The Lemon Twigs A Dream Is All We Know 2024

Power Pop. It has lots of definitions, and lots of examples, some of which I don't always agree should be included in the category/genre. But these guys are Power Pop by just about any definition you can come up with. And they're darn good to boot.

And they're young, two Long Island brothers that write and play fun-filled pop/rock that sounds like the era from the British Invasion to New Wave. They benefit greatly from those wonderful brotherly harmonies that seem to come so easily to people with similar vocal cord DNA. You know, Everly Brothers, Cowsills, Proclaimers, etc. 

And they write catchy, sometimes quirky pop songs that sound just like... In fact, that game can be played, but it's really better to just bob your head or dance around and enjoy a smart band that's fun. The ones that sound like the Beach Boys are the most obvious references, but these guys have been raised on all the best pop-rock music from 1964-1977, and they have taken it all in and made something that's new, and old.

The high energy opener, My Golden Years could be the Searchers. They Don't Know How To Fall In Place is solid pop with glowing harmonies and a nice keyboard solo. The title track is a jangle pop gem with a great hook for a chorus. I Should Have Known Right From The Start is good, and Rock On that closes the record is a great pounding rocker that comes close to a Raspberries hit.

The Beach Boys sound shows up in In The Eyes Of The Girl, which sounds like Brian wrote it, but  Ember Days and Sweet Vibration are only OK, except for the harmonies, which are lovely. A couple of the other ones have an awkward lyrical way with too many syllables for the melody, but that doesn't really ruin them.

They've made five other records since 2015. I hope they're close to this good. That would be a gas.

St. Vincent All Born Screaming 2024

I want to like this record, really I do. I have enjoyed all of her previous work, although she pushes the envelope more than most artists I enjoy. Her fourth, the remarkable St. Vincent 2014 and the follow-up, Massseduction 2017 showed an artist that had matured into a serious force. Then Daddy's Home 2021 leaned just a little more accessible, and while it was good to see a different side of her, it wasn't quite the tour de force of the previous two.

This time out she produces the record herself, and it's hard to think that Jack Antonoff or John Congleton would have done a better job. It has a consistent sound, and lyrical depth, and it rocks hard. 

The opener, Hell Is Near, is a slow, pulsing, spacey, ethereal opening with big synthesizers. Reckless is spare, sparse, and slow until the industrial ending comes crashing down. Broken Man is an almost Gaga-like pop song with loud synth and guitar bursts that are an aural assault. The obsessive (creepy?) love song Flea is another good rocker, and again, is instrumentally brutal at times. Then the electronica/dance pop of Big Time Nothing shows off her ability with a melody. Violent Times has a synth-driven James Bond theme song sound. 

The armageddon of The Power's Out is another synth and guitar industrial rocker. Sweetest Fruit has a quality guitar break. So Many Planets has a strong melody and a choral chorus that is excellent. Then the record closes with the title track, a light pop, almost Tom Tom Club opening that morphs into a huge noisy chorus on the way out.

Like all of her work, it is challenging. She can turn a great lyrical phrase. She has a way with melody that is impressive even when she's making big loud noises. She is a hot guitarist even when she makes it sound like anything but a guitar. She plays a mean synth, and she can sing. And she produced a cohesive personal statement. But for me, it veers too close to a NIN industrial sound a bit too often. I'm sure it is what she intended, but I've got to go four stars instead of five. Your mileage may vary.