The Greatest Time Travelers
Church Bells & Peppermint Roses - The Lemon Twigs (Newer Music Friday)
It’s officially been two weeks since the release of a brand new Lemon Twigs album, and with it came rainbows and butterflies and sunshine all over the world. Okay, even if that’s metaphorical, it can’t be denied that A Dream Is All We Know brightened up the music scene with its collection of brightly colored tunes that only the greatest time travelers— I mean totally normal guys could’ve come out with. I’ve got a lot of love for every song on this one, but on my listen-through while driving today, I found myself repeating “Church Bells” and “Peppermint Roses” over and over again.
I always love hearing the first non-single when listening to a full album, and so “Church Bells” was already stuck in my mind as a winner. It proved to be that and more, a laid-back track with a skip-hop beat that provides gentle vocals and sweet lyrics to boot. Everything is toned-down enough to go down easy, but still complex enough to be a standout. What got me on my listen-through today were the harmonies at the very end, a particularly shiny “my love waits for me on the Jersey-Side” that makes for a lovely conclusion to an even lovelier song.
While I think “Church Bells” is a track that everybody will love, I see “Peppermint Roses” as the flip side to that, a song that I think you either love or you hate. I come to that conclusion because the more severe & measured feel combined with the clashy chord progression is something that doesn’t always appeal to everyone. When I first listened to “Peppermint Roses”, I actually wasn’t a big fan. But man if it didn’t grow on me… part of that has gotta be the fact that this one could slide right onto Revolver and fit perfectly without another glance. I like the regal sounding beginning & subsequent callbacks to it, as it adds this kind of intimidating feel to it that helps it stick out from the other tracks on the album. The two-part harmony is tight as ever, and while I love any of the held notes they converge on, my absolute favorite part is the last note, as I love an ending that isn’t completely stagnant.
That’s just two of the twelve great ones from A Dream is All We Know, and I hope that shows you just how absolutely stellar this album is. The Lemon Twigs have knocked it out of the park yet again, but c’mon…. did we really expect anything else?
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