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The Lemon Twigs

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The Lemon Twigs
The Lemon Twigs in 2023
The Lemon Twigs in 2023
Background information
OriginHicksville, New York, U.S.
GenresRock
Years active2014–present
LabelsCaptured Tracks, 4AD, Winspear
Members
  • Brian D'Addario
  • Michael D'Addario
Websitethelemontwigs.com

The Lemon Twigs are an American rock band from the Hicksville neighborhood of Long Island, New York. The duo consists of brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario.[1] Both brothers are vocalists, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, and during live performances they are joined by Danny Ayala (keyboards, vocals, drums, guitar, bass) and Reza "Stretch" Matin (drums, vocals, guitar).

The band's music has been noted for its stylistic roots in 1960s and 1970s pop and rock music, ranging from power pop to glam rock, art rock, and jangle pop. Since their commercial debut in 2016, the Lemon Twigs have released five studio albums, one live album, and an EP. The D'Addarios have also collaborated musically with other acts, including Weyes Blood and Todd Rundgren.

History

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Early childhood

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Brian and Michael were born two years apart from each other, both in March. Ronnie D'Addario, their father, is a musician and songwriter from Manhattan who played with Irish folk singer Tommy Makem.[2] Susan Hall, their mother, is a neuropsychologist[3] from Ohio who pursued acting and entertainment in her younger years.[4] The first few years of the D'Addario brothers' lives were spent in an apartment in Flushing, Queens. The family moved to a house in the suburbs of Long Island soon after the children were born. The brothers were raised in a musical household and learned to play and sing at a very early age, developing an obsession with the Beatles that was passed down from their parents.[5]

Formation and first years

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Brian and Michael D'Addario had extensive stage experience as children. Brian played Gavroche in Les Miserables and Flounder in The Little Mermaid on Broadway. Michael appeared in The Coast of Utopia, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and the 2008 production of All My Sons. Michael also appeared in a variety of television shows and films, such as John Adams on HBO, Are We There Yet? on TBS, and the 2012 films People Like Us and Sinister.[6] The D'Addario brothers first played music together in a cover band called Members of the Press.[7]

The Lemon Twigs were founded by the brothers while they were both students at Hicksville High School on Long Island, New York. The siblings both perform lead vocals, lead guitar, drums and other instruments.[5] Their first release was the cassette What We Know, issued in a limited edition of 100 copies (with digital download) in 2015 by Winspear.[8]

2016–2018: Do Hollywood

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The Lemon Twigs performing at the Haldern Pop festival in Germany, 2018.

In 2014, the unsigned D'Addarios approached Jonathan Rado of Foxygen on Twitter with demo recordings in hopes of attracting interest. Rado flew the brothers out to Los Angeles to record a series of basic album tracks and spent 18 months adding orchestration and refining the tracks. The brothers also signed with the British independent label 4AD.[4] On the resulting album, Do Hollywood (2016), each brother took the lead on vocals and guitar on the songs he composed; during live performances, this setup was preserved, with the remaining D'Addario playing the drums, and fellow schoolmates Megan Zeankowski and Danny Ayala (who have played with the D'Addarios on and off since their youth) playing bass and keyboards, respectively.[4] Ayala also sang backing vocals.

The Lemon Twigs served as opening act for fellow New York City/Long Island-based alt-rockers Sunflower Bean on their East Coast tour in late 2016[9] and performed on television programs like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, CBS This Morning "Saturday Sessions" and Conan along the way. In early 2017 it was announced that the band would play on day one of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on April 14, 2017. This performance saw the Twigs joined by one of the band's "favorite musicians ever, in the whole world", Todd Rundgren, to play "Couldn't I Just Tell You" from Rundgren's classic 1972 double album, Something/Anything?[10] The Lemon Twigs released the Do Hollywood tracks "These Words" and "As Long As We're Together" as a double-A-side single, and made videos for both songs. The third single was the album opener, "I Wanna Prove to You", with a video directed by Nick Roney.

The band played at several major festivals in the summer of 2017, such as Glastonbury, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, Austin City, and the Montreux,[11] in addition to opening for Phoenix across the United States. The Lemon Twigs performed with Thomas Hedlund of Phoenix on drums while supporting Phoenix at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Mac DeMarco.[12] In September 2017 the band released an EP, Brothers of Destruction, containing songs recorded during the Do Hollywood sessions.

