Keep It Fly In The Negative Zone
Self-Released, 2025
9/10
Listen to Keep It Fly In The Negative Zone
A South Texas band of long time friends, West Of Rome, i.e. Blake Smithson, Charlie Roadman, Jaime Roadman and Kevin Higginbotham, make an indelible impression with this diverse and sincere debut.
The sturdy rocker, “Movement In Your Pictures”, starts with Higginbotham’s distinct voice alongside Charles’ driving guitar and the crisp rhythm section for a retro-rock climate, and “The Empire Never Ended” follows with rugged and melodic gestures that benefit from James’ thumping drums.
In the middle, “Keep It Fly” swirls with a harmonic quality amid the fluid indie-rock nods, while “New Hieroglyphic” tips its hat to Elliott Smith with a rare intimacy that uses Smithson’s bass strategically.
“Haunt Me” and “Take A Ride With The Evil One” exit the listen. The former is more dreamy than eerie, with muscular guitar in between the animated drumming, and the latter builds into a rich and dynamic, Roky Erickson influenced finish of alt-rock traces.
The members of West Of Rome have esteemed resumes, and their collective strength makes for an indie-rock experience that carries traces of punk, Americana and alt-country that you’ll want to revisit again.
Travels well with: Michael Rudd- Going To The Mountain; Chris Walz- All I Got And Gone