For those unaware, decades after making waves with gritty NYC new wavers The Shirts, Arthur Lamonica proves he’s still got the hooks on Rome 56’s infectious new outing Paradise Is Free.

Recorded between New York and Amsterdam with his wife and longtime co-pilot Kathleen, this effortlessly catchy album shows Lamonica remains a master of fusing power pop, new wave and roots rock into retro-modern gold. Paradise Is Free adds another catchy chapter to Rome 56’s enduring songbook.

1. The Man Behind the Man with a Gun
2. Hustle of the Crowd
3. Fire in the Sky
4. Seattle
5. At the End of the Street
6. Paradise Is Free
7. Invisible Man
8. A Simple Way to Go
9. Some Say
10. The Midnight Sun
11. Dry Ice
12. Give Myself Up to You

This wondrously eclectic new collection of captivating songs opens on the pulsating The Man Behind the Man with a Gun and the funk-grooved Hustle of the Crowd, and they are followed by the upbeat and free-flowing Fire in the Sky, the low slung Seattle, and then we get both the languishing At the End of the Street and the delightful, 70’s-hued foot-tapper Paradise Is Free.

Along next is the mid-tempo, Elvis Costello-esque rock that drives Invisible Man and the beat-laden A Simple Way to Go, and they are in turn backed by the earnest piano ballad Some Say, the Americana vibe of The Midnight Sun, the album rounding out on the joyfully-imbibed Dry Ice, closing on the slow roll of Give Myself Up to You.

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