Quicksand Strikes Back With ‘Bring On The Psychics’
(photo Annette Rodriguez)
New York trio Quicksand’s improbable second act will continue July 17 with its first album in five years, Bring on the Psychics. It doubles as the band’s debut for Equal Vision Records and effectively ties its ‘90s post-hardcore blueprint to the more exploratory instincts of its post-2013 reunion-era output.
Produced and mixed by Jon Markson (Drug Church, Drain) in a rapid-fire 10-day session, Psychics is led by the twin singles “Get to It” and “Regenerate.”
Frontman Walter Schreifels says the former is about “poking holes in the excuses for standing still. Procrastination is something I’ve struggled with my whole life so I’m always looking for a new mantra to help overcome my tendency to put things off.” On a similar tip, “Regenerate” mulls “finding new paths forward. No matter how well you play it, life will keep taking things away from you. It might be we’re living the most when faced with having to get back up from a hard hit.”
The tension between forward motion and looking back uns through the album. Schreifels has cited early hardcore touchstones and their ethos of self-determination as a guiding force this time around, echoing the spirit of his own hugely influential adjacent bands Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits. Musically, Quicksand casts a wider net on songs such as the more atmospheric “Crystallize” and the nearly meditative “Days You Run To,” which Schreifels describes as tapping into “the Pink Floyd side of Quicksand.”
Quicksand will preview material from Psychics on Sunday (April 26) at New York’s Rough Trade Below and on a two-week European tour, beginning June 14 at the Rock for People festival in Czechoslovakia.
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