Quicksand : Bring On the Psychics
Quicksand left a big impact in only a few short years during their initial two-album run in the 1990s, forging a sound that fused hardcore grit with riffs heavy enough for Headbangers Ball and college-radio hooks custom fit for 120 Minutes. They’re post-hardcore pioneers, both in terms of having wrought a uniquely taut and aggressive sound and in a more literal sense; much as with their contemporaries in Fugazi, the members of Quicksand honed their chops in hardcore bands such as Bold, Burn and Gorilla Biscuits before taking on a stylistic transformation. A new generation or two of heavy bands reared on 1993’s Slip and 1995’s Manic Compression had formed since the New York group’s split in 1999, but their first new album in two decades, 2017’s Interiors, sounded essentially exactly what you might imagine a Quicksand album would sound like two decades down the road: still abrasive, but with a more intentional, even graceful sense of space and nuance.
So it comes as a little bit of a surprise to hear the band crash through the gates with such explosive ferocity on “Get To It,” the first song on their fifth album, Bring on the Psychics. The group—now a trio comprising vocalist and guitarist Walter Schreifels, bassist Sergio Vega and drummer Alan Cage—light a figurative fire on the album’s opening burst of energy, driven by a surging rhythm and anxious shouts of urgency that “Time is running out!” Quicksand have always had this much kickass in their system, but it’s still invigorating to hear them stampeding with this level of intensity.
Bring on the Psychics, produced by Jon Markson (Drug Church, Drain), is fueled by the same incendiary energy as that of their heaviest record, Manic Compression, which now has a worthy counterpart here. In its 32 minutes, the band rarely lets off the throttle, alternating between more streamlined moments of hook-laden post-punk (“Crystallize”) and chugging riff monsters (“Agency,” “Cool Guy”). Yet the rare moments where they ease up and let the dust settle a little offer reminders of their sophistication of songwriters, whether via the hazily understated daydream of “Days You Run To” or the climactic, quiet-loud buildup of the title track.
Yet despite coming a band so intent on sprinting toward the finish line, Bring on the Psychics is an album haunted by the passage of time. Eternally youthful frontman Schreifels alternately dispenses impatience in one moment (“Waiting for the stars to align/Think you might be waiting for a long fucking time“) while expressing resignation at the inevitability of change another (“Times change and people change/I know it sucks sometimes, but that’s just the way“). And in the opening lines of “Crystallize,” he succinctly encapsulates the awkward, if sympathetic feeling of seeing yourself through the rearview: “Looking back at your younger self/Take cover/Hurricanes flying off the shelf.” There’s both a knowing sympathy and a kind of tough love in these songs, a wisdom earned through having been there before. The lesson here is that time is precious—best to use it playing the absolute fuck out of these songs rather than letting it go to waste.
Label: Equal Vision
Year: 2026
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Quicksand : Bring on the Psychics
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