE DRIVE-IN, CAVE IN, DEFTONES, TORCHE … these are just a few names that owe a debt to the band’s powerful mix of post-hardcore and alternative metal. Initially burning brightly and briefly in the early 90s, the trio were never particularly huge, but there’s no denying their impact on a wealth of alternative music that followed in their wake. New York’s QUICKSAND are one of those quietly influential bands.
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