2018–2019: Go to School

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The band's second album, Go to School, a musical about a chimpanzee raised as a human boy, was released on August 24, 2018.[13] Singles included: "If You Give Enough," "Small Victories," and "The Fire." The album debuted at number 93 on the UK Albums Chart on September 6, 2018.[14] The band were also announced as one of the support acts for Arctic Monkeys' 2018 tour in support of their album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.[15] Appearing on the album were Todd Rundgren and Big Star drummer Jody Stephens.[7]

Prior to beginning their run of shows promoting Go to School, the group underwent a number of personnel changes. Both Megan Zeankowski and Danny Ayala were replaced by Daryl Johns (bass), Andres Valbuena (drums) and Tommaso Taddonio (keyboards).[16]

2020: Songs for the General Public

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On March 2, 2020, the band announced that Songs for the General Public, their third studio album, was scheduled to be released on May 1, 2020.[17] However, due to complications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the album's release was changed to August 21, 2020. Singles included: "The One," "Moon," "Only A Fool," and "No One Holds You (Closer Than the One You Haven't Met)."

2023: Everything Harmony

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In March 2023, the D'Addarios backed Zombies singer Colin Blunstone at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.[18]

On May 5, 2023, the Twigs released their fourth album, Everything Harmony, through Captured Tracks. It was self-produced by the band and received positive reviews from critics. The album produced the singles "Corner of My Eye," "In My Head," "Anytime of Day," and "Every Day Is the Worst Day of My Life." The band supported the album release with a tour of North America and western Europe, concluding in London on June 1, 2023.[19]

2024: A Dream Is All We Know

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Brian D'Addario performs on classical guitar in 2024.

A Dream Is All We Know is the band's fifth studio album, released on May 3, 2024. It was preceded by four singles, the first being "power-pop anthem"[20] "My Golden Years" on January 2, 2024. The album and album artwork were subsequently announced on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on January 31, 2024.[21] The three succeeding singles for the album were: "They Don't Know How To Fall In Place",[22] "A Dream Is All I Know",[23] and "How Can I Love Her More".[24]

In May 2024, the Lemon Twigs began a tour of North America and Europe in support of A Dream Is All We Know, including a string of shows opening for Lake Street Dive.[25][26] On August 9, they performed at San Francisco's annual Outside Lands festival.[27] On September 1, they played the End of the Road Festival in southwest England.[28]

Collaborations

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The Lemon Twigs played on Foxygen's 2017 album Hang, credited as playing drums, percussion, acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, piano and organ.[29] They also were players on Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising, released in 2019 via Sub Pop records. Michael played drums on three of the tracks, while Brian played guitar, bass, piano and synthesizer on five tracks; he is also credited with production on "Mirror Forever" and providing the string arrangement to album opener "A Lot's Gonna Change", and instrumental closer "Nearer To Thee."[30] The Lemon Twigs performed on many tracks for Tim Heidecker's album Fear of Death, released on September 25, 2020, alongside Weyes Blood. They are credited for playing bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitar, drums, vocals, and mellotron.[31] The Twigs collaborated with Todd Rundgren on the song "I'm Leaving" from Rundgren's 2022 album, Space Force.[32]

Style

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The Lemon Twigs performing, July 2024

The Lemon Twigs' musical style has been described as indie rock,[1] power pop,[33] glam rock,[34] indie pop,[35] baroque rock,[1] art rock,[36] and jangle pop.[37] In a 2024 interview, band member Michael D'Addario described the band's sound as fundamentally "pop rock. ... It's not always power pop and it's certainly not always glam rock. ... The through line would be pop structures and rock-based instrumentation."[38] Michael cited the Beatles and the Beach Boys as their ultimate musical influences, adding that their other musical influences were in turn inspired by those bands.[38] (The brothers jokingly refer to this mashup of Beatles and Beach Boys sounds as a genre called "Mersey Beach".[39][40])

In 2016, The Times characterized the Lemon Twigs' early sound as "a modern-day band combining the melodic, harmony-rich soft rock of Wings and Supertramp, the underground cool of Big Star and the Ramones, and the theatricality of Broadway musicals."[41] The Guardian cited the "humbling beauty of their songs" and their "sumptuous harmonies."[42] A number of diverse pop music figures have publicly expressed admiration for the Twigs: Elton John,[43] the Zombies,[44] Dan and Justin Hawkins,[45][18] Boy George,[46] Gary Brooker,[47] Iggy Pop,[48] Todd Rundgren, Flea, Gerard Way,[48] Questlove, Alice Cooper,[4] Michael McDonald, and Jack Antonoff.[49]

