Ecce Shnak shares live performance in support of debut Shadows Grow Fangs' EP

Alternative art-rockers Ecce Shnak present 'Prayer On Love' Live at Backroom Studios, a class performance of one of the highlight tracks on their debut 'Shadows Grow Fangs' EP'. A quintet that seemingly never sleeps, they shared videos for the EP's high-energy title track and it's only ballad   'Stroll With Me', just a few weeks ago.

Throughout June, Ecce Shnak (pronounced Eh-kay sh-knock) will be touring with platinum-selling legends Spacehog and EMF, hitting the U.S. West coast. Kicking things off in San Jose, California on June 14, the tour wraps up on June 28 in Las Vegas.

Frontman David Roush is composer, bassist and one of two singers, joined by Bella Komodromos (vocals), Chris Krasnow (guitar), Gannon Ferrell (guitar), and Henry Buchanan-Vaughn (drums). 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.

Released via Record Man, Records, this EP showcases incomparable ingenuity and limitless invention, the NYC quintet delivering a sonic experience that blends art-rock and punk energy with some unexpected twists. Running the gamut from slow-burning meditations on love’s indispensability to mockery of the web from the perspective of a time-traveling poet, this EP is an intricately constructed, methodically fashioned, and undeniably offbeat... as serious and logical as it’s entertaining.

Recorded and produced by Jeff Lucci at the Art Farm (NY), this EP was mixed by Nicholas Vernhes  (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing, The War on Drugs) and mastered by Grammy award-winning sound engineer Joe LaPorta (David Bowie, The Weeknd, Foo Fighters, Vampire Weekend, FKA Twigs, Twenty One Pilots).

Ecce Shnak subverts notions of style, playfully but reverently embracing multiple forms across the spectrum, while addressing weighty themes and notable trivia with striking articulacy. 'The Internet' is an eclectic gem that makes a fine mockery of the web from the perspective of a time-travelling poet. 'Prayer on Love' is a downtempo groove-inducing opus and the lead track 'Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy' is a hammering 150-seconds about 19th Century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham,  combining math-metal, post-rock and choral anthems. Folk gem 'Stroll With Me' weaves classical guitar into a ballad about a beloved friend who chose to leave this Earth.

 
The 'Shadows Grow Fangs' EP is out now, available from fine music platforms, includingSpotifyApple Music, YouTube Music and Bandcamp.  Tickets for the Spacehog / EMF / Ecce Shnak tour are now on sale, as are tickets for Ecce Shnak's upcoming May 7 show at NYC's Mercury Lounge. They will be joined by blues-inflected leather-clad punk rock trio OBOY! and British psych-garage trio Tummyache.

CREDITS
Music written / composed by David Roush
David Roush - vocals, classical guitar, drum kit, keyboard
Jeff Lucci - electric guitar, electric bass
Isabella Komodromos -vocals
Recorded and produced by Jeff Lucci at the Art Farm (NY)
Mixed by Nicholas Vernhes
Mastered by Joe LaPorta
Video directed by Milton Walker and David Roush
Animation by Shuyler Nazareth
Produced by Beth Narducci and David Roush
Artist photos by Tommy Krause
A&R: Beth Narducci for You + Me Entertainment
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR

TOUR DATES (with EFM and Spacehog)
Jun 14   San Jose, CA  - The Ritz
Jun 15   San Francisco, CA  - Great American Music Hall (tickets)
Jun 17   Portland, OR  -  Star Theater
Jun 18   Seattle, WA  - The Neptune
Jun 20   Salt Lake City, UT  - Metro Music Hall
Jun 21   Denver, CO  - Oriental Theater
Jun 23   Phoenix, AZ  - Crescent Ballroom
Jun 24   San Diego, CA  - Music Box
Jun 26   Santa Ana, CA  - The Observatory
Jun 27   Los Angeles, CA  - The Regent
Jun 28   Las Vegas, NV  -  House of Blues


Keep up with Ecce Shnak
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Ecce Shnak announces tour with EMF & Spacehog, sharing new video for 'Stroll With Me'. Debut EP 'Shadows Grow Fangs' is out now

Alternative art-rockers Ecce Shnak are pleased to announce they will be touring with platinum-selling legends Spacehog and EMF. In June, the three bands will hit the U.S. West coast, with the electrifying NYC quintet delivering a sonic experience that blends art-rock and punk energy with some unexpected twists. Kicking things off in San Jose, California on June 14, the tour wraps up on June 28 in Las Vegas.

Ecce Shnak will be touring in support of their newly-released debut EP 'Shadows Grow Fangs', released via Record Man, Records - five tracks that showcase incomparable ingenuity and limitless invention. The quintet also present their endearing new video for 'Stroll With Me', unveiled hot on the trail of their latest clip for the high-energy title track

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 David 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 EP runs 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.

