Skilled performers and exemplary musicians,
the Lemon Twigs
' songwriting has consisted mainly of meticulously curated pastiche. Each of the group's records have focused on different '70s styles, ranging from precision pop to over-the-top FM radio arena rock to sentimental singer/songwriter material. On their fourth album, 2023's
Everything Harmony
, the duo of brothers
Brian
and
Michael D'Addario
took a softer than usual route, turning in their most subtle and reflective material, as well as a record where the nods to their classic rock inspirations were at their least overt. Perhaps that approach felt a little too emotionally naked for the D'Addario brothers, as fifth album
A Dream Is All We Know
finds them turning out 12 new tunes that are back to the on-the-nose reworkings of their earlier material. This combination of homage and reconstruction is kept from being boring or fully derivative by the inventiveness and enthusiasm the siblings bring to whatever style they're approaching. "My Golden Years" opens the set with power pop jangle from 12-string guitars and
Beach Boys
-esque falsetto harmony vocals. Direct
Beatles
references show up in the stern pop melodies of "Peppermint Roses" and the "Taxman"-esque bass line and psychedelic bubblegum flavor of "They Don't Know How to Fall in Place." "A Dream Is All I Know" brings in grinning wah-wah guitars and '70s soft rock lightness, "If You and I Are Not Wise" introduces
the Byrds
to
Teenage Fanclub
, "Ember Days" flirts with a
Free Design
take on bossa nova, and several phases of
the Beach Boys
are touched upon as well. The variety keeps things fun, even when "How Can I Love Her More?" is dangerously close to something off
Wild Honey
and the
Sean Ono Lennon
-produced "In the Eyes of the Girl" sounds like a faithful rewrite of "In My Room." Much as the earlier
Lemon Twigs
records could come off as unofficial tributes to
Todd Rundgren
or
Billy Joel
,
mixes up its subjects of study but chooses obsessively detailed replication over the hints of originality and vulnerable emotions that start emerging when
let their guard down. ~ Fred Thomas