Recent Review: Home News Tribune - Pulse Section

"Sound Effects: Estella is making noise at the Court Tavern"
-- by Chris Jordan

Michael Nicosia of the Belmar-based alt-rock band Estella has an interesting credit for his instruments played on the band's MySpace page: "Guitars and noise."

"On the record, I spend a lot of time doing overdubs," Nicosia said. "I have a passion for different noisemakers with effect pedals and stomp boxes. My favorite part of playing is discovering new sounds and adding something that wasn't there in the beginning. Thinking outside of the box."

Thanks to the stomp box, Estella, the leaders of Jersey Shore noise rock, come to the Court Tavern in New Brunswick tonight. And what a noise. Languid, trippy, atmospheric, driving and reverbed out, you get a contact high just listening to it. Over the fuzz, vocalist Stephanie Scola contributes the perfect blend of haunting and seductive vocals.

"One of the biggest things for us is to play music that's a progression — we want to keep ourselves happy," Nicosia said. "Anybody can write the same four-minute pop song over and over again. We're doing it the way we like to do it, and we're not watering it down. We're having a lot of fun."

The group — Nicosia; Scola; John Beyer, drums; Dominic Nicosia, Michael's brother, bass; and Jeffrey Holt, guitar — formed in 2001 at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. They took a break in 2003 and resumed activities a year later. The band is finishing up a new album, which should be out by the summer.

Until then, catch them at venues like the Court and your friendly neighborhood basement show. But you probably won't see them playing Belmar, which the Jackson-raised Nicosia calls home, any time soon. "The places here charge $20 to get in, and the bands play the same four Bon Jovi songs over and over again," Nicosia said. "I can't wait to get out of here."

Recent Review: The Aquarian Weekly

"Rectifying The Difference With Estella"
-by Chris Barry

Estella is a central shore based four piece combining occasionally eclectic movements, variations and electric fugues with force, impact and delicacy; think Spectacle X, Spiraling or a more visceral Spyro Gyra meet the newly alien feel of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.

Estella is Stephanie Scola, vocals, Dominic Nicosia, bass guitar, vocals, Michael Nicosia, guitar, vocals, vocoder, noises, John Beyer, drums, percussion and Dan Wyche on guitar on selected songs, and some of the players in this unit were in a band fronted by Mike called Rectify The Names that left audiences both stomping their feet and spellbound on every song.

Their first CD is an 11 song disc called Our Attention, which was mixed by Sean Glonic of The Commons, and it has a powerful hand on the mix.

Michael Nicosia and his brother Dominick write most of the material, and I know I say this like a mantra about many bands, but the overall effect is just enthralling. Estella pull you in, mystify you like a child and it works. Michael was influenced by Godspeed, You Black Emporer and Hum, and he also credits The Smiths and The Catherine Wheel with having an influence on this current body of stuff.

Vocalist Scola just smoothly wails a vocal stream of consciousness following the dreamlike guitar of "Hands To Battle Stations" as sharply defined, galactically edged guitars and Beyer's stark tomtoms waltz alongside Stephanie's vocals like "My words will tell you nothing you don't already know..."

Heavy elektronika, spacey fadeouts and driving drumworks define "For Hire" giving it a futuristically funky yet cerebral feel. The fluidly moody arrangement gives life to "Stephen," with heavy to light guitars and goose-bumpy vocals that are mindful of Evanescence in a slower, paced out mode. From organic to ironic to carressing then simply midblowing seems to be the process rather than the effect, and another Evanescence-liek number comes together in "In a Season...," a song with more of a pop edge than others that goes from dense synth and vocal riff calamity to calm in a screaming heartbeat, with the polar bear in a snowdrift lyrical logic of "deeper snow leaves deeper footprints"...

Also dug the space rock/prog meets alternative of "Absence Of All Action" in a song that goes places Ashlee Simpson couldn't find with a laser beam. Also liked the upbeat inventory and thanks for a relationship that is "Greater Expectations," and the long hallway in outer space that becomes "Tourniquet Of The Century"...

Overall this band brings out a new level of intensity of indie rock, and I do not doubt that this is only a beginning to a long lyrical life and path for Estella. Like fawns grappling in the woods or dark orbs grazing each other in deep space, this band brings your head and heart to places you'd never go otherwise, and makes you yearn to return for another outing of adventure.

The Aquarian Weekly

Estella:

Estella is a four piece music group formed in the fall of 1999 in the greater suburban Monmouth County area. They now consist of Stephanie Scola- vocals, cello, piano, guitar, Dominic Nicosia- bass, vocals, piano, Michael Nicosia- guitar, keyboard, vocals, and John
Beyer- drums, percussion. After playing consistently for about 2 years the band went on a bit of a hiatus only to return to release their Debut CD titled "Our Attention" on newly formed Dead River Records. They are currently playing shows full time in the greater NJ/NY/PA area with tours and bigger plans in the works.

Estella treads a thin line, dancing between a heightened sense of lush melodic tradition, and epic, effects driven, blissfully controlled chaos. While the dual girl/boy vocal work seems to be enough to carry each song, there is an absolute insistence on instrumentation; more specifically, the music itself succeeding beyond the surface of a wonderful vocal; and without ruining or crowding the song. Because of this, the average listener could be fooled into listening to them for sheer entertainment, but getting a steady dose of true artistic expression while doing so; sort of like eating something that tastes good and is good for you.

Stephanie Scola: Vocals, Guitar, Cello.
Mike Nicosia: Guitar, Vocals, Effects.
Dominic Nicosia: Bass, Vocals.
John Beyer: Drums, Misc. Percussion.
Jeff Holt: Guitar

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