Band members

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Current members

  • Brian D'Addario – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, trumpet, cello (2014–present)
  • Michael D'Addario – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion (2014–present)

Touring members

  • Danny Ayala – keyboards, vocals, drums, guitar, bass (2014–2017, 2023–present)
  • Reza "Stretch" Matin – drums, vocals, guitar (2023–present)

Former touring members

  • Daryl Johns – bass, vocals (2018–2021)
  • Tommaso Taddonio – keyboards (2018–2019)
  • Andres Valbuena – drums (2018–2021)
  • Megan Zeankowski – bass (2014–2017)
  • Will Berman – drums, guitar, keyboards (2022)[50]
  • James Richardson – bass, synth, vocals (2021–2022)[51]

Discography

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Studio albums

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EPs

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  • Brothers of Destruction (2017)

Singles

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  • "These Words"/"As Long as We're Together" (2016)
  • "I Wanna Prove to You" (2017)
  • "Night Song" (2017)
  • "Why Didn't You Say That?" (2017)
  • "Foolin' Around"/"Tailor Made" (2018)
  • "If You Give Enough" (2018)
  • "Small Victories" (2018)
  • "The Fire" (2018)
  • "The One" (2020)
  • "Moon" (2020)
  • "Live in Favor of Tomorrow" (2020)
  • "No One Holds You Closer (Than The One You Haven’t Met)" (2020)
  • "Corner of My Eye" (2023)
  • "Any Time of Day" (2023)
  • "In My Head" (2023)
  • "Every Day Is the Worst Day of My Life" (2023)
  • "My Golden Years" (2024)
  • "They Don't Know How to Fall in Place" (2024)
  • "A Dream Is All I Know" (2024)
  • "How Can I Love Her More?" (2024)