Recorded and produced by Jeff Lucci at the Art Farm (NY), their debut EP was mixed by Nicholas Vernhes  (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing, The War on Drugs) and mastered by Grammy award-winning sound engineer Joe LaPorta (David Bowie, The Weeknd, Foo Fighters, Vampire Weekend, FKA Twigs, Twenty One Pilots).

'Stroll With Me' is the first folk song in Ecce Shnak's catalogue. Here, David Roush plays his classical guitar as he sings of his beloved friend - a young woman who chose to leave the Earth from the sometimes overwhelming woes and chaos of conscious human life. He pays homage to her spirit and memory and vows to hold her precious for every day until his own death. In the video itself, his character Larry pays similar homage to the ghost of his dear friend Barbara.

They stroll together to a canoe on the bank of a river that is special to their history. They paddle to an island where he bids farewell to her and his attachment to her as a living being. Though he tries to call her back onto the canoe in a last moment of denial, she gently but firmly insists that he leave her and paddle himself home. However, before pushing his boat offshore, she bids him farewell with a set of gesticulations and expressions that are part of their selfsame language of precious charms and inside jokes. To help tell this tale, they evoke imagery from an old-time Swedish film that addresses some of the same themes, albeit in a totally different context.

David Roush explains, "Where that old tragicomedy is about religious war, famine, and pestilence, ours is a story of heartbreak about a single life that seems to have ended far too early. Either way, death is certain and unavoidable. Music is one of the only methods human beings have at our disposal to understand and accept this great and mysterious challenge of life. Here is our own music toward that end. To all those in grief, whomever or whatever its subject: we honor you in your own versions of these great challenges of life, and we are utterly grateful to stroll with you through it all. In love, melancholy, and roundabout spiritual triumph."

Ecce Shnak subverts notions of style, playfully but reverently embracing multiple forms across the spectrum, while addressing weighty themes and notable trivia with striking articulacy. The single 'The Internet' is an eclectic gem that makes a fine mockery of the web from the perspective of a time-travelling poet. 'Prayer on Love' is a downtempo groove-inducing opus and the lead track 'Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy' is a hammering 150-seconds about 19th Century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham that combines math-metal, post-rock and choral anthems.

 
The 'Shadows Grow Fangs' EP is out now, available from fine music platforms, includingSpotifyApple Music, YouTube Music and Bandcamp.  Tickets for the Spacehog / EMF / Ecce Shnak tour go on sale on Friday, March 7.

CREDITS
Music written / composed by David Roush
David Roush - vocals, classical guitar, drum kit, keyboard
Jeff Lucci - electric guitar, electric bass
Isabella Komodromos -vocals
Recorded and produced by Jeff Lucci at the Art Farm (NY)
Mixed by Nicholas Vernhes
Mastered by Joe LaPorta
Video directed by Milton Walker and David Roush
Animation by Shuyler Nazareth
Produced by Beth Narducci and David Roush
Artist photos by Tommy Krause
A&R: Beth Narducci for You + Me Entertainment
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR

TOUR DATES (with EFM and Spacehog)
Jun 14   San Jose, CA  - The Ritz
Jun 15   San Francisco, CA  - Great American Music Hall (tickets)
Jun 17   Portland, OR  -  Star Theater
Jun 18   Seattle, WA  - The Neptune
Jun 20   Salt Lake City, UT  - Metro Music Hall
Jun 21   Denver, CO  - Oriental Theater
Jun 23   Phoenix, AZ  - Crescent Ballroom
Jun 24   San Diego, CA  - Music Box
Jun 26   Santa Ana, CA  - The Observatory
Jun 27   Los Angeles, CA  - The Regent
Jun 28   Las Vegas, NV  -  House of Blues


Keep up with Ecce Shnak
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NYC's Ecce Shnak presents 'Shadows Grow Fangs' EP & future-creepy video for 'The Internet'

NYC-based outfit Ecce Shnak presents their debut EP 'Shadows Grow Fangs' via Record Man, Records, showcasing incomparable ingenuity and limitless invention over five songs. The quintet also present their new video for the title track

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 David 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 EP runs 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.

Recorded and produced by Jeff Lucci at the Art Farm (NY), their debut EP was mixed by Nicholas Vernhes  (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing, The War on Drugs) and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Greg Calbi (John Lennon, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Tom Petty, Todd Rundgren).

Ecce Shnak subverts notions of style, playfully but reverently embracing multiple forms across the spectrum, 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," says David Roush. 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.”

Ecce Shnak recently shared the single 'The Internet', an eclectic gem that makes a fine mockery of the web from the perspective of a time-travelling poet, following the downtempo groove-inducing opus 'Prayer on Love' and the lead track 'Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy' a 150-second track about 19th Century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham that combines math-metal, post-rock and choral anthems.

