ECCE SHNAK – “JEREMY, UTILITARIAN SADBOY”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE
With so much new music flowing out of New York City these days, it should come as no wonder that today we should introduce our readers to the latest output (and first single 2019) from a fantastically quirky band from The Big Apple β namely heavy art-rock quintetΒ Ecce Shnak, who we have also previously supported.
Pronounced Eh-kay sh-knock, the name Ecce Shnak was not chosen arbitrarily, with βEcceβ meaning βBehold!β in Latin and βshnokkeredβ slang for βincoherently intoxicatedβ, according to founder and frontman David Roush, who formed the band in the mid-noughties, a bend known for their provocative and lavish, yet entertaining performances that are both highly animated and music that is meticulously crafted and intellectually compelling.
reviewing their Shadows Grow FangsΒ EP – their fourth release to date β is the invigorating singleΒ “Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy”, which surrounds an intriguing figure from the 19th Century β English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose skull is kept on display at the University of London.
Managing to defy genre-based pigeonholing, in just 150 seconds, Ecce Shnak vigorously fuse metal and math-rock with choral elements. An initial assault of heavy riffs and guttural vocals, before suddenly transmuting with the help of choral flourishes and time-signature changeups. Both jarring and exhilarating, the song progresses until climaxing with a powerful and anthemic conclusion. Mind blown!
Astonishing, Ecce Shnak effortlessly combines math-metal, post-rock and choral anthems in just 150 seconds. Opening with a ferocious roar and a knotty, funk-metal riff, itβs interrupted by bursts of Queen-like harmonies and witchlike wails before punching on through before transitioning to bewitching keyboards and a bridge that would set off a cemetery mosh, only for a stern choral coda to arise like youβre now in a chapel coming around from an inadvertent knockout.
A 5-piece made up ofΒ David RoushΒ (vocals, electric guitar/bass),Β Isabella KomodromosΒ (vocals),Β Chris KrasnowΒ (electric guitar),Β Gannon FerrellΒ (electric guitar/bass),Β Henry VaughnΒ (drum kit), Ecce Shnak is one part pop music, another part classical music and a third part punk music, creating songs about love, sex, death, change, bravery, and food.
“Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy” is a prog-punk psychiography of the father of utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham. Though he was a staunch advocate for basic social services for poor and working people, Bentham was also a tragically confused do-gooder who promoted solitary confinement for prisoners. His single weirdest move was neither good nor bad, but pretty morally neutral: he had his body taxidermied after he died so that his students could muse upon his body as a no-biggie, just a βstale instrument”,β says David Roush.
“The comedic tragedy of Benthamβs life is a fascinating story that raises many complicated questions around happiness, suffering, justice, politics, and the role of mortality in human life. However, in the wake of his confused advocacy for solitary confinement, a more straightforward message emerges in light of the injustices of the modern era. Regardless of any of the good intentions of its architects, our system of incarceration and policing is pointlessly brutal. It needs to be challenged and transformed: for the incarcerated, for undocumented people, for those on death row, and for their loved ones.”
An art-rock synthesis of pop music, heavy and classical music, Shadows Grow FangsΒ EPΒ (out in early 2025) is a raucous adventure through these styles that concludes with a folk song, a first for the band. Showcasing limitless invention, these five songs run the gamut from slow-burning meditations on loveβs indispensability to mockery of the web from the perspective of a time-travelling poet, and much more.
Recorded and produced byΒ Jeff LucciΒ at the Art Farm (NY), the EP was mixed byΒ Nicholas VernhesΒ Β (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing, The War on Drugs)Β and mastered by Grammy-winningΒ engineerΒ Greg CalbiΒ (John Lennon, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Tom Petty, Todd Rundgren).
Roush, who once lived opposite Philadelphiaβs Eastern State Penitentiary, designed in line with English social reformer Jeremy Benthamβs 1791 circular prism plan, shares. βHe said a criminal can redeem himself by contemplation on the crime and restoration in solitude, a really cute, liberal idea that was modified horrifically to the point where we have the brutal practice of solitary confinement. A friend was working for their βHalloween Haunted Prison Experienceβ, so they were like βzombieβ prisoners, which was kind of funny, kind of absurd, but, in another way, horrible when you think about the reality. And I said, βWell, shit, I guess I have to write this song.β So I went to the library, got a bunch of books and read.β
Released via NYC-based imprint Records Man, Records, “Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy” is available from fine music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music,Β YouTube MusicΒ andΒ Bandcamp. The same night, they lead the bill forΒ theΒ Shnakoween Burlesque BallΒ at Red Pavilion in Brooklyn, joined by Jack Powers and OBOY!
CREDITS
Music written / composed by David Roush
Vocals by David Roush and Isabella Komodromos
Keyboard by David Roush
Electric guitar & bass by Jeff Lucci
Drums by Erik Scattareggia
Recorded and produced by Jeff Lucci at the Art Farm (NY)
Mixed by Nicholas Vernhes
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Video directed by Milton Walker and David Roush
Produced by Beth Narducci and David Roush
Artist photos byΒ Tommy Krause
A&R: Beth Narducci forΒ You + Me Entertainment
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon forΒ Shameless Promotion PR
Ecce Shnak
[Single]
(Records Man, Records)
Release Date: October 28, 2024
ArtistΒ Links
Background Photo Credit: Tommy Krause
