Nobody has to tell NYC based musician Arthur Lamonica how to write a great pop song. He was a founder member of The Shirts, who became a big in The Netherlands and an underground favorite in the rest of the world. He is now the main man in Rome 56, with his wife Kathy Lamonica riding shotgun (and playing keyboards and providing backing vocals). The Transatlantic connection is still in place and the tracks for the new album Paradise Is Free where recorded on both sides of the big pond, with a bunch of kick ass local musicians laying down a fresh stack of melodic power pop tracks, with a sprinkling of New Wave and garage punk to give it an edge.
Lamonica's modus operandi as a songwriter is pretty straightforward: find a subject that is close to home, rummage through his huge collection of hooks and riffs, and presto: another fresh sounding song that is familiar somehow. It is a gift he puts to good use when he describes a visit to Seattle (spoiler: he never went there) or feels the urge to leave the bar but something is holding him back (Invisible Man). With a nasal vocal delivery not unlike Elvis Costello, he tells personal stories that will strike a chord because the themes are universal. Recommended if you like the tougher side of Big Star.
NL musicians:
Loek Nooter: guitar (track 1, 3, 4,5)
Nino Channa" drums (track 1, 3, 4,5)
Kasper Stern: bass (track 1, 3, 4,5)
Anna Roosje De Blecourt: vocals (track 1,3, 4,5)
Tseroeja Van Den Bos: viola (track 2)
NY musicians::
Derek Cheever: electric guitar and bass (tracks 7, 11, 12)
Edgar Goss: drums (tracks 7, 11, 12)
Anand Gan: drums & keys (track 10)
Amy Lipman: bass (track 9)
Paradise Is Free is released via Think Like a Key (CD, digital).
Tracks:- The Man Behind The Man With The Gun
- Hustle Of The Crowd
- Fire In The Sky
- Seattle
- The End Of The Street
- Paradise Is Free
- Invisible Man
- A Simple Way To Go
- Some Say
- The Midnight Sun
- Dry Ice
- Give Myself Up To You