Quicksand "Slip" Deluxe LP

Few albums fully establish and encapsulate a genre like Quicksand’s debut album Slip does for post-hardcore. Originally recorded in 1992 and released in early February 1993, Slip is as relevant and important an album today as it was nearly 30 years ago. Slip is a musical bridge between the 1980s New York Hardcore scene from which Quicksand’s members cut their teeth on, and the burgeoning sound of the 90s' heavy rock. It’s an album that stands toe-to-toe with other great records released that year, but the band’s NYHC roots give the record an edge you won’t hear on an ‘In Utero’ or ‘Siamese Dream.’

Lead track “Fazer” throws listeners straight into a brick wall of heavy guitars. Quicksand’s gritty genius is immediately apparent in the song: a group confident in their ability to mix heaviness, melody and big-chorus sensibilities in a way none of their peers could dream of. Front man Walter Schreifels and company merge their vast pool of influences (citing everyone from Bad Brains to Danzig) into a sound that’s undeniably Quicksand. Nowhere is this more apparent than the album’s lead single “Dine Alone.” It's a deceptively catchy song that exposed countless MTV watchers to crushing riffs, Schreifel’s gritty-yet-beautiful yowling, and a still legendary odyssey of a bridge.

The album is proof positive that a band can write some of the heaviest riffs ever, while still pausing for moments to space out on songs like “Lie and Wait.” The record concludes with a summation of all its accomplishments in “Transparent,” offering up guitar riffs that manage to sound heavy and hopeful at the same time. "Transparent" reinterprets Revolution-summer forward-thinking positive mindset in a new context of rock music. It's as though the band is aware of the righteous wave of great music they’re ushering in with this album. Slip gave everyone including Deftones, Glassjaw, Title Fight and hundreds more the blueprint of what post-hardcore can accomplish. Quicksand firmly cemented Slip as an essential album in rock music and a testament to how far punk rock can go. 

Slip was recorded by Quicksand members Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today), Tom Capone (Beyond, Bold), Sergio Vega (Deftones, Moondog) and Alan Cage (Beyond, Seaweed) and co-produced by Steven Haigler (Pixies) and Don Fury (Sick of it All, Agnostic Front). Remastered by Jack Shirley at The Atomic Garden (Deafheaven, Joyce Manor).