“Velociraptor Swayze” (Ecce Shnak song)

EcceShnak2_sm — Ecce Shnak, photo by Averie Cole

Ecce Shnak is a seven piece art pop band from New York and its new single the eccentrically titled “Velociraptor Swayze” virtually overflows with musical ideas that might not otherwise work together if not for the group’s unique musical imagination. The rhythms are compound and free flowingly evolving throughout with dynamics suiting the emotional mode of the moment. And it’s a song about someone who broke the narrator’s heart with the prescription to go after the perpetrator like the titular velociraptor but in heroic and dramatic fashion like Patrick Swayze in, say, Road House or even Dirty Dancing. One of the lyrics is, “Bring me his head on a birthday cake.” There are no words minced here but it is couched in an upbeat and bright song with a lot of sonic color filling out the minimal percussion. Through that bit of creative legerdemain the band transmogrifies despair into an absurdist flight of fancy without dishonoring the feelings that inspired the song. Fans of of Montreal and Bitte Orca-period Dirty Projectors will appreciate the idiosyncratic songwriting sensibilities on display here.

The group will release its new album Metamorphejawns on July 19 through Records, Man Records. Following that Ecce Shnak will celebrate the occasion with a pay-what-you-can event called Shnakfest at 267 Wyckoff St. in Brooklyn on July 20. The proceeds will benefit the grassroots climate change organization Extinction Rebellion and the New Sanctuary Coalition. Only the incredibly unperceptive, delusional and invested-in-fossil-fuel-industry types are refusing to recognize that human caused climate change that will destroy all economies and most all life on earth is a thing right now and not after we’re all dead. Also, basic human rights recognize no boundaries and the inhumane system of detentions and deportations existing in the USA is neither moral or effective. The festival will include, according to the press release, several “rishankulously love other bands from NYC and beyond” as well as aerlists, clowns, flame eaters, sword swallowers and other such refinements. But if you can’t make that you can check out the single below and follow the septet at the links provided.