New Jersey-based indie pop-rock duo Brick + Mortar have dropped their first full-length album Meta Meta Etc. independently today after a decade of single and EP releases with subsidiary labels such as Photo Finish Records (Marian Hill, MisterWives, 3OH!3). Considered their most intimate and cherished body of work to date, the 13-track album includes their current single Saturday Nightwhich the band unveiled with Billboard (https://bit.ly/BMxBBpremiere) one day in advance. The track landed on Spotifys official New Noise playlist alongside Bishop Briggs, grandson, Joywave, and several other buzzing artists. Meta Meta Etc. is available for purchase and streaming everywhere now, here: https://brick-mortar.lnk.to/
With over a decade of grinding under their belt, the band has toured relentlessly and shared the stage with some of the top players in the game including Manchester Orchestra, The Front Bottoms, Imagine Dragons, Awolnation, Phantogram, and Jimmy Eat Worldwhile also performing at festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bunbury, Riot Fest, and many more. Their most streamed track on Spotify,Locked In A Cage, has +5 million plays and was featured on MTV’s Catfish, HBO’s 24/7 Pacquiao-Bradley, and Need For Speed: Rivals. A handful of their other singles in their collection can be heard on Hitman: Agent 47, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, CBS’ Elementary, and CW’s Tomorrow People to name a few.
Brick + Mortar is an independent band from Asbury Park, NJ. The band consists of long-time best friends, Brandon Asraf (bass, vocals) and John Tacon (drums, electric samples, vocals), who bonded as teenagers over their mutual love of music and sense of alienation. The pair built a world for themselves musically by combining catchy melodies, eclectic electronic elements, and intense live instrumentation. Brandon’s lyrics draw from his struggle to cope with issues of abandonment, anxiety, depression, and being the son of an international fugitive and con man. As the band matures, they continue to explore darker themes of the human condition with the intention of encouraging empathy, positivity, and self-motivation. Brick + Mortar’s energetic live performance paired with the visuals and antics of Richie Brown form a circus-like stage-show pregnant with psychological subtext and celebrations of the strangeness of existence.
While languishing for a few years in label limbo, the pair began working on Meta Meta Etc. in late 2015. “We didn’t mean to take a long time, but the legal stuff made it take a little longer,” Asraf explains. “It was more challenging, but I’m glad it was that hard. We learned so much from struggling, and we wanted to do the record ourselves.” Together, Asraf and Tacon took the lessons learned from working with various producers over the years and made the record themselves, pouring their literal hearts and souls into the final product.
Meta Meta Etc‘s 13 tracks take cues from a variety of soundsPink Floyd’s trippy rock motifs, the psychedelic pop of MGMT, and the anthemic call-to-arms vibes found on modern rock radioto express emotions and perspectives that will undoubtedly be relatable to listeners far and wide. The nocturnal groove and estimable swagger of the single “Saturday Night” might seem like a classic party jam on first approach, but listen a little closer and you’ll hear a sense of generational despair connected to the more-more-more trajectory of society.
“I’m much more concerned with how a song makes someone feel than I am about expressing our technical prowess,” Asraf states when talking about his and Brick + Mortar’s artistic missionand that’s more than evident while listening to Meta Meta Etc., an album representing thoughtful passion that’ll move your body as much as it’ll change your perspective. Music has always healed and helped, and Brick + Mortar want you to join them in their own personal journey of personal betterment. Are you going to join them, or what?