(Self-released, digital)
The young indie scene in a college town like Burlington has a slow revolving door. New bands come in, others go out, life happens, and one day your favorite local group is kaput. So it’s nice to see Greaseface, composed of childhood friends Jackson Glover, Liam Thomas and Brenden Provost, stick around to keep rocking out.
By all accounts, Greaseface are some of the nicest, most respected and raucous guys in Burlington’s rock scene. Nigh on a decade from their first release, their new LP, Brick & Mortar, is as tough and gritty as its title suggests. Greaseface continue to offer a meaty spread of fuzzy guitar, chunky bass and nor’easter drums. Sounds bend, swirl and grind under Glover’s urgent yelps.
Greaseface bring along some impressive talent on the new outing. This includes producer Nelson Antonio Hernandez-Espinal, known for his work with acclaimed Nigerian musician Mdou Moctar, who frequently rocks the Queen City. Local guests include Robber Robber guitarist Will Krulak and jazz composer Cam Gilmour.
In a sense, Brick & Mortar is the band’s biggest album to date, and not just because of its guest roster. It retains the scrappy, DIY basement-show vibes that longtime listeners have come to expect. Yet it also feels deeper and more puzzling than ever before. A small part of that comes from Glover’s album art, a REM-sleep I Spy full of arcane imagery and potential Easter eggs. If there’s a mystery to be solved, it might hold the key.
Energetic opener “Brick & Mortar” plummets from a moody, hypnotic riff into a stuttering clamor. In his signature vocal style that’s somehow both jagged and drawled, Glover declares, “B-B-B-Brick and mortar / Bouncing ’round my skull / Set up shop and sell shit / Right out of my mouth.” Though cryptic, the song conjures a struggle, possibly between what someone wants and what’s expected of them.
It’s tempting to take Greaseface’s lyrics literally, as they are often blunt and seemingly unambiguous — for example, the line “You fucked up my car” from their album of the same name. But it’s probably better to let their words fade into the searing din conjured on tracks such as the capricious “Broke Toe,” a brazen anthem crammed into little more than two furious minutes.
“Napkin Calc” is a slow-building maelstrom featuring Gilmour’s unhinged tenor sax. It recalls the low-pressure simplicity of late-’90s alternative before devolving into impressionistic sludge.
Greaseface have always had a knack for making discord sound like harmony, and that tendency is on full display throughout their new album. Overall, it’s a testament to how much these lifelong buds have grown together and nourished their sound.
Brick & Mortar is available at greaseface.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services.
This article appears in March 11 • 2026.
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