 
“Though we’re just releasing it now, the song 'Shadows Grow Fangs' is around 15 years old. I started writing it before I had even committed to a life as a musician, when I was a mere 25-year-old living and working in South Philadelphia, thinking I would become a psychotherapist some day. 'Shadows Grow Fangs' is about the tragic misunderstandings of ourselves, other people, and everybody’s wants and needs in those horrifying moments in which we feel abandoned and threatened. Tragically, sometimes people alienate ourselves from one another precisely when we need each other most. Worse still, sometimes we alienate ourselves from each other precisely when we could be of greatest help to one another," saysDavid Roush.

"The terrifying “shadows” of abandonment and the perils of conscious life “grow fangs” of merciless resentment, revenge, nihilism, and gross misanthropy. When we chomp each other in this state, we chomp ourselves, too. Maybe that was our point all along, but how could we know either way? We are terrified and confused. To be sure, a state of terror and confusion is rarely a state that gives rise to our best selves, but it is a state we often find ourselves in! It’s a hard to state avoid, as a human being anyway. How do we avoid this jackassery? This is not a bitter rhetorical question. It is a genuine moral challenge, and one of the basic moral challenges of a human life."

As of February 7, 'Shadows Grow Fangs' is available from fine music platforms, including SpotifyApple Music and YouTube Music. Ecce Shnak's EP release show will take place on February 26 at the Red Pavilion in New York.

CREDITS
Music written / composed by David Roush
David Roush - vocals, classical guitar, drum kit, keyboard
Jeff Lucci - electric guitar, electric bass
Isabella Komodromos - background vocals
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
Animation by Shuyler Nazareth
Produced by Beth Narducci and David Roush
Artist photos by Tommy Krause
A&R: Beth Narducci for You + Me Entertainment
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR


Keep up with Ecce Shnak
Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music | Booking | Press contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR
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NYC outfit ECCE SHNAK shares 'The Internet' single ahead of new 'Shadows Grow Fangs' EP

NYC-based outfit Ecce Shnak presents their latest single 'The Internet', the third offering from their 'Shadows Grow Fangs' EP, out February 7 via Record Man, Records. Here, the quintet makes a fine mockery of the web from the perspective of a time-travelling 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.

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).

"The internet unites us as much as it alienates us. It is an avenue of both extreme bigotry and genuine human empathy, transmitted through the wires in the ocean and on the lands. This technology is as ubiquitous as it is fun as it is dangerous. It amplifies every part of human nature exponentially: our banalities, our flaws, and occasionally, even our virtues. It is as boring as it is exhilarating," says David Roush.

"Even the technicians of this digital landscape cannot fully grasp its effect on our lives. In this very perilous moment in human history, the internet could either make things very horrible, or it might help us in some critical ways. It is the ultimate paradox of human creation. Hence the question, “What the fuck is the Internet?” (Cue down beat)"

This single follows the stunning downtempo groove-inducing opus 'Prayer on Love' and the lead track 'Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy' about 19th Century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, combining math-metal, post-rock and choral anthems in just 150 seconds.

Recorded and produced by Jeff Lucci at the Art Farm (NY), their debut EP was mixed by Nicholas Vernhes  (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing, The War on Drugs) and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Greg Calbi (John Lennon, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Tom Petty, Todd Rundgren).

Ecce Shnak subverts 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.
 
'Shadows Grow Fangs' 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.
 
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. His narrative style is much like listening to an Ecce Shnak song, which frankly makes the band's name perfect. ("Ecce" is Latin for “Behold!”)

'The Internet' is out now, available everywhere from fine music platforms, includingSpotifyApple MusicYouTube Music and Bandcamp. The ‘Shadows Grow Fans’ EP will be released on February 7.  

CREDITS
Music written / composed by David Roush
David Roush - vocals, classical guitar, drum kit, keyboard
Jeff Lucci - electric guitar, electric bass
Isabella Komodromos - background vocals
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 by Tommy Krause
A&R: Beth Narducci for You + Me Entertainment
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR

Keep up with Ecce Shnak
Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music | Booking | Press contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR
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NYC's genre-fluid ECCE SHNAK delivers blissfully pensive 'Prayer on Love' single

NYC-based outfit Ecce Shnak presents 'Prayer on Love', the second offering from their forthcoming 'Shadows Grow Fangs' EP, slated for release on February 7 via Record Man, Records. A pensive track, its guitars richly textured, its snare drums rattling, 'Prayer on Love' sees frontman David Roush’s vocals at their most distinctively beautiful. With it, they have shared a video directed by Brooklyn-based cinematographer Milton Walker.
 
