Cassette Review // The Lemon Twigs "Look For Your Mind!" (Captured Tracks)

https://thelemontwigs.bandcamp.com/album/look-for-your-mind

I was listening to this album on streaming when I was aware it came out, but then I looked it up on Bandcamp, saw all the physical versions and saw that it was also sold out as a record, cassette and CD.  Luckily I did some online searching and found someone selling it, so I was able to still pick up this album as a cassette because it is just that good.

It's difficult to describe the sound of The Lemon Twigs to someone who has never heard them before because it's just pure bliss.  It's that 1960's rock n roll sound of Buddy Holly mixed with some slight garage and surf rock.   The Beatles, The Monkees, The Beach Boys and even the band from "That Thing You Do!" all come to mind when listening to this, but you also have to imagine it in the purest form possible.  Don't think of the more experimental songs by those artists- think of them in that purely dreamy way.

Lyrically I really like this album because if you listen to it a few times the songs will get stuck in your head.   A lot of the songs have the title come up in the chorus, though a song like "I Hurt You" says "I don't know why I hurt you" in the chorus so it does set a different tone than what you might think just based on the title.  I also really love the song "Joy" because it says "Joy lives so far away, but she'll return to me some special day" and it could just as easily be about a woman named Joy as could be about the emotion.

I'm not one to think that pop music can't be deep, but a lot of the times it isn't and a lot of times as well people just sing along without thinking about what they're singing.  The way that The Lemon Twigs can have just such a sound that makes me not want to stop listening combined with lyrics that on the surface can be one thing but when studied can mean more just show you the importance of bands such as this in modern times.