The pleasures of the new album from The Lemon Twigs, Songs for the General Public, are so rich, so deep that I'm honestly ashamed of myself for not listening to and reviewing this one when it was released some weeks ago. Out now via 4AD, the release is euphoric in spots, silly in others, but altogether heartfelt throughout. The brand of glam-pop on offer here went right to the pleasure-points I live to satisfy as a music-fan and avid listener.
Single "The One" is as inventive as the Sparks and T. Rex sides it recalls, and as catchy as any number of tunes from the glory days of Seventies AM Gold, while "No One Holds You (Closer Than The One You Haven't Met)" melds an unwieldy lyric around a straightforward hook that's equal parts Bowie circa "Oh! You Pretty Things" and George Harrison circa "Crackerbox Palace". "Hell on Wheels" takes things further afield, mixing those glammy flavors up with a whiff of a country honk. That one and "Moon" are indications that The Lemon Twigs are capable of up-ending the styles they've mastered so far, and gently moving into new territory. Still, the compositions remain so catchy that it's almost eerie, with "Live for Tomorrow" and "Somebody Loving You" stopping along the way to suck up inspiration from The Zombies and The Bee Gees, respectively, to add to the rock on offer here.
Brian and Michael D'Addario have offered up so much here that Songs for the General Public feels stuffed with charms. Wisely, nothing here overstaying its welcome, or upsetting the entire apple-cart itself. The D'Addario brothers are master pop craftsmen and I'm sort of amazed at how good each individual composition is on its own. Breathlessly inventive explorations of the pop form, the tracks on this album won me over completely. From Kinks-ian whimsy, to Slade-y riff-mongering, Songs for the General Public is full of throwback wit and cleverness, but all assembled in a thoroughly modern, un-ironic way. In that sense, it's a strong contender for the best album of 2020, and the sort of thing that's capable of brightening the grimmest and scariest of days in a plague year.
Songs for the General Public is out now via 4AD.
More details on The Lemon Twigs via the official website.
[Photo: Michael Hili]