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Bricks were an
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band founded in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
in the late 1980s. The group was formed by
Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded ...
co-founder
Mac McCaughan Ralph Lee "Mac" McCaughan (; born July 12, 1967) is an American musician and record label owner, based in North Carolina. His main musical projects have been Superchunk since 1989 and Portastatic since the early 1990s. In 1989 he founded the inde ...
while he was studying at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
, along with
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...
-born singer-songwriter
Laura Cantrell Laura Cantrell (born July 16, 1967) is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Cantrell moved to New York City from her native Nashville to study English at Columbia University. She briefly recorded songs with ...
, plus classmates Andrew Webster and Josh Phillips. The foursome recorded at least 18
lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...
songs between 1988 and 1990, which they released on a cassette and two 7" singles before disbanding. Their first single, "Girl With The Carrot Skin", enjoyed
college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
airplay and was also made into a
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...
. Shot on
super-8 Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The film is nominally 8 mm wide, the same as older formatted ...
film, the video featured the band eating and playing with copious amounts of carrots.


History

Bricks was started by Mac McCaughan and Andrew Webster in 1988 while the two were roommates on 108th Street in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
. McCaughan has just returned to Columbia University from a year off and began recording songs on a four-track cassette tape recorder. One night while recording with headphones on, McCaughan heard a loud noise and, thinking it was a gunshot, hit the floor. It turned out to be a brick that a neighbor had thrown through their apartment window, and thus the band named themselves "Bricks" in tribute to the event. Because McCaughan and Webster had no space for a drumkit in their apartment, percussion sounds were made with household objects, such as empty juice bottles hit with sticks, or
Tupperware Tupperware is an American home products line that includes preparation, storage, and serving products for the kitchen and home. In 1942, Earl Tupper developed his first bell-shaped container; the brand products were introduced to the public in 1 ...
containers filled with dried grains and shaken. The duo soon recruited Josh Phillips because he was taking drum lessons, and then Laura Cantrell to help keep time and sing. Many of the band's songs were about life in the apartment, where the band continued to practice. The group also recorded a set of
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...
n
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
songs. Between his junior and senior years at Columbia, McCaughan drove across country to visit
Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designate ...
during the week that
Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. ...
's first single was released. Seeing the operations of the label at the onset of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
's
grunge music Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of pu ...
scene inspired McCaughan to found
Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded ...
, among whose first releases were Bricks' ''Winterspring'' cassette (MRG001, featuring the first seven songs recorded by the McCaughan/Webster duo) and "The Girl With The Carrot Skin" single (MRG005, featuring all four members), both released in 1989. By 1990 Bricks were playing shows with well-known indie bands, such as
Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...
, and at punk rock venues, like
CBGB's CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', K ...
in New York and the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC, before disbanding when members finished at Columbia.


Member activity post-Bricks

After her time deejaying on Columbia's radio station WKCR, Cantrell hosted ''Radio Thrift Shop'', a
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...
show on freeform radio station
WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, ...
that aired from 1993 to 2005. In 1996 she began recording and releasing her own country music records, with her first full-length album ''
Not the Tremblin' Kind ''Not the Tremblin' Kind'' is the debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell. It was released in 2000 on Diesel Only Records. The album bears a dedication to "the original Beverly Hillbilly", Zeke Manners. Critical rece ...
'' launching in 2000. McCaughan moved to
Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange, Durham County, North Carolina, Durham and Chatham County, North Carolina, Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States Ce ...
and co-founded the band
Superchunk Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of t ...
in 1989, releasing the group's first singles on Merge Records, the label he launched and continues to run with Superchunk bassist
Laura Ballance Laura Jane Ballance (born February 22, 1968) is the bassist in the rock band Superchunk (also contributing occasional backing vocals) and co-founder of Merge Records along with Mac McCaughan. In 2013 she announced that she would no longer be tour ...
. In 1992 McCaughan started
Portastatic Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s as a solo project of Mac McCaughan, singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk. The project has since expanded into a full band, sometimes including Superchunk gui ...
as a solo recording project, which later became a full-fledged band. Webster went on to play bass in the
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county i ...
band
Tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
while working in documentary film production. He has also appeared in the bands Geek, Piper Club and the Strugglers. Phillips is currently the chair of the English department at the University of Memphis.


Reissues and reunions

Bricks' original sessions were later compiled on the 1992 CD ''A Microphone And A Box Of Dirt'', named for a line in the song "Spy Kitty". Through an accounting error, each band member was paid $1,000 for the album's sales. The band reunited in 1994 and were recorded live by
Bob Weston Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over th ...
at the
Black Cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bomba ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
for an appearance on
Simple Machines A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually the term re ...
' ''
Working Holiday! ''Working Holiday!'' is a compilation album released on the Simple Machines label in 1994. It is a collection of tracks by American indie bands which were originally released on a series of 12 7" singles by Simple Machines as part of the Work ...
'' compilation album. Two more songs from Bricks' Albanian Christmas set—"Don't Hog The
Nog NOG or Nog may refer to: * Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mixed martial arts fighter, also known as "Big Nog" * Antônio Rogério Nogueira, Mixed martial arts fighter, also known as "Little Nog" * Nog (''Star Trek''), fictional character, a young F ...
, Zog" and "Abanian
Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin '' magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius t ...
"—surfaced on Simple Machines’ 7" singles series that same year.


Discography

*''Winterspring'' cassette album (
Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded ...
, 1989) *"The Girl With The Carrot Skin" 7" single (Merge Records, 1989) *"The Getting Wet Part" 7" single (Merge Records, 1992) *''A Microphone And A Box Of Dirt'' compact disc compilation (Merge Records, 1992) *''Welcome To The Working Holiday Party'' 7" EP (
Simple Machines A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually the term re ...
, 1994)


Compilation appearances

*"You Shouldn't Have Smashed Your Guitar" on the ''Rows Of Teeth'' CD (Merge Records, 1994) *"Girl With The Carrot Skin" (live) on the ''
Working Holiday! ''Working Holiday!'' is a compilation album released on the Simple Machines label in 1994. It is a collection of tracks by American indie bands which were originally released on a series of 12 7" singles by Simple Machines as part of the Work ...
'' double CD (Simple Machines, 1994) *"History of Lies" on the ''Old Enough To Know Better'' 3-CD set (Merge Records, 2002)


References

{{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups from New York City Merge Records artists