L7 – BRICKS ARE HEAVY LP – Nr MINT A2/B1 1992 ORIG GRUNGE PUNK

L7 – Bricks Are Heavy
(Slash Records  1992  8283071)
Matrix No’s: A2/B1

Sleeve & Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
– inner has small split in bottom

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

L7 is an American punk rock band founded in Los Angeles, California, first active from 1985 to 2001 and re-formed in 2014. Their longest standing lineup consists of Suzi Gardner (guitars, vocals), Donita Sparks (vocals, guitars), Jennifer Finch (bass, vocals), and Dee Plakas (drums, vocals). L7 has released seven studio albums and has toured widely in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. “Pretend We’re Dead” was heavily played on US alternative radio and entered the top 10 on the BillboardModern Rock chart in 1992.

Due to their sound and image, L7 is often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and as an all-female band, L7 has, at times, been linked to riot grrrl; although they preceded and are outliers of both the grunge and riot grrrl movements. L7 has been supportive of political causes, and formed Rock for Choicein 1991. A documentary film about the band, L7: Pretend We’re Dead, premiered in 2016.

Bricks Are Heavy is the third album by the Los Angeles band L7, released in April 1992 through Slash Records. Backed by the single “Pretend We’re Dead”, the album became a breakthrough hit and the band became the “poster girls” of grunge music.

The album was released shortly after grunge had broken into the mainstream with the surprise success of Nirvana’s Nevermind. In July 1992, the song “Pretend We’re Dead” gained popularity among American rock radio stations, where it received regular airplay. By late August, the album had reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers album chart, and two weeks later it peaked at No. 160 on the Billboard 200.

Musically the album is heavier and dirtier than the band’s previous recordings and described as “catchy tunes and mean vocals on top of ugly guitars and a quick-but-thick bottom of cast-iron grunge” by Entertainment Weekly. While the band retained its punk and hardcore punk roots, there was more emphasis on heavy metal than before. It was produced by Butch Vig, who is renowned for his work with bands such as Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth and, later, Garbage.

Track listing

Personnel

L7

• Donita Sparks – guitar, lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 10
• Suzi Gardner – guitar, lead vocals on tracks 6, 9 and 11
• Jennifer Finch – bass guitar, lead vocals on tracks 5 and 7
• Demetra Plakas – drums, backing vocals on “Pretend We’re Dead”

Additional musician

• Paul Ryan – bongos

Production

• Butch Vig – producer, engineer, mixing
• Howie Weinberg – mastering
• Steve Marker – engineer
• Mr. Colson – engineer
• Elizabeth Hale – art direction
• Jeff Price – art direction
• Randall Martin – artwork
• Vicki Berndt – photography
• Arlan E. Helm – photography
• Damion Romero – photography