Live albums

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  • The Lemon Twigs LIVE (2020)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Yeung, Neil Z. "The Lemon Twigs | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  2. ^ "REVIEWS". RONNIE D'ADDARIO - MUSICIAN. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  3. ^ "BIO". RONNIE D'ADDARIO - MUSICIAN. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  4. ^ a b c d Bennett, Kim Taylor (October 26, 2016). "The Lemon Twigs Are Rock's New Old Young Dreamboats". Vice. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Gaworecki, Mike (2016-11-01). "Meet The Lemon Twigs, "The Next Billy Joel of Hicksville"". Brooklyn Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  6. ^ Anon, "Life for young actors is more than play," Bennington Banner, 9 October 2008 p. 11
  7. ^ a b Mitchell, Matt (May 1, 2023). "Catching Up With The Lemon Twigs, the New Princes of Rock 'n' Roll". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  8. ^ "The Lemon Twigs – What We Know". Discogs. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  9. ^ Oliver, Will (December 6, 2016). "Sunflower Bean at Music Hall of Williamsburg (October 7, 2016)". We All Want Someone To Shout For. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  10. ^ Powers, Shad (April 18, 2017). "Veteran rocker Todd Rundgren surprises Coachella crowd by jumping up with The Lemon Twigs". The Desert Sun. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "The Lemon Twigs Concert Setlists & Tour Dates". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  12. ^ Gornbein, Danielle (19 June 2017). "Phoenix, Mac DeMarco and The Lemon Twigs delight the Hollywood Bowl with incredible performances". Grimy Goods. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  13. ^ Griffin, Noemi (10 July 2018). "The Lemon Twigs Are Releasing an LP About a Chimp That Goes to School". Paste. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  14. ^ "UK Albums chart for September 6, 2018". Official Charts. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Arctic Monkeys". Facebook.com. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  16. ^ Oliver, Will (January 19, 2019). "The Lemon Twigs at Music Hall of Williamsburg (January 18, 2019)". We All Want Someone To Shout For. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  17. ^ "The official website for independent record label 4AD". 4ad.com. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  18. ^ a b Marszalek, Julian (August 15, 2023). "The Lemon Twigs have backed The Zombies and played with Todd Rundgren: they also drive each other crazy". Louder. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  19. ^ Jones, Abby (February 13, 2023). "The Lemon Twigs Announce New Album Everything Harmony". Consequence. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  20. ^ "The Lemon Twigs Share New Song "My Golden Years": Listen". Stereogum. 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  21. ^ "The Lemon Twigs: My Golden Years | the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon". YouTube. 31 January 2024.
  22. ^ "The Lemon Twigs - 'They Don't Know How To Fall In Place'". When The Horn Blows. 2024-02-12. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  23. ^ "The Lemon Twigs Share New Song "A Dream Is All I Know": Listen". Stereogum. 2024-03-13. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  24. ^ Taylor, Sam (2024-04-11). "The Lemon Twigs have dropped an upbeat new single, 'How Can I Love Her More?'". Dork. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  25. ^ Mason, Pete (May 6, 2024). "The Lemon Twigs Release LP 'A Dream Is All We Know', Int'l Tour Includes Levon Helm Studios and Webster Hall Shows". NYS Music. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  26. ^ Foltz, Jayme (July 15, 2024). "Lake Street Dive Radiates Joy at Ascend Amphitheater". Nashville Scene. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  27. ^ Graff, Amy (August 9, 2024). "Gate crasher: What happened in the first hours of SF's Outside Lands". SFGate. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  28. ^ Beaumont, Mark (September 1, 2024). "Richard Hawley, The Lemon Twigs – End Of The Road 2024, Day 3". UNCUT. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  29. ^ Joffe, Justin (20 January 2017). "How Foxygen Channelled L.A.'s Rich Music History on 'Hang'". Observer. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  30. ^ Edelstone, Steven (2 April 2019). "Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising is a stunning early contender for album of the year". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  31. ^ Colburn, Randall (5 August 2020). "Tim Heidecker announces new album with Weyes Blood, Lemon Twigs". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  32. ^ Willman, Chris (August 17, 2022). "Todd Rundgren Reveals New Collaborations Album, 'Space Force,' and Talks Rock Hall Honors, Bowie Tribute Tour". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  33. ^ Miers, Jeff (9 May 2017). "5 questions with Todd Rundgren". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  34. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (19 January 2018). "Staring at a screen? Starcrawler prefer to rock". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  35. ^ Seeberger, Tim (9 October 2017). "The Lemon Twigs Take Root". Long Island Press. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  36. ^ Roberts, Chris (19 August 2019). "4AD: a guide to the best albums". Louder Sound. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  37. ^ Shelton, Connor. "The Lemon Twigs: A Dream Is All We Know Review - retro revolution | Indie". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  38. ^ a b The Lemon Twigs - In Conversation with Daz Feb 2024 (video). YouTube. 8 April 2024. Event occurs at 11:10. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  39. ^ Teder, Camryn (May 2, 2024). "The Lemon Twigs' reference points on their new album | Interview". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  40. ^ Walshe, John (May 16, 2024). "Album review: The Lemon Twigs, A Dream Is All We Know". Hotpress. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  41. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (10 August 2016). "The Lemon Twigs at Sebright Arms, E2". The Times. London.
  42. ^ Simpson, Dave (2 December 2016). "The Lemon Twigs review – mullets, high kicks and sumptuous harmonies". The Guardian.
  43. ^ Reese, Nathan (18 October 2016). "Sir Elton John Interviews One of His Favorite New Musicians". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  44. ^ Petridis, Alex (13 October 2016). "Meet the Lemon Twigs, the New York teens who went from Les Mis to glam powerpop". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  45. ^ Hawkins, Dan (June 21, 2023). "The 10 Greatest Festival Bands Ever, as chosen by The Darkness' Dan Hawkins". Louder. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  46. ^ "Lemon Twigs find fans for songs with 'no rules'". The Columbus Dispatch. December 22, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  47. ^ "Gary Brooker greets 'Beyond the Pale', 2017". procolharum.com. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  48. ^ a b "The Lemon Twigs". www.thelemontwigs.com. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  49. ^ Wiza, Jesse; Wilson, Mac. "Bleachers' Jack Antonoff on recording at Paisley Park, his love of FaceTime, and touring in 2022". www.thecurrent.org. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  50. ^ "The Lemon Twigs - Full Performance - Live @ Grog Shop 2022 - YouTube". YouTube. 2 May 2022.
  51. ^ "The Lemon Twigs - Full Performance - Live @ Grog Shop 2022 - YouTube". YouTube. 2 May 2022.
  52. ^ Krol, Charlotte (27 March 2020). "The Lemon Twigs postpone release of new album 'Songs For The General Public'". NME. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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