The Lemon Twigs

The Lemon Twigs
The Lemon Twigs at Kentish Town Forum, November 2017
The Lemon Twigs at Kentish Town Forum, November 2017. Left to right: Michael D'Addario, Brian D'Addario.
Background information
Origin Hicksville, Long Island, New York, United States
Genres Rock, pop
Years active 2014–present
Labels 4AD
Associated acts Foxygen[1], Todd Rundgren
Website thelemontwigs.com
Members
  • Brian D’Addario
  • Michael D’Addario

The Lemon Twigs are an American rock band from Long Island, New York, United States, fronted by brothers Brian D’Addario and Michael D’Addario.[2] Both brothers are vocalists, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, and are joined by Daryl Johns on bass, Tommaso Taddonio on keyboards and Andres Valbuena on drums. Both Brian and Michael attended Hicksville High School.

History

2014: Formation and first years

The Lemon Twigs were founded by brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario while they were both students at Hicksville High School on Long Island, New York. The siblings both perform lead vocals, lead guitar, drums and occasional other instruments.

Their first release was the cassette What We Know, issued in a limited edition of 100 copies (with digital download) in 2015 by Winspear Records.[3]

2016–2018: Do Hollywood

On their first generally released album, Do Hollywood, each brother takes the lead on vocals and guitar on the songs he composed; during live performances, this setup is preserved, with the remaining D'Addario manning the drumkit. Fellow schoolmates Megan Zeankowski and Danny Ayala (who have played with the D'Addarios on and off since their youth) handle bass and keyboards, respectively, when the Twigs play live. Ayala is also a vocalist and figures prominently in the harmonies and contrapuntal backing vocals that are a key component of The Lemon Twigs' sound. He announced the debut of his side project, Dr. Danny, in May 2017.[4]

The Lemon Twigs write and play music that updates the classic rock sound of 60s baroque pop like The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Zombies and the 70s power-pop and art-rock styles of Big Star, Badfinger, The Raspberries, 10cc and Todd Rundgren. The Times characterized The Lemon Twigs 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."[5] The Guardian cited the "humbling beauty of their songs" and their "sumptuous harmonies."[6] The band was signed to British alternative music label 4AD in 2015. Their debut album, Do Hollywood, was released in October 2016 to critical acclaim.[7] A number of diverse pop music figures have publicly expressed admiration for the Twigs: Elton John,[8] The Zombies,[1] Boy George, Laura Marling, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance.

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 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?. 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 album opener "I Wanna Prove to You" and features a video directed by Nick Roney.

The band played at several major festivals in the summer of 2017, such as Glastonbury Festival, Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Music Festival, and the Montreux Jazz Festival,[9] in addition to opening for Phoenix across the United States. These 2017 shows saw the band covering songs such as "Fish and Whistle" by John Prine, "I Walked with a Zombie" by Roky Erickson, "You Can't Talk to the Dude" by Jonathan Richman, "I've Begun To Fall In Love" by R. Stevie Moore, and "I Can Feel the Fire" by Ronnie Wood; they notably performed the latter song with Thomas Hedlund of Phoenix on drums while supporting Phoenix at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Mac DeMarco. In September 2017 the band released an EP, Brothers of Destruction, containing songs recorded during the Do Hollywood sessions.[10]

2018–present: Go to School

On July 10, 2018, the band announced that their second album Go to School, a musical about a monkey that goes to school, will be released on August 24, 2018.[11] The album debuted at #93 on the UK Albums chart on September 6, 2018.[12] The band were also announced as one of the support acts for Arctic Monkeys' 2018 tour in support of their "Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino" album. [13]

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 left the band, to be replaced by Daryl Johns (bass), Andres Valbuena (drums) and Tommaso Taddonio (keyboards).

Band members

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

  • Brothers of Destruction (2017)

Singles

  • "These Words"/"As Long as We're Together" (2016)
  • "I Wanna Prove to You" (2017)
  • "Foolin' Around"/"Tailor Made" (2018)
  • "If You Give Enough" (2018)
  • "Small Victories" (2018)
  • "The Fire" (2018)

References

  1. 1 2 Petridis, Alex (13 Oct 2016). "Meet the Lemon Twigs, the New York teens who went from Les Mis to glam powerpop". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  2. ↑ Yeung, Neil Z. "The Lemon Twigs | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
  3. ↑ Discogs. "The Lemon Twigs – What We Know". Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  4. ↑ Frometa, R J. "Danny Ayala (Of The Lemon Twigs) Announces Debut Solo Project 'Dr Danny'". Vents Magazine. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  5. ↑ Hodgkinson, Will (10 August 2016). "The Lemon Twigs at Sebright Arms, E2". The Times. London.
  6. ↑ Simpson, Dave (2 December 2016). "The Lemon Twigs review – mullets, high kicks and sumptuous harmonies". The Guardian.
  7. ↑ "Artists to Watch This Year: The Lemon Twigs". musicmusingsandsuch. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Reese, Nathan (18 Oct 2016). "Sir Elton John Interviews One of His Favorite New Musicians". New York Times. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Lemon Twigs Concert Setlists & Tour Dates". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Lemon Twigs — Brothers Of Destruction". Discogs. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  11. ↑ Griffin, Noemi. "The Lemon Twigs Are Releasing an LP About a Chimp That Goes to School". Paste. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "UK Albums chart for September 6, 2018". Official Charts. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "Arctic Monkeys". Facebook.com. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
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