The Lemon Twigs and Mod Lang hosted a power pop lover’s dream bill at Seattle’s Neptune Theatre last week. Both bands satisfied and impressed, delivering a perfect sunny spring day soundtrack to a delighted and enthusiastic audience.
The Lemon Twig’s (brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, bass & keyboard player Danny Ayala, and drummer Reza Matin) youthful appearance belies their 10+ years and 7 studio albums worth of experience. The D’Addario’s handle the loin’s share of the instruments on their recorded work but they add the very capable Ayala and Matin to round out the band for live appearances. It’s nigh on impossible for a lover of pop music to avoid playing a round or two of ‘Spot the Influence’ while listening to the Twigs. Their lush, crystal-clear sibling harmony vocals and shimmery guitars invite comparisons to the Beach Boys, Beatles, the Zombies, the Hollies, the Byrds, and other bands and artists of that ilk and era. One listens a bit further and you begin to hear Todd Rundgren, the Move, Simon & Garfunkle, Phil Specter’s Wall of Sound productions, as well as second generation power pop stalwarts such as XTC, Squeeze, the LA’s, a bit of the early Smiths, REM, and other bands associated with the heyday of indie rock. But I encourage the listener to take it one step further and you will begin to hear the Lemon Twigs establishing and owning their own unique identity. It’s likely that their music will always conjure visions of the Beatles and Beach Boys but the D’Addario’s have such complete mastery of the form combined with exuberance and flair that their art and craft becomes their own identifiable, stand-alone form and musical vocabulary. Pop music has long built upon that which came before, from the Rolling Stones assimilating and reinterpreting Chuck Berry and Jimmy Reed, to punk rock building on the foundations of garage rock, the Stooges, and the MC5, and now bands such as the Lemon Twigs and Mod Lang expressing their love and admiration for the Big Stars, the Brian Wilsons, and the Monkees of the world.
The Lemon Twigs dove into their 22 song set in winning fashion with ‘My Golden Years’, from their 2024 release ‘A Dream is All We Know’. The tune is a perfect primer for anyone seeking to create an ingredient list for a successful Lemon Twigs tune: chiming, Byrds-esque guitars, tuneful sibling harmonies not unlike what one might find on the Beach Boy’s ‘Pet Sounds’ album, and spot-on, catchy as hell power pop songs. The brothers D’Addario have amassed a formidable catalog of picture-perfect pop gems over their career and it was a delight to hear the songs packed into one well-paced and satisfying set. As mentioned previously, the Twigs aren’t shy about wearing their influences on their collective sleeve but their zeal and obvious joy in performing combined with their uncanny aptitude for showcasing said influences raise their art well beyond that of talented mimics. I don’t think I was alone in my appraisal as the audience was full of happy pop fans singing along while grinning from ear to ear. I’m not sure I’ve seen a show this year that was stronger in the ‘good vibes department’.
The Lemon Twigs were more than capably supported by Detroit’s ‘Mod Lang’. The talented quartet may not be quite as far down the road as the evening’s headliners but they’re more than headed in the right direction and their catchy brand of Big Star influenced pop rock was met with approval from the multigenerational audience (it’s worth noting that the band took their name from a Big Star tune). I would be surprised to not hear more from this tight and fun young band in the future. They’re absolutely worth a listen at this point in their development and they have all the hallmarks of a combo that could get even better with a little seasoning.
