Manchester noise pop newcomers Brickhouse, debut with new single "Angel Eyes"
Manchester-based four-piece, Brickhouse release their debut single Angel Eyes, a track picks at gritty grunge and noise-pop influences while dialling into the heroin haze of 60’s experimental rock. Focusing the mind on themes of memory and loss and evoking the uncompromising static of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the measured rebellion of The Velvet Underground, the reverb-heavy introducer counts as immediate, vital listening.
Written by charismatic vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Owain Sharp, on an acoustic guitar in his childhood bedroom over a solitary Christmas, the song deals with the aftermath of an ended relationship and the difficulty in separating the past from the present.
Once the track had been filtered through the full band, Angel Eyes’ sense of intimacy became expansive with wiry lead hooks snaking over tidal, distorted rhythm guitars, while Brickhouse’s rhythm section employs sharp economy as a weapon. Making for a smoky, late-night mood, Angel Eyes’ final sense of chilled darkness and romantic frustration combines with volume, release and kinetic, live energy.
Sharp explains: “Angel Eyes is, at its core, about being haunted. Not in the supernatural sense, but rather the persistent melancholy. The lingering of memories after losing a lover and being unsure as to how to help yourself let go and be released from the curse of seeing someone in everybody else you meet.
“Sonically, the track draws from the Reid brothers and Lou Reed and the gang but also Sonic Youth and The Stooges. What they all did came to redefine the eras that they worked in. While those references are vintage, ‘Angel Eyes’ came out of the studio sounding like something with echoes of then but definitely something also of the now.”
Brickhouse consists of Sharp (vocals/rhythm guitar), Max Duffy (lead guitar/backing vocals), Alex Price (bass) and Freddie Haigh (drums). Brickhouse previously played together at during their formative years in the Calderdale Valley before continuing to explore the project’s possibilities while at university in Manchester.
Brickhouse worked with producer/mixer Pranam Mavahalli (a.k.a DJ Astrolayb) on Angel Eyes, contributing additional arrangement and instrumentation, including guesting on piano, as well as engineer, Seadna McPhail.
You can watch the official video for Angel Eyes on YouTube below:
You can catch Brickhouse live this summer, confirmed dates listed below:
Fri 17 July: Leicester, Big Difference
Sat 18 July: Manchester, The Abbey
Sat 12 September: Macclesfield, Mash
For more information about Brickhouse
