Ecce Shnak - Shadows Grow Fangs [EP]

Pronounced: Eh-kay Sh-knock

Subverting all concepts of genre and style while playfully embracing the full spectrum of sonic opportunities, Ecce Shnak is truly a one of a kind band. Based in New York City, their art-rock endeavors span pop, classical, punk, and beyond as they tackle the wide variety of ideas that capture their interests most. – NYS Music

Straddling the fine line between frenetic brilliance and chaotic creativity, New York City’s art-rock ensemble Ecce Shnak thrives on energy, teetering on the edge of controlled mayhem – Post-Punk

New York’s Ecce Shnak return with their latest single, “Prayer On Love,” featured on the upcoming EP, Shadows Grow Fangs, due out February 7 via Record Man, Records. “Prayer On Love” is a pensive track, its guitars richly textured, its snare drums rattling, with frontman David Roush’s vocals at their most distinctively beautiful. With it, they have shared a video directed by Milton Walker. Watch + share via YouTube.

If there’s a fine line between wild-eyed, inspired genius and utter, irrepressible insanity, that’s where you’ll find Ecce Shnak, teetering on a neon tightrope. With Roush as composer, bassist, and one of two singers, he is joined by Bella Komodromos (vocals), Chris Krasnow (guitar), Gannon Ferrell (guitar), and Henry Buchanan-Vaughn (drums). This group subvert notions of style, playfully but reverently embracing multiple forms from across the spectrum, frequently within a single tune, while addressing weighty themes and notable trivia with striking articulacy. “Each genre has its own manner of expression, mannerisms, history, motivations, virtues, flaws, limitations, and so on,” Roush says. “At my best as a composer and lyricist, I listen to and respect each one, then whatever I take from their souls informs mine, inhabiting it, expanding, and merging.”

Shadows Grow Fangs is the latest in a list of releases that, though still too short, is on the verge of swelling. It showcases Roush’s incomparable ingenuity and limitless invention over five songs running the gamut from slow-burning meditations on love’s indispensability to mockery of the web from the perspective of a time-traveling poet – “What the fuck is the internet?!” Of course, this might sound a little ‘zany’, but it’s really not. Not at all. It’s intricately constructed, methodically fashioned, and – while undeniably offbeat – as serious and logical as it’s entertaining. Some have pointed to Franz Zappa (“Less of an influence than other bands he influenced”), Primus (“Any Primus fan I’ve known that has heard my music loves it, but I don’t know them well”) and Meshuggah.

Talking with Roush is like meeting a thoughtful stranger with extraordinary knowledge of the weird and arcane, a fascination for society and what led us to where we are, and a noteworthy ability to share stories in an enlightening and empathetic manner. Then finally, while you’re still absorbing all the information he’s imparted, he’ll tie the knot to complete this elegant necklace. His narrative style, in fact, is much like listening to an Ecce Shnak song, which frankly makes the band name perfect. “The meaning,” he concludes is, ‘look at this!’”