Spotlight: Brick by Sandy (Alex G)

2017 was a tense year. We saw “fake news” go viral on an unprecedented level. We saw sexual harassment silence breakers become Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.” We saw Harvey Weinstein, President Donald Trump, and others accused of sexual misconduct deny their past actions. Those are just two examples; I’m not even going to get into the Russia debacle. What’s relevant here is this: lies and misinformation dominated 2017 in a way I have never seen before. For me, no song captures the essence of 2017 better than “Brick” by Sandy (Alex G)

 

 

This song is straight up grimy. Dissonant, screeching guitars skate over the top of a blown-out bass line. Relentless, hip-hop inspired drums drag the whole ugly mixture forward at breakneck speed. It conveys pure, unrefined angst. Alex Giannascoli’s vocals emanate from the heart of this distorted wall. There’s no room for him to be verbose on such a raucous track. In fact, the lyrics are so sparse that I can include all of them here. He yells:

“You think I don’t, but I always fuckin’ do / Every time you tell me something untrue / Puts a brick in the wall between me and you / I know that you’re lying”

That’s it. That’s all he says on the whole song. Although this passage is repeated several times and the line “I know that you’re lying” is repeated even more, it’s still an extremely direct song. In that directness, there is clarity. Mistrust, frustration, and division come through unfiltered and without nuance. Alex Giannascoli’s delivery reinforces the words themselves; the entire song is shouted, without melody and without restraint. He sounds hoarse. He sounds fed-up. He sounds angry. In two minutes and twelve seconds, using a 31 word passage, he sums up the enraged skepticism of 2017 succinctly.

Perhaps more impressive than the song itself is how “Brick” fits in the context of Giannascoli’s catalog. It is, by far, his most overtly confrontational song. Most of his material is softer, better suited for a relaxed coffee shop set than a basement mosh pit. Along with the somber, barren beauty of “Mis” and the soft jazz of “Guilty,” “Brick” helps establish Sandy (Alex G) as a versatile artist, able to make vastly different genres his own. Ideally, his future work will include more genre-bending experiments. If “Brick” is any indication, his endeavors will sound fresh.

Sources: Genius.com, BBC Article on fake news, Time Article on silence breakers, Independent Article citing Trump’s denial of allegations, CNN article citing Weinstein’s denial of allegations, Vogue Article detailing other methods of denying allegations.