The Lemon Twigs | Songs for the General Public | (4AD)
4 out of 5 stars
Videos by American Songwriter
Those who dare play a drinking game of taking a shot when spotting the musical influence on a Lemon Twigs song, should be forewarned;you’ll be trashed before the first track is over. That goes for the band’s new album… or any of their two earlier ones.
Of course that’s part of the fun.
The D’Addario brothers, Michael and Brian, have been refining this idiosyncratic method to their caffeinated pop since 2016’s Do Hollywood debut. They have only gotten more experimental, tighter, frazzled and focused since. Songs for the General Public, a tongue in cheek title those who have heard the brother’s somewhat cultish music can appreciate, results from two full previous albums with a similarly inspired and wildly creative cut-and-paste approach.
Name your 70s era radio star and you’ll find a reference to them somewhere. The Beach Boys, Yes and Queen vocal harmonies are easy to pick out, but there are also tinges of ELO, Sparks, Mott the Hoople, the Raspberries, 10cc and a huge helping of early Todd Rundgren sprinkled, sometimes liberally, throughout these dozen tracks. By any measure, this is an epic, stunningly conceived concept; head-spinning in its detail and execution by crazy talented multi-instrumental brothers who play almost everything, save for some horns, on the set.
Whether it’s quality music is another issue.
Sometimes the siblings are a little too clever and witty for their own good. That creates meticulously crafted selections whose choruses and melodies get lost in all the overdubs and fizzy fun these guys are clearly having. A song such as “Why Do Lovers Own Each Other?” goes through multiple tempo and mood changes as lyrics of “Why do lovers try and offer everything they’re worth/They try and get as close to holy as they can on earth” make the meaning dubious.
The brothers are also less convincing when trying to rock out like Alice Cooper fronting Cheap Trick on “Leather Together” (“Hey baby/Are you really going out like that?/You know you look like shit with glasses on/You know that”). It’s when they land in the middle as on candy coated “The One” with its sing-along verses that The Lemon Twigs’ music takes off into the slick stratosphere it aims for. They go for that sweet spot on “No One Holds You (Closer Than the One You Haven’t Met)” and nail it with a shimmering rock confection somewhere between Roy Wood and Badfinger at their most commercial.
Pure pop fans will lap this up. But even if you’re not one of them, it’s impossible to ignore or disregard the sheer audacity, creativity and ingenuity these guys infuse into every one of these 44 minutes.
For those so inclined, Songs for the General Public is a giddy musical roller coaster ride through the poppier aspects of the 70s with more twists and turns perhaps than are necessary. Hang on tight and enjoy the trip.
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