michael persico

Umm ... Drop

River City Extension

by Katherine Silkaitis

With a cello, trumpet, a couple mandolins and a djembe drum, River City Extension is “rebelling against music without feeling,” says vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Joe Michelini of his raucous sextet from the seaside township of Toms River, N.J. “No fake modern art.”

What’s that mean, exactly?

“Especially in the indie/acoustic genre, there are a lot of fake modern artists,” says Michelini. “A lot of people that like to shit on a piece of paper and hang it up in a museum. They like to play out of tune guitars, and they don’t really want to know how to tune them,” he continues. “I think that’s the biggest thing we want to take a stand against.”

The band’s first EP, Nautical Sabbatical, is a stunning combination of rabid country blues, Southern gospel and minimalist, post-modern harmony lines. Beautiful choruses coexist with snarled lyrics and pounding keyboards.

In addition to being sonically complex, the album is lyrically impressive too. Like many country and bluegrass tunes, the songs are narratives that reflect Michelini’s past.

As his writing has matured, Michelini has begun to explore the struggles he’s had with the Christian church and his religious upbringing. Doing so has helped his writing take on a new focus.

“Our interest is just getting the most commonly ignored passing moments and making them timeless. The little things that we think don’t mean as much—I feel like those are the things that end up shaping us.”