Quicksand 'Quicksand'

Originally released by Revelation Records in 1990, Quicksand’s self-titled debut 7" was the first recorded statement from a band that would become one of the defining names in American post-hardcore. The lineup brought together Walter Schreifels of Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today, Alan Cage and Tom Capone of Beyond, and Sergio Vega of Collapse, taking roots firmly planted in New York hardcore and pushing them somewhere heavier, stranger and more atmospheric.

Recorded in April 1990 at Don Fury’s Demo Demo Studios in New York, the four-song EP slowed the tempos, widened the dynamics and introduced the dense guitars, muscular rhythms and tension that would become unmistakably Quicksand. “Omission,” “Clean Slate,” “Unfulfilled” and “Hypno Jam With Dan” sound like a band actively pulling hardcore apart and rebuilding it in their own image, laying the groundwork for the post-hardcore sound they would fully realize on Slip and Manic Compression.

More than three decades later, the debut still feels remarkably physical and forward-looking, an essential document of NYHC evolving beyond its original boundaries and the starting point for one of the most influential bands to emerge from the scene.

New Revelation Records pressing on translucent orange vinyl.