Quicksand – Moved to Manchester Academy 3

Wonder… is everything okay?

NYC post-hardcore legends Quicksand make their very first appearance on the Gorilla stage this Autumn to share music from 2022’s Distant Populations album alongside stand out cuts from Slip, Manic Compression and Interiors. It’s been six long years since their last Manchester visit, and with a new burgeoning hardcore scene in the city (thanks Outbreak Fest!), this is set to be one hot ticket. 

Distant 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. 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. “Our only conscious challenge for that period, really,” says bassist Sergio Vega, “was that we felt like we needed to make a record that was worth waiting that long for.” Its success proved that they met that challenge, and, he adds, “galvanized by that, we felt like we know what we are today. We know what fits in our template. And we can build off that and expand on that.”

And expand they did. Distant Populations has a punchier, more up-tempo sound than its predecessor; its 11 songs are concise, carved sonic jewels boasting not a single wasted note; and its raw power, its gripping lyricism, leaps out from the very first listening. It is a striking step up for the band.