Walter Schreifels, member and/or founder of Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, Rival Schools and, most recently, Walking Concert, showed up recently for an acoustic set on AOL’s the Interface. Schreifels’ work, at least early in his career, existed in a bit of a hardcore vacuum, so the thought of hearing any of those tracks stripped to just an acoustic guitar seemed curiously contrary to the soul of bands like Gorilla Biscuits or Quicksand, one of my favorites.

Nevertheless, songs have to start somewhere – regardless of their final form – and I suppose an acoustic guitar is as good a place as any. Instead of splicing up the entire set, I took out just the two Quicksand songs Schreifels performed: Dine Alone (off Slip) and Thorn in My Side (off Manic Compression).

Dine Alone, as much of a hit as Quicksand ever had, might best be left plugged in, but Schreifels does some cool work with Thorn in My Side, including tapping out the opening drum line vocally.

Get the entire set with interview via AOL.

Walter Schreifels | Dine Alone (acoustic)
Walter Schreifels | Thorn in My Side (acoustic)

Also, Schreifels announced via MySpace that he’s released an album by Moondog, his pre-Quicksand band that never saw a proper album release. More information at Anthology Recordings, a digital-only label.

UPDATE: Quicksand fans can find video of the band performing Thorn in My Side on the old Jon Stewart Show here at YouTube. (Thanks, B.)