![]() ![]() Critically lauded and deemed very much worth the wait, Interiors succeeded in reestablishing the band as the powerful and contemporary entity they had always been. ![]() Combine those sentiments with the most sweeping, powerful music the band has ever created, and you’ve got a truly unforgettable, extremely timely listening experience.ĭistant Populations, just the fourth full-length album of Quicksand’s career, comes as a comparatively swift follow-up to Interiors-which itself came a full 22 years after its predecessor, 1995’s Manic Compression. ![]() Cutting and sharp lyrical passages pop out on tracks such as the throbbing “Colossus”: “A new life/ We’re never meant to feel completed/As long as we’re here/It doesn’t matter what for” And alienation-from whom or what often going unsaid-and loneliness are touched on regularly, whether subtly (“Sometimes it’s better just to keep on traveling” from “Phase 90”) or stated plainly (“Living just around the corner/Share the same existence/Doesn’t make a difference/Deconstructed, isolated” from the closing track “Rodan”). “But when we’re sitting in the same room together, we’re looking at our phones.” That peculiar duality-our simultaneous existence in individual relationships and as part of mass society-is examined with power and surprising emotional impact throughout all of the tracks here. “So we’re checking out each other’s social media and we know what everybody’s doing,” he says, pointing out a sad irony. The title comes from a lyric from anarcho-crust punk band Nausea’s “Fallout (Of Our Being)” about “destitute populations” because of the singer’s thick accent, Schreifels misheard it as “distant populations” and instantly connected with that concept. ![]() That seeming contradiction may lie at the heart of what Distant Populations is all about. If there is a recurring theme running throughout the new album, it might be this: “Everyone is on the one hand so connected with each other,” says Schreifels, “and on the other hand is so far apart, and so freaked out about everything.” Thoughtful, driving, and powerful, like the long-lived band itself, the 11 tracks comprising Distant Populations have an emotional resonance that is only amplified by the events of the past stressed-out, locked-down year. Do yourself a favor and listen below.One of the most remarkable aspects of Distant Populations-Quicksand’s first album since 2017’s Interiors-is how timely and prescient the themes running throughout its songs sound at this very moment. The song works within Quicksand’s long-established sonic template, but it’s got the energy that you might expect from a brand-new band. The same is true of Quicksand’s new track “Feliz,” a towering rager with some colossal riffs and an impassioned vocal performance from leader Walter Schreifels. And today, they’ve got an extremely sick new song.Ī couple of months ago, Quicksand released their single “ Giving The Past Away.” The song came from the same sessions as the band’s 2021 album Distant Populations, but it didn’t sound like a leftover. Right now, they’re on tour with fellow ’90s survivors Clutch and Helmet. Since reuniting, Quicksand have made two more albums - the same number that they released back when they were a band in the first place. I can’t imagine it’s easy to break up and then get back together 20+ laters, picking up like you never left, but that’s what these New York post-hardcore heroes have done. ![]()
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