Quickspace: The Death Of Quickspace : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

After three albums and a stack of singles, Quickspace have yet to come up with much of a song. That's not the point. They're a groove band whose specialty is locking onto a little riff and rhythm, then rubbing at it until it splits, whether that takes thirty seconds or well over ten minutes. Two of The Death of Quickspace's nine relentless tracks are slight variations on others, decorated with a touch of violin sawing or a spidery solo. Guitarists Tom Cullinan and Nina Pascale pull out sustained, prickly harmonies for "Gloriana," but their singing is otherwise distorted, distracted or simply absent. The band mostly holds back, keeping the tempos deliberate, the playing ragged and not too loud, and the rhythms jittering suspensefully. And when they cut loose, it's cathartic; the cannily titled "They Shoot Horse Don't They" ambles along for a few minutes, then cracks open and bellows like an earthquake. (RS 839)

DOUGLAS WOLK