Gig Review: The Lemon Twigs At Brudenell Social Club
The Lemon Twigs' immaculate homage to the sounds of the 1960s and 1970s dazzles at the Brudenell Social Club, even if a touch more variety would have gone a long way.
If Wes Anderson were to cast a band, he would cast The Lemon Twigs. The similarities are easy enough to spot. Two artists with a retro, idiosyncratic style and a shared penchant for 60s and 70s guitar music and vivid imagery. The fact that The Lemon Twigs are a pair of precocious brothers from New York City only adds to the notion that they would fit seamlessly into one of the Director’s films. Tonight, when Michael and Brian D’Addario intercept their set to riff on the British diet (“Shepherd’s pie, though? Right!”, “I can’t wait to get me some cheesy chips”) it’s hard not to think that they would benefit from some of Anderson’s written wit.
Thankfully The Lemon Twigs are not judged by their on-stage banter. People have come to the first of consecutive sold-out shows at the Brudenell Social Club for the brothers’ perfected pastiche of the popular music of the 1960s and 1970s. Joined on stage by Danny Ayala (bass) and Reza Matin (drums) the band hurtles through ‘Look For Your Mind’, ‘My Golden Years’ and ‘I’ve Got A Broken Heart’ in a breathless opening salvo. If you were to close your eyes for a second during the waves of harmonies, sugar-rush choruses and deceptively complicated hooks, you might just about imagine yourself drinking the cool-aid or queuing for a Woodstock ticket, flared denim in the beating heat.
The band play most of their new album, Look For Your Mind!, a record that contains moments of modernity. ‘Bring You Down’ is The Beatles’ ‘Hard Day’s Night’ but imagined not as a brow-beaten worker finding solace from the working day in the arms of a lover, but one returning home to complain of heavily surveilled employment at risk of automation. Mostly, the classic subjects of romance and heartache are given a runout as Michael and Brian seamlessly swap lead vocals. On ‘I Just Can’t Get Over Losing You’ Michael makes a jilted heart sound like a communal experience, while Brian takes feelings of inadequacy breezily in his stride on ‘2 or 3’. The Lemon Twigs are always light, artfully sparkling dissatisfaction with bright harmonies and sing-along melodies.
However, like working your way through the films of the meticulous Director, the set falters slightly for uniformity. The only time the set markedly changes is in the encore where Brian returns to the stage solo to play whimsical, folksy numbers ‘Joy’ and ‘Corner Of My Eye’. He has to compete with chatter at the bar. Three quarters through the night’s 24 songs and something of a tolerance starts to build to these little bursts of sunshine, leaving you wanting a little indescribable more. The Lemon Twigs sound great, though perhaps they lack variety, just like the British cuisine.