The group was formed by Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan while he was studying at Columbia University,[1] along with Nashville-born singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell,[2] plus classmates Andrew Webster and Josh Phillips.
[4] 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 containers filled with dried grains and shaken.
By 1990 Bricks were playing shows with well-known indie bands, such as Fugazi, and at punk rock venues, like CBGB's in New York and the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC, before disbanding when members finished at Columbia.
[4] The band reunited in 1994 and were recorded live by Bob Weston at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. for an appearance on Simple Machines' Working Holiday!
Two more songs from Bricks' Albanian Christmas set—"Don't Hog The Nog, Zog" and "Abanian Magi"—surfaced on Simple Machines’ 7-inch singles series that same year.