Buscadero
ITALIAN MAGAZINE
Arthur Lamonica is one of those musicians who have crossed multiple eras without losing authenticity.
Voix De Garage Grenoble
Pony Tales Review 12/3/26
... it's charm very quickly acts!...Rome 56 explodes the artificial barriers that separates Rock from Pop to pour one into the other and add a Little Folk, Cabaret and Cinema in order to obtain a very elegant cocktail, ,
powerpopaholic.com
Dec 5, 2025
Tracks Magazin 5/12/2025
The 12 songs on Paradise Is Free offer a relaxed blend of Tom Petty, Sixties elements (byrds), & a touch of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan
Key figure of Rome 56 is singer-songwriter guitarist Arthur Lamonica. Quiz question for the older young people among us: 'Which band in the seventies was this musician part of and composed a world hit in '78?' Answer: The Shirts with Tell Me Your Plans, sung by Annie Golden. It's still a compelling power ballad. (Honestly: wouldn't have known without an info sheet). It is the award number of their debut album that, compared to the other songs, stood out far above it. Because most of the other songs were in the atmosphere of the so-called punk/new wave sound of bands that performed in CBGB, the legendary, but defunct pop stage, in New York. Paradise Is Free, the sixth album of Roma 56 – on which Kathleen also plays a prominent role (keys, vocals) – contains rootspop songs that do not just reveal their beauty. It takes patience to finally be generously rewarded. Creatively and subtly, Arthur Lamonica has managed to incorporate all kinds of influences from pop history into a perfectly coherent whole of ear-caressing songs: think The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, Tom Petty and (early) Elvis Costello, to name a few. The recordings sound loose and sparkling, four of which took place in Amsterdam with Dutch accompanists on lead guitar, bass, drums and background vocals. The remaining eight were recorded in New York with local musicians. (Think Like A Key Music)
Heartland twang, creamy vocal harmonies, shimmering powerpop jangle and Byrdsy/Petty-ish Southern lilt: all of those winning qualities make themselves known with the first minute of “The Man Behind the Man With the Gun,” the opening cut on Paradise is Freefrom Rome 56. If the Paisley Underground musical movement had taken root in 2024 instead of the 1980s, it might’ve sounded like this. Hints of Long Ryders and Old 97s are there, but (for the first few tracks, anyway) Rome 56 doesn’t lean so heavily into the twang as to deter listeners (like myself) who prefer a limited drawl to their music.
“Hustle of the Crowd” mines similar territory; it’s an understated piece that suggests what Tom Petty might have sounded like if is backing band featured Sid Griffin and Tom Stevens instead of Mike Campbell and his pals. “Fire in the Sky” mixes up the rhythm, adding texture and breadth to the group’s character. “Seattle” applies a country blues character to a T.Rex-y melody, but the bridge opens things up a bit. “At the End of the Street” has a sonorous, cavernous guitar sound and a more traditional forlorn c&w character with a vocal that hints at Nashville Skyline-era Dylan.
“Paradise is Free” might be the title track, but it feels flown in from a different session. A clattering rhythm makes the tune hard to pin down stylistically. “Invisible Man” is a breezy country rocker with some fetching backing vocals. The spare “A Simple Way to Go” is a nice enough tune that could benefit from a stronger hook; the Tex-Mex combo organ flourishes are tasty, though.
That organ bit aside, there’s not a lot of prominent keyboard work on Paradise is Free. But “Some Say” makes up for that: this piano ballad with strings is a pretty, plaintive tune. “The Midnight Sun” combines drum machine percussion with pedal steel; the juxtaposition is interesting, at least, if overall a bit too twang-heavy for this listener. Far better is “Dry Ice,” with an appealing arrangement, earnest vocals and some shimmering guitar. But the energy flags for the closer, the lachrymose “Give Myself Up to You.” It might vaguely remind some listeners of Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”
Country-oriented listeners might or might not appreciate the rock-leaning numbers; rockers might be put off by the c&w character. But those who find their sweet spot in the space between those poles should definitely give Rome 56’s latest a spin.
ROOTSTIME Belgium review
5/31/24
Arthur (Artie) and Kathleen Lamonica are a music-making couple from New York City who market their pop and rock songs under the somewhat special group name 'Rome 56'. Perhaps the name of Arthur Lamonica means something to you because he is the composer of the hit classic “Tell Me Your Plans” which was performed in 1978 by his then group 'The Shirts' and their great singer Annie Golden. In the spring of 2022 you could read a review on these pages about their then album “Days Of Carefree Living” and now a successor has been created in the form of the twelve new song “Paradise Is Free”.
Arthur Lamonica is the songwriter, sings and plays guitars and also took on the role of album producer, while his wife Kathleen sings and plays piano, accordion and keyboards. The other instrumentalists who contributed to this recording are Loek Nooter on lead guitar, Kaspar Stern on bass guitar and Nino Channa on drums, while the backing vocals were provided by Anna Roosje De Blecourt and Tseroeja van den Bos on viola played on the song “Fire In The Sky”. Derek Cheever also plays on electric guitar and bass guitar on three songs and Edgar Goss was behind the drums.
The album was recorded in four studios: four songs in the 'Ijland Studio' in Amsterdam, six songs in the 'Poe Street Studio', the song “The Midnight Sun” in the 'Flytrap North Studio' and the song “Some Say” in the 'Pink Crayon Studio'. The latter three studios are all located in New York City. We have selected two songs from “Paradise Is Free” to present to you on the audio videos accompanying this review: opening track “The Man Behind The Man With The Gun” and the album title track “Paradise Is Free” for which Arthur Lamonica also sings. played all the instruments alone.
There are also some other musical gems on this album. “Invisible Man” mainly reminds us of the work of Elvis Costello and the songs “Seattle” or the catchy rocking songs “A Simple Way To Go” and “Dry Ice” certainly appeal to us. In addition, our laurel wreaths and medals go to the romantic songs “Some Say”, “The Midnight Sun” and especially the wonderful ballads “At The End Of The Street” and closing song “Give Myself Up To You”. After all these years, Arthur Lamonica still knows very well how to compose hit-sensitive songs. The track list of this new 'Rome 56' album “Paradise Is Free” is a confirmation of this.