New York Art-Rockers ECCE SHNAK Colour Outside of the Lines on New Single “Privatization Jawn: іTurnit! / іBurnit!” [Song Premiere]

With the wonderful news that New York’s art-rock septet, Ecce Shnak will release their debut album, Metamorphejawns, on July 19th via Records, Man Records (find pre-order options here”), we even more stoked to be able to debut the new single “Privatization Jawn: іTurnit! / іBurnit!.” The group, who confirm their moniker is pronounced “Eh-kay Sh-knock,” take elements of pop, classical, and punk, marrying it into their own psychedelic brew of quirky-yet-catchy rock.

Founded and led by musician David Roush Ecce Shnak, as above-mentioned, boasts seven musicians including two guitarists, two “chamber singers,” a drummer and a bassist. Metamorphejawns follows the recent Joke Oso EP and was produced and recorded by Jeff Lucci, with mixing via John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Andrew W.K.), and mastering courtesy of Greg Calbi (Kacey Musgraves, Yo La Tengo, David Byrne, The National).

Okay, folks, this is your change to hear “Privatization Jawn: іTurnit! / іBurnit!” before everyone else.

Speaking of the new single, the band commented: “More than anything else, ‘Privatization Jawn’ is a zillion-parted rondeau-oid song for dauncinge. Though it contains some grave and serious words (which might have their own sneaky ambitions), its lyric are mostly meaningless. The song is meant primarily as a laugh to those which might daunce heartily. The track contains four earnest homages: one to the venerable Eugene Hutz; another, to a great visionary of drumming and sound all around, Ahmir Thompson, through its (hopefully successful) timbral ambitions; a third, to the dearest Brian Nowell, who was master of the band Blue Smiley; and a last, to Philadelphia. Oh yes, and one for all of space, too.”

Elaborating further, the band spoke of the upcoming debut album: “Everybody from Siddhartha Gotama to Ovid to your friend Larry will tell you that change is a basic challenge of human life. This fact is as old as the hills. But the present century, fraught with the perils of climate chaos, artificial intelligence, resurgent fascism, and other kinds of madness might be the most uproarious period in human history. While these wild winds are added to the storm of human life, the throes of romantic love, sexuality, and loneliness in the lives of individuals do not relent, either. Metamorphejawns is music that attempts to struggle with and respond to these endlessly changing changes earnestly and positively, both in seriousness and in good humor, with Ecce Shnak’s wildly idiomatic synthesis of styles, irreverent-but-not-misanthropic lyrics, and party attitude.”

Hungry? Grab a refreshing slice of “Harassment III: Applepineapplewatermelonapplepineapplewatermelon.”

What are “Metamorphejawns”? Are they the yawns of an ever-changing Jaws-like shark?
David Roush: Yes, but that is only one class of metamorphejawns. The general definition of “metamorphejawn” might run something like… ah… “a thing that changes.” So, basically, a “metamorphejawn” is just a thing, any old thing. A sock. A bomb. A hi-5. So yes, the yawns you spoke of are metamorphejawns, but so is everything else. (Man that shark sounds sweet.) ¡¡¡ since all things change !!! ¡¡¡ Whoa !!! But change is painful, frightening, and otherwise unpleasant! But change is (occasionally, temporarily) fun and even good! Change is necessary! The songs are, in part, little studies of the hoo-mohnn experience of change and the pain and seldom-but-occasional joy that accompanies it (thanks to Ovid, Buddha, Nietzsche, and many others here). Numerous heroes, enemies, and other strange figures in our symbolic and real world show up throughout the record, yo.

What does “Applepineapplewatermelonapplepineapplewatermelon” taste like and where can one find this fruit?
David Roush: The fruit’s taste: oh well it’s just a swell swish of sw’tsavorysolubles! Where you’ll find it: just look right in your cupboard, sillyshnak!

Would you consider your music to be an auditory interpretation of Salvador Dalí’s paintings?
David Roush: This is actually quite an astute observation![1] Have you seen our kind-of-intense-but-still-pretty-cool music video/short feelm for our song “Katy’s Wart?” It is a feminist dark comedy short/ heroine’s tale about two young women who get a shmuck to buzz off them. Runtime’s around 9 minutes. Part of it is live action (directed by Hollye Bynum of the Brookyln-band Razorbraids), but there is an animation portion of it toward the end created by Titmouse Studios. I actually asked them to reference Dali in their landscapes, and I think they pulled it off! If you haven’t seen it, here’s the link. Do you think so?

Gaze upon the “Privatization Jawn: іTurnit! / іBurnit!” single artwork:

What does this new single “Privatization Jawn: іTurnit! / іBurnit!” mean to you as a song, and is the single a glimpse into the forthcoming debut album?
David Roush: It does, however, contain four (4) earnest homages: one, to a strange Uncle, the One, Good, Venerable Eugene Hutz; another, to a great visionary of drumming and sound all around, the One, Good, Venerable Ahmir Thompson, through its (¡¿hopefully successful?!) timbral ambitions; a third, to the Dearest Brian Nowell, who was master of the band Blue Smiley, and also of the affections of any who met his dearness; and a last, to Philadelphia. Oh yes and one for all of space, too. Ecce Shnak sincerely hopes you do enjoy, “Privatization Jawn: ¡Turnit! / ¡Burnit!. And yes, the single is a glimpse, a whoa’?what’?s’?that? into the record, yo. It shows the music’s funniness (funny-strange!), and that it’s got a certain, well, juh-nuh-say-metamorphejawn. But then again, so does everything else. I do hope I have been of any help at all! Drat if I haven’t!

[1] It cannot be denied that interviewers who have acquainted themselves with Shnakian themes and the traditions they try to evoke are so very welcome. Thankooooo for doing so. It quite means a lot to us!

[2] This is the littler name of the song. As the Ecce Shnak fan rightly observes, our songs have long and strange titles. Therefore, each song has a littler name. We will reveal all of the littler names… all at once… or a little at a time. ;0

Upcoming Tour Dates:

06/22 – Ann Arbor, MI @ LoFi
06/23 – Chicago, IL @ Elastic Arts
07/04 – Brooklyn, NY @ Coney Island Brewery
08/24 – Burlington, VT @ Night Doll Fest

Have a look at the artwork for the Metamorphejawns full-length, due July 19th via Records, Man Records.