The Lemon Twigs They have not beaten around the bush when it comes to releasing the continuation of the remarkable “Everything Harmony” that came out last year. The D’Addario brothers return on their own with another incredible collection of irresistible songs, but changing the taciturn and personal sounds of that one for a greater sonic effervescence and a dreamlike influence, with a “A Dream Is All We Know” which places them as worthy heirs of the great masters when it comes to creating perfect pop songs, that is, Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, Ray Davies, John Phillips, etc.
Most groups avoid talking about their influences like the plague, trying to make people believe that they are the inventors of the wheel, but The Lemon Twigs They are not like most groups. They carry their influences with them and if they have the opportunity they can talk about them with the same passion as anyone who considers themselves a music lover would.
With this “A Dream Is All We Know” They take us on a sonic adventure through the effervescent sounds of 1966 pop music, the year in which albums like “Pet Sounds”, “Revolver”, “Aftermath”, “Face To Face”, “Parsley, Sage Rosemary & Thyme”, “If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears” o “Fifth Dimension”in addition to songs like “Pretty Ballerina”, “Walk Away Renée”, “Happy Jack”, “I’m A Believer”, “Summer In The City”, “Friday On My Mind”, “Bus Stop” o “Along Comes Mary”although reinterpreting it from his own sound universe, embroidering the interpretations, arrangements and harmonies again.
I already warned in the review of their previous album that you have to have very good songs to avoid ridicule when you have a band as absolutely retro, or timeless, as The Lemon Twigswell then “A Dream Is All We Know” Not only does it pass the cotton test with flying colors, but we are faced with the best collection of songs they have ever made, sounding like twelve hit singles that, for some strange reason, we had not heard before.
There are some songs where it is much easier to trace the original source, so “Sweet Vibration” is pure Left Banke, while “In The Eyes Of A Girl” is so clearly The Beach Boys that they should have given co-credit to Brian Wilson, then “If You And I Are Not Wise” could have appeared in “The Notorious Byrd Brothers” of The Byrds, with their jangly Rickenbackers, their mind-blowing harmonies and those light country touches, and “Peppermint Roses” It smells like incense and mint like it comes from a psychedelic pink alarm clock.
Others have more varied sources, the spectacular “Golden Years”one of the songs of the year, sounds like the sum of The Beatles, early The Who, The Beach Boys with a little bit of Big Star, while in “Ember Days” we listen to Nick Drake produced by Burt Bacharach. One of the few songs that comes out of the sixties, to go to the year 72, is the ending with “Rock On (Over And Over)” pure glam rock, via Marc Bolan and T.Rex, perfect to sing with a feather boa and a little glitter on your face.
In short, this is an absolutely contagious and fun album, with simply perfect melodies, arrangements and performances. With a truly amazing compositional level, the best of his career, perhaps because this time his little brother, Michael D’Addario, has stepped up to Brian’s level and has demonstrated with gems like the one mentioned above. “Golden Years”, “Church Bells”, “Peppermint Roses” o “How Can I Love Her More” that his songs are not only on par with the intricate melodies of the eldest in the family (“They Don’t Know How To Fall In Place”, “I Should’ve Known From The Start”, “A Dream Is All Know” o “Sweet Vibration”), but also, as they themselves say, they complement them perfectly. To those who say why are you going to listen to this if you already have the original models, tell them that I don’t think The Hollies, The Move, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Association and other great groups from the sixties have an album as good as this one .