“‘Prayer on Love’ is our most whole-grain rock song to date," says David Roush, "It’s a meditation on the nature of love and its diverse manifestations. It honors the complexity of love without declaring that it ‘is all we need'. The last verse is a celebration of the unique love in each person, all of our flaws notwithstanding: ‘Still my love is a star / Still my love’s a precious opportunity / and a miracle / flowing down the river of consequences and circumstances / and a self-same being.’”

This follows their powerful single 'Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy' about 19th Century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, combining math-metal, post-rock and choral anthems in just 150 seconds.


Recorded and produced byJeff Lucciat the Art Farm (NY), their debut EP was mixed byNicholas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing, The War on Drugs) and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Greg Calbi (John Lennon, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Tom Petty, Todd Rundgren).

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 byBella Komodromos(vocals),Chris Krasnow(guitar),Gannon Ferrell (guitar), andHenry Buchanan-Vaughn(drums).

This group subverts 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. Roush notes, “Each genre has its own manner of expression, mannerisms, history, motivations, virtues, flaws, limitations, and so on. 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' 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.
 
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's name perfect. “The meaning,” he concludes is, ‘look at this!’” (‘Ecce’ – Latin for “Behold!”)

The 'Prayer on Love' single is out now, available everywhere from fine music platforms, including SpotifyApple MusicYouTube Music and Bandcamp. The ‘Shadows Grow Fans’ EP will be released on February 7, 2025.  

CREDITS
Music written / composed by David Roush
David Roush - vocals, classical guitar, drum kit, keyboard
Jeff Lucci - electric guitar, electric bass
Isabella Komodromos - background vocals
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 by Tommy Krause
A&R: Beth Narducci for You + Me Entertainment
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR

Keep up with Ecce Shnak
Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music | Booking | Press contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR
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NYC chamber punk outfit ECCE SHNAK shares 'Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy', first single in 5 years

NYC-based art-rock outfit Ecce Shnak (pronounced Eh-kay sh-knock) presents the single 'Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy', dedicated to 19th Century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose skull is kept on display at the University of London. Their fourth release to date and first new music since 2019, they return to once again shatter notions of genre, while addressing weighty themes and notable trivia alike.

This first taste of their 'Shadows Grow Fangs' EP, slated for release in early 2025 via NYC-based imprint Records Man, Records, is 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, it’s interrupted by bursts of Queen-like harmonies and witchlike wails before punching through to bewitching keyboards and a bridge that would set off a cemetery mosh, only for a stern choral coda to arise like you’re now in a chapel coming around from an inadvertent knockout.

A 5-piece made up ofDavid Roush(vocals, electric guitar/bass),Isabella Komodromos(vocals),Chris Krasnow (electric guitar),Gannon Ferrell(electric guitar/bass),Henry Vaughn(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.

Since Roush formed the band in the mid-noughties, Ecce Shnak has been treading the high wire, leaping from craft to craft. Throughout their explorations, you’ll always find Roush tripping the light fantastic. Provocative and entertaining in equal, lavish measures, Ecce Shnak's performances are as vividly cartoonish as they are intellectually compelling, defying all earthly expectations.

"'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 “stale instrument",” says David Roush.  

"The comedic tragedy of Bentham’s 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 Fangs' EP 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 love’s indispensability to mockery of the web from the perspective of a time-travelling poet, and much more.

Recorded and produced by Jeff Lucci at the Art Farm (NY), the EP was mixed by Nicholas Vernhes  (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing, The War on Drugs) and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Greg Calbi (John Lennon, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Tom Petty, Todd Rundgren).

Roush once lived opposite Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, designed in line with English social reformer Jeremy Bentham’s 1791 circular prism plan. “He 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," elaborates David Roush, "A friend was working for their ‘Halloween Haunted Prison Experience’, so they were like ‘zombie’ prisoners, which was kind of funny, kind of absurd, but, in another way, horrible when you think about the reality. And I said, ‘Well, shit, I guess I have to write this song.’ So I went to the library, got a bunch of books and read.”

The song’s opening words? “Jeremy! What a show-off!"

Ecce Shnak might seem a frivolous moniker, but a great deal lies behind it. Ask frontman David Roush and, in his gentle, considered manner, he’ll point to the interjection ‘Ecce’ – Latin for “Behold!” – and the slang ‘shnokkered’, meaning ‘incoherently intoxicated’. Coincidentally, the German origin of ‘Roush’, ‘rausch’, also translates as ‘drunkenness’.

If there’s a fine line between wild-eyed, inspired genius and utter, irrepressible insanity, that’s where you’ll find these New Yorkers, teetering on a neon tightrope. They 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.

As of October 30, 'Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy' is available from fine music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Bandcamp.

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 by Tommy Krause
A&R: Beth Narducci for You + Me Entertainment
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR


Keep up with Ecce Shnak
Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music | Booking | Press contact

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