by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Disorientation seems to be the key for Brooklyn’s ESSi, the duo comprised of Jessica Ackerley (guitar/vocals/effects) and former Yvette drummer Rick Daniel (drums/synth/effects). Set to release their full length debut, Vital Creatures, on October 4th with Ramp Local (Spirits Having Fun, Buck Gooter, Signal), their sound is mechanical and alien, an experimental post-punk dive in the dark shadows of the future. Sounds blip and skronk, twitch and burrow their way under your skin with a sinister presence, and their ability to establish that within moments is rather impressive.
“Fly By,” the record’s second single (following “Pines and Cones”) is simplistic and repetitive at its core, but nothing ESSi does is ever void of the manipulated intelligence where nothing is quite as it seems. Blending together elements of industrial, noise rock, and dare I say the finer outsider points of nu metal, their single is brooding but also enveloping. Opening with a barrage of atonal bursts and enormous stubbed rhythms, the song wriggles around in their dystopian atmosphere, gaining momentum and squirming itself right into the eye of the storm. They push the limits and the framework, keeping themselves locked in place but shattering the walls all around them.
The video, directed by Britt Ciampa, captures the sound of the song with colors emanating from the darkness and a latex figure that convulses in time with the growing madness.