The Lemon Twigs - "Everything Harmony"
What decade is this?
For a moment, when the opening track, “When Winter Comes Around”, started, I thought I had fired up a John Denver album. No lie. The rest of the album manages not to sound just like him, but that first song sounds just like Denver.
The Lemon Twigs are a pair of brothers - both vocalists and multi-instrumentalists - from Long Island. Their material, at least on this album, is highly reminiscent of the melody-rich light rock and roll that dominated the mainstream during the British Invasion (The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, etc; and the American copycats which popped up at the same time, such as The Beach Boys). There is a lot of falsetto utilized.
The album’s vibes are predominantly light and melancholic. As much as the sound emulates acts from sixty years ago, the mood is much darker. The Beatles, et al, had their dark and sad songs, of course, but the lyrical content is where this album is decidedly modern.
Most of the songs on this album are pretty. The Brothers D’Addario have a clear knack for finding interesting melodies and building them out to craft really intricate sounds.
Ultimately, the songs here toe the line between emulating older art and modernizing those styles for contemporary audiences. It’s a balancing act, and sometimes they lean more in one direction or the other, but they’re ultimately fairly successful, in spite of a few misses (including the album closer). I’ll give this one a Green. Please pass this album on to anybody who loves older rock.
Rating: Green