It’s not quite a punk band or completely polished pop act: B+M are organic. Their shows are ridiculous, but their songs have a message. Brandon Asraf is the man behind the music, drawing inspiration from his youth filled with anxiety, depression, and the social complexities of being the son of a con man, smuggler & international fugitive. He has lived a life stranger than most, his songs painting a picture of his journey through every lyric. Brick + Mortar was born on Brandon’s little brother’s couch, with his buddy John Tacon; a big experiment with small expectations. In 2012, the duo signed to Mad Dragon Record Label at Drexel University with the opportunity to be featured on the record Making Moves; a inch record produced by Motion City Soundtrack. Three records, multiple festival appearances, and countless tours later (Including runs with The Front Bottoms, Yoke Lore, The Unlikely Candidates, and Anthony Green), Brick +Mortar have perfected the art of blending the authenticity and emotion of a one on one living room performance with an over the top, The Flaming Lips-esque visual performance.
Throughout the years, their goal has stayed the same: to make the music their hearts and minds lead them to make. They’re just glad that you listen.
Jhariah
Since 2017, 22-year old Brooklyn-based musician and polymath Jhariah Clare (he/they), who records and releases music as Jhariah, has been building a thrilling, fiercely original musical universe. People have caught on quickly. His track “Flight Of The Crows,” from his 2021 EP A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO FAKING YOUR DEATH, has racked up 10.5 million plays on Spotify. And Jhariah’s upcoming second LP is a manifesto of sorts for a new music culture—and it is his most daring, important work yet.
This forthcoming release is a brain-expanding, borderless record that fuses dance-punk, emo, prog rock, and hardcore with pop, hip-hop, Latin dance, and more. This bold, brilliant blend of influences soundtracks a Gen-Z odyssey through self-doubt, family conflict, Catholic upbringing, and through it all, a desperate, iron drive to succeed, and to share art with the world.
“The more I got into writing this album and the more I got to conceptualizing it, it kept getting bigger and grander, and I had all these wild ideas for what I wanted to do,” says Jhariah. “I wanted it to be the most monumental thing in the world.”
Jhariah was impatient to release this record, but as they watched their contemporaries like Billie Eilish, Poppy, and 100 gecs mutate what pop could be, they saw the boundaries of genre being chipped away. We had entered an era where threads from Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance, and System of a Down could coexist with tastes from Tech N9ne, Amine, Dua Lipa, and Lil Nas X. “I feel like everything is sort of shifting into place for this album,” they grin.
Jhariah wrote and recorded the majority of the record in his childhood bedroom in his parents’ home, and when he moved out for college, he continued the process in the studio he set up in his first apartment. He still prefers to start his songs alone—he can take his time and make sure everything is just right—but to properly execute his vision, he worked with some trusted and loved collaborators.
The record’s ambition and energy are bottled in the breakneck sprint of lead single “RISK!,” an electric, impassioned cry for success: “I can’t take another day, I need some change/I need more to put behind my name,” Jhariah belts on the chorus, soaring into falsetto and back. The second verse dips into throttling hardcore before swerving back to its Latin-punk beat, and there are several other movements and genre plays before it seems like the track is done—but then it hums back to life with a dizzying boss battle music cue, and the groove slows down to a keys-led reggaetón slink.
It’s Jhariah’s time. This album is the start of something new. It comes out in February.
Pollyanna
Pollyanna, a four piece New Jersey band consisting of power-pop, loud rock, bubble grunge, and punk influences consists of lead singer and guitarist Jill Beckett, drummer Daniel McCool, bassist Brandon Bolton, and guitarist Jack Rose. Their name directly derives from the dictionary definition, “to be unreasonably or illogically optimistic” – perfectly describing front-person Jill Becket’s ‘stuck in 2017’ incredibly optimistic attitude. After meeting in the first grade, Dan and Jill started the band at just 13 years old, eager to create and play music that would reach audiences beyond the confines of Jill’s open garage doors. Brandon made them a trio in early 2019, bringing 90’s femme punk influence to the group. At the start of 2021, Jack completed the bands lineup, adding his elemental stabby guitars and love for shoegaze and metal into the mix. After completing almost 5 tours around the east coast and the midwest, Pollyanna has won over a following in the New Jersey music scene along with cities in the tri-state and beyond. They plan on growing as far as possible and leaving a unique mark in the music industry.
Raccoon Tour
Raccoon Tour is the musical brainchild of Boise, Idaho native Nate Burr.
Combining elements of nostalgia, fantasy, and mischief, Raccoon Tour is setting out to create a unique world for listeners to explore. Burr mixes and matches influences ranging from indie, punk, emo, electronic, skramz, and pop while writing music exclusively on a 4 string ukulele and iPad to jot down ideas. Raccoon Tour’s music is full of warm callbacks to childhood and explorations of religion, with upbeat and catchy melodies to catch one’s attention while unexpectedly slipping dark and introspective lyrics into the picture.
Their debut album, The Dentonweaver, was released through I Surrender Records and is a whirlwind adventure through the tribulations of childhood, class consciousness, responsibility, and ultimately death. Being engineered and produced by Brett Romnes (Lincoln, I Am The Avalanche, and The Front Bottoms) and conceptualized throughout Burr’s high school years, The Dentonweaver was released to a fairly warm reception, garnered a small cult following, and even got some nice user reviews on some cute little music websites. Nate Burr says, and I quote, “Those were very nice to read.”
Raccoon Tour consists of Nate Burr, Trey Wells, Jeremy Abbott, Randy McCurdy, and Angus McBangus.
