"It's wonderful, a big warm hug of a record": The Lemon Twigs create something timeless on A Dream Is All I Know

Brothers in harmony the Lemon Twigs deliver a retro pop-rock triumph on album number five A Dream Is All I Know

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The Lemon Twigs: A Dream Is All We Know cover art
(Image: © Captured Tracks)

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The fifth album by Brian and Michael D'Addario presents us with a stunning revelation: All the great power pop classics haven't already been written. 

These phenomenally talented dudes honed their craft by studying the Beach Boys, Todd Rundgren and Raspberries (to name but three of their obvious influences), but this is so much more than mere pastiche – they absorb the past while creating something timeless all of their own. 

Every carefully arranged song is packed with indelible hooks, melodic invention and heavenly, multi-layered harmonies – all recorded on analogue. My Golden Years is a thing of bittersweet sun-kissed beauty; Church Bells communes with Rubber Soul-era John Lennon; In The Eyes Of The Girl mines the pure essence of early Beach Boys balladry; Peppermint Roses is the best song Micky Dolenz never sang. 

It’s wonderful, a big warm hug of a record.

Paul Whitelaw
Paul Whitelaw

Paul Whitelaw writes about television, comedy, films, books and music. From 2006 to 2013 he was a TV critic for The Scotsman. From 2013 to 2023 he wrote a weekly TV column for The Courier. Credits also include BBC Music, BBC Radio Scotland's The Afternoon Show, BFI Screenonline, The Big Issue, Broadcast, Empire, The Guardian, The Lady, Melody Maker, Metro, Mill, Radio Times, Scotland On Sunday, The Sunday Times, The Word and Shindig!