Review Summary: A potential masterpiece of '70s nostalgia-core that hits the heart in just the right places.
Nostalgia for a time that many never grew up in is a bizarre factor when it comes to listeners of modern day "nostalgia-core" groups that take influence from power pop, classic rock and the early days of baroque pop to make something that seems fun and zany but doesn't always hit home. The Lemon Twigs were a band that, for a long time, fell into the category of a typical nostalgia-bait act that beckoned the 1970s and made a few catchy singles but nothing that caught my attention for an entire LP length. But my perception of this group changed once I heard the singles for their 4th studio album, Everything Harmony, which immediately caught my attention with how different it felt compared to a lot of indie artists like Ty Segall or Foxygen. It's simple yet sophisticated with well crafted lyrical musings and soft yet harrowing compositions that make me come back for more.
Brian and Michael D’Addario have been recording music in tandem with other collaborating musicians since their 2015 EP "What We Know," and the evolution of their sound in 7 years definitely takes influence from their roots while truly honing in and refining their stylistic interpretations of artists like Simon and Garfunkel, Big Star and Todd Rundgren (who they worked with on their 2nd LP "Go To School") while maintaining a sense of individuality in the songwriting. Singles like "In My Head" and "Any Time of Day" show great power pop sensibilities that echo to Robert Schneider's The Apples in Stereo while the latter edges into something that could've definitely landed on Todd Rundgren's "Something/Anything?" and been a solid deep cut or even a quality single. These contrast with songs like "In The Corner of My Eye" and "Everyday Is The Worst Day of My Life" which feel more folky and obviously Simon and Garfunkel influenced, especially the latter song, yet the brother's harmonies and high pitched melodies make the songs signature, almost echoing to the falsettos of Bread's David Gates, and well suited highlights of the album. The deep cuts themselves are also ladden with high quality songwriting, and very few of them are ever anything close to a dud (namely I Don't Belong To Me and the title track being the weakest tracks in the album for me.)
Yet again among the deep cuts of the album there is a great amount of spiritual diversity among the messages and sounds portrayed in these songs. You get the clear cut Alex Chilton and Flamin' Groovies inspired power pop bangers in What You Were Doing and Ghost Run Free contrasted with soulful, powerful baroque pop pieces in the back-to-back trio of "What Happens To a Heart," "Still It's Not Enough," "Born To Be Lonely" that elevate this album to songwriting on the level of giants like Brian Wilson and Arthur Lee and elicit utter beauty and despair within this triplet of tearjerkers. The album finishes on the simple and straight to the point "New To Me" where the brothers vocal duet shines through one final time to end the album off on a gorgeous note of reminiscence of lost love and the longing to see this feeling rekindled in the vein of Sunflower/Surf's Up-era Beach Boys.
Despite the few flaws this album has, it's near perfect and easily one of the best releases of 2023 so far. It's nostalgia-bait without feeling like bait. Its crisp and clean, yet deep and resonantly emotional. It's by far The Lemon Twigs' best album and it comes eerily close to being a perfect album and it's definitely one worth coming back to again and again like all those great classic albums in the 1970s. If you're not a fan of the twigs already, it might be time to hop aboard because the ride is worth it.
