Roman Charity, 'Hangovers' & 'Blue'
Info: Stripped-down and bare, Dublin-based Roman Charity has previously played in various bands in Belfast and Dublin over the years and is striking out on his own now with his very first serving, two tracks, 'Hangovers' and 'Blue'. Citing amongst his influences Galaxie 500, Beat Happening, Yo La Tengo, Real Estate, The National, and I enjoyed this description in particular, 'Post-John Cale Velvet Underground, Post-Velvet Underground John Cale'. Vocally, the Velvet Underground influence is clearly on show, and it also reminded me a bit of Sonic Youth without all the hoopla regarding the music side of things.
The above two tracks are the fruits of Roman Charity 'working on some lo-fi bedroom stuff', so, very much homemade with zero outside production. As a first effort I find both tracks have good potential and would benefit enormously from a polishing in a studio to do them justice. I particularly liked the bluesy guitar on the second track just after the one-minute mark and when the song breaks into distorted guitar this is a good example of where the track could step up a level with some tweaking, that said, rough and ready as it is, it fits the song well. It's all well and good me pointing these things out, but like money, studio time doesn't grow on trees, and I'm a massive fan of musicians making their own music without outside distractions and these two tracks are just hot off the press. I think Roman Charity has displayed an ability to get the most out of the tools available to him for the time being and after a few listens I'm really enjoying the guitar side of things. I've heard enough here to definitely keep me interested in new tracks he might have down the road and I hope to hear more from Roman Charity in the near future.
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