Solid Progressive Rock From Joe Pacilio of Woodbridge
If you like Queens Of The Stone Age, Porcupine Tree, Rush, Symphony X or even Foo Fighters, you’ll like what Woodbridge musician Joe Pacilio is laying down on his Damned If You Do EP. He calls it “a five-track exploration of emotional duality, consequence and resilience.” The sound is somewhere between the ambition of prog-rock and the grit of alt-rock, complete with soaring melodic lines, dynamic shifts, intricate instrumentation and the almighty shred. It’s both raw and cinematic at the same time. As he says, “each track confronts a moment of tension: decisions that cut both ways, seemingly in contradiction with each other amid the cost of choosing to care.”
Pacilio based “Feels Like The First Time” on the life and times of French volcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft who died for their research in 1991 when Mount Unzen in Japan erupted. When first responders found Maurice’s body, they noticed his watch had stopped at 4:18 so Pacilio made 4:18 the exact length of the song. “Cannot Abide” protests the lack of today’s societal norms. “Only You” is a purely powerful statement about those who “give with one hand and take with the other.” Pacilio calls it “a groove-based rock song with electronic elements that captures the beauty and fear of creative vulnerability.” The EP ends on a strong note with the addiction-themed “The Spell,” introspective, haunting and building to a shattering climax.
Born in Brooklyn, this singer/songwriter-multi-instrumentalist played all the guitars, bass and keyboards with drummer-producer Pete Andrews. He’s been a Woodbridge resident for the last seven years, and you can catch him often performing at Pino’s Open Mic night in Highland Park.
(Advertisement)