by Anastasia Sanchez
It’s no secret why The Lemon Twigs caught on so quickly. The sibling duo from New York’s Long Island came out of high school a decade ago with a record deal and a stunningly grown-up sound: Right away, they captured the tight melodies of early Beatles, the far-off haze of late Beatles, the effortless cool of Big Star and the restless imagination of The Who.
Fast forward, and Brian and Michael D’Addario are poised to release their sixth studio album — seventh if you’re counting their homemade 2014 cassette. Older brother Brian tells PureHoney the live band (typically a quartet) will roll out new songs alongside material from recent releases at Churchill’s Pub for The Lemon Twigs’ Miami debut. “We’re really looking forward to playing there for the first time,” Brian says.
The bar was set high when The Lemon Twigs arrived with their 2016 debut album, Do Hollywood. There were television performances and festival dates, and raves from the likes of Iggy Pop and Questlove. They followed up ambitiously with 2018’s Go To School, a jangly musical in concept-album form about a chimpanzee raised as a human boy.
They’ve continued to grow. The Lemon Twigs can pull out Supertramp, Elliot Smith, Beach Boys, The Zombies, or The La’s at will. They can be Magical Mystery Tour and Rubber Soul in the same song. “It feels like every song’s an opportunity to write something better than the last thing you’ve done,” Brian says.
Their previous album, 2024’s A Dream Is All We Know, was a full distillation of their ’60s-hit-writing sensibilities and knack for turning head-bobbing into a condition. In 2025, Brian released a solo album, and the brothers joined with their musician and songwriter father, Ronnie D’Addario, for an album of Ronnie’s songs, called Written By. Guests included rock icon Todd Rundgren and former collaborators of the late Beach Boys impresario Brian Wilson.
“We’d been working on the album for a while and getting other people’s contributions made the project exciting for us again,” the older sibling recalls. “It was very nice of them to say yes!”
The Lemon Twigs perform 8pm Friday, January 23 at Churchill’s Pub in Miami. thelemontwigs.com ~ Erik Kvarnberg
