Alternative rockers Day Job cover Quicksand’s “Head to Wall”

Alternative, noise rock newcomer band Day Job from Birmingham, England, have covered the song “Head To Wall” by the post-hardcore band Quicksand. The cover is part of a series of covers for the label Hex Records’ 25th anniversary.

Listen to the song here.

Ryan Canavan, founder of Hex Records, commented on this new cover by Day Job:

“”Slip” by NYC post-hardcore progenitors Quicksand is my favorite record ever and was incredibly formative in how I think about music. Its influence is undeniable and it continues to resonate with myself and many other people to this day. I remember first hearing them through seeing the video for “Fazer” on Headbangers Ball when “Slip” had just come out and thinking it was something new and exciting.

Not too long after I had some extra cash and bought “Slip” on cassette, along with a few other tapes that also had a huge impact on me. I was probably 15 at the time? I knew what hardcore was, but didn’t really know what I had my hands on. I didn’t realize how massive of an impact Quicksand had on the hardcore scene because at that point I hadn’t yet been to an actual hardcore show. I just knew I got this new tape, the music was awesome, the lyrics spoke to me on a personal level, and I was hooked.

OK, so that leaves like really big shoes to fill for Birmingham’s Day Job. I know. I put a lot of pressure on them. But I believe in those guys. They’re another group that I feel is approaching a genre in a unique and exciting way. The thing is, I’ve known them a long time. Way back I did a show for their old hardcore band Legion, and then years later reconnected when I discovered their more introspective band Null. And now they have Day Job, which I think combines those influences of heavy hardcore music, sludge, noise, and repetitive melodies that kind of put a twist on all those sounds for something kind of its own animal.

See? Quicksand’s original messing with convention is still influencing my taste in music. I look for those doing something familiar in a new way, with their own voice. Day Job certainly fill that role and they’ve done justice to “Head To Wall“.