ELLiS·D: I Want To Be Everything You Desire
Out Now
Fat Dog drummer and musical everyman releases a short, sharp blast from the recent past on his newest single, in between extensive European touring commitments. MK Bennett gets reacquainted.
Ellis clearly is not simply the drummer, despite his excellence in that role. The polyrhythmic polymath who recorded everything on this release in one ten hour recording session has a definite need to express himself far beyond the drum stool, and we should all be grateful. This continues a run of outstanding previous singles, including the superlative surf-tastic wonder of Drifting, of which there is enough to put out an album by now, something his people, or, given the extremely DIY nature of his work, he himself, should consider releasing. It would be a mini classic, and more than worthy of everybody’s time and ears.
Ostensibly a post-punk anthem to hopeful desirability, it ticks off an enormous number of smile-inducing boxes from the beginning, with the guitar in particular an elegant display of Creatures/Banshees/Public Image’s high treble melodic twists and turns, while the rhythm section clatters away gloriously in the background.
It starts with a proper old school punk bassline before he intones the title in hushed breaths and the whole lot falls into place like a dustbin dropped down a narrow staircase. Immediately reminiscent of the carefree swagger of early Supergrass and Talking Heads, the vocal a delirious and delightful mix of angsty CBGB’s era scratchy paranoia and Big Star/ Modern Lovers boyish insouciance. The guitars never sit still, especially in the verses, where there’s a lovely two-note repeated pattern over a busy, Cramps-like riff, which jumps and squirms and resolves back into the chorus beautifully.
The chorus remains a plea to whoever it is written for, but the urgency here means it’s definitely written for, it’s personal, it’s a mixtape in the form of a song. The rush of the thing is key; the short rhythmic breakdowns are only a brief respite before being flung back into the swirl of the verses. The adrenalin fuelled and speed soaked atmosphere is partly explained when he says, “I wrote a bunch of ideas for the lyrics on a drive between shows on a tour in April with Fat Dog, where we were supporting as well,”. “I was on a high from performing twice a night and loving every second of each show, and the lyrics are a reflection of that feeling, where I can step into a character and portray a version of myself that I struggle to replicate in day-to-day life.”
Even the cover is a knowing reference to those self-made cardboard sleeves of the past, with the star of the show peering out at his audience, who cannot know whether that xeroxed page is a nervous disposition or dramatis personae. But there’s a thin line in the difference, and the brilliance of the song means we will just have to wait and see, so while it crawls and jitters with this much style, and these unpolished diamonds keep on arriving, cross your heart and kiss your fingers.
ELLis.D’s Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp
All words by MK Bennett, you can find his author’s archive here plus his Twitter and Instagram
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