The Lemon Twigs L.-R.: Brian and Michael D’addario (Photo by Stephanie Pia)
According to The Sopranos’ Creator/Executive Producer David Chase, pop music is something that evolved into art under the hand of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and some others. It continues to be the case under the sturdy hand of the Lemon Twigs, a duo made up of brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario who have spent the past decade churning out melodic manna that taps into a fervent power pop zeitgeist. While the Fab Four are an obvious touchstone, the D’Addarios go above and beyond in creating what the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson once described as “teen symphonies to God,’ particularly on A Dream Is All We Know, the Plainview outfit’s recently released fifth studio album. On it, the orchestration and wielding of layered harmonies and hooks point to a panoply of DNA strands reminiscent of numerous influences including the Beach Boys, Raspberries, and longtime friend/influencer Todd Rundgren. For Brian D’Addario, it was a chance to pick up the tempo of their prior project, 2023’s Everything Harmony.
“Once the last
was finished, we realized we were more into the ballad-heavy side of what we usually write and we kind of wanted to make something a little less sullen,” Brian said. “Something that is a little bit more joyful. It was really kind of just leaning into the more fun aspects of what we do. And there were some records that inspired us, like the Swedish band Tages. We were talking about that because it’s a really fun record, so we really wanted to do that.”
Suffice it to say, mission accomplished. From the layered falsetto-soaked harmonies and generous dollops of Wurlitzer driving “They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place” and wistful Bread-like AM radio ballad “I Should Have Known Right From the Start” to the Beatlesque psychedelic glam-rock of “Peppermint Roses,” the Lemon Twigs achieve the difficult, comfortably residing at the crossroads of power-pop where melodicism and rocking out meet. The Twigs are so accomplished at their craft that the aforementioned Rundgren made his Coachella debut in 2017 by duetting with the D’Addario boys on a reading of his “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” from Rundren’s 1972 opus Something/Anything? (Rundgren later played a major role on the Lemon Twigs’ 2018 concept album Go to School, with the D’Addarios returning the favor and appearing on Rundgren’s 2022 album Space Force).
As for where much of the inspiration came from for the musical path both D’Addarios chose to pursue, look no further than neuropsychologist mom Susan Hall and father Ronnie D’Addario, who cut his teeth playing behind Irish folk singer Tommy Makem along with being the soundman for the storied Manhattan venue Folk City. In fact, while Ronnie’s sons are out supporting their latest album, the elder D’Addario hasn’t been resting on his laurels, having co-written half the songs on the recently released cast album, Folk City: The Greenwich Village Musical. And while both D’Addarios spent their early years growing up on Long Island as aspiring music theater actors, rock and roll was never far away. Both aspiring musicians started out playing drums at the age of 5 before moving on to other instruments, whims that were encouraged by both parents. Ronnie D’Addario’s musical mentorship continues to inform his sons to this day.
“The thing I always think about is that when we ever did a song that was close to the melody of another song, he’d always [point it out],” Brian said. “We were always encouraged to tweak melodies to avoid plagiarizing other people’s material. And also the idea of not doing the most common thing. Just when you think a melody is about to resolve, do the unexpected — especially when it comes to chords. It’s all about using chords that are both satisfying and uncommon. That’s something that I think we got from our dad.”
As for the future, expect not only another Lemon Twigs record in 2025, but a solo outing by Brian with a little help from brother Michael. Needless to say, this is the creative happy place that both siblings like to occupy.
“I just finished mastering a solo record that I worked on with Michael of just my songs,” Brian said. “Michael is helping me and singing with me pretty much the whole time. That just got mastered and I am working on the art right now. I will say it’s just the most satisfying thing when it’s finished. It’s not unlike when we were arranging the vocals for ‘In the Eyes of the Girl,’ which was really difficult because we were trying to get some interesting harmonies going that weren’t just triads, but including notes that are difficult to suss out. But when that was finished, I felt very happy and proud of that.”