The Lemon Twigs – They Don’t Know How To Fall In Place Review

Few artists can make revisiting the classic tones of a whole generation worth the time it takes to get to grips with it. A shift in momentum for The Lemon Twigs came last year with the release of Everything Harmony. Sensing this boom is on their side, the band is set on rattling out their next effort just a year later. Whether A Dream is All We Know can keep pace and further the enjoyable tones of a band living it up with surf rock tones of the past is yet to be seen. My Golden Years was a good indication of what can happen when the shift in tone comes suddenly, thrashing through with a sense of forced desperation from the D’Addario brothers towards the back end. They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place continues the trend of revisiting old tones and tunes, reviving them and recapturing some of the quality from way back when. 

But The Lemon Twigs is more than capable of moving on the sound. Flickers of such appeal can be heard on their previous single and are formed with a sharp realisation on They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place. Their upbeat pace and continuation of letting the good times roll is a wonderful effort which marks this second A Dream is All We Know single as a stroke of inspired backdated pop. There is a lazy grasp at comparing these efforts to The Beach Boys in their Pet Sounds era and it is clear to hear why this may be the case. But The Lemon Twigs manage to sidestep those comparisons a little more with their harmonization and richly layered production here.  

Some exceptional guitar work is key to keeping the distance between replication and respectful glances to the classics of the 1960s. Flashes of jolly intent spring through the keyboard work, with the rising vocal qualities and harmonies nicely placed. A consistency here lets The Lemon Twigs capitalise on a desire for new takes on old sounds. They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place will maintain more than a few comparisons here or there but to the pot-holed mind of a caffeinated music journalist, the names of such songs are not to hand. Rightly so. The Lemon Twigs pool their clear influences and make a go of adapting them with an almost jangle pop variety, more so on My Golden Years than this latest single.  

Crucial to all of this is the good-natured angle The Lemon Twigs has successfully crafted. Sudden guitar rips and wonderful instrumental collectives that appear out of the blue are a sign of confidence and getting a feel for a period the band feels they can improve on. That they can. All the way down to the fashion and all the connotations their cover images bring to the front of the mind, it is hard to misplace The Lemon Twigs now their influences are worn on their sleeve. More power to it. They are making no attempt to hide away their style and their obvious stretch of material. They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place will likely silence the bubble of those who believe The Lemon Twigs are nothing more than lazy rips. They are not, but is the point not to pay tribute with new and effective sounds?