Music INSIGHT
PACE HOUSE’S
Forever Existing Place
by Benjamin Nunnally
T
o dismiss the unusual as simply "weird"
is a disservice to creativity.
Weirdness can be a harder pill to swallow, but it's medicine all the same, broadening intellectual horizons, introducing new
concepts, and maybe spooking the squares
a bit for fun. With a band like Pace House,
weirdness abounds.
When drummer Elliot Russo's off-kilter toms
kick off "The Wait", the band's first single from
their debut CD, "A Balancing Act", there's
something that grabs your ear in a way modern radio can't. The churning guitars of singer
Paul Costa, guitarist Mason Paris and bassist
Taylor Adams complete a tumbling-downthe-rabbit-hole vibe, but the important detail
is that wherever it’s going, the music doesn’t
toss the listener aside; it’s not quite a singalong, but neither is it oppressive.
“They’re not tunes you can hum later, but it’s
an experience,” said Costa.
The songs don’t have repeating parts to cling
to; no verse-chorus-verse structures appear
throughout “A Balancing Act”. Their overall
structure demands attention, pulling audiences from idle listening to actively participating.
September 2015
INSIGHT