Reviews

The Lemon Twigs – Look For Your Mind!

The Lemon Twigs are reliable purveyors of pristine power pop with a side of nostalgia—but is it enough?

Look For Your Mind! is another impeccably-produced serving of nostalgia from the D’Addario brothers—but did you really expect anything less? Over the last decade, the Long Island duo’s pristine power pop has propelled them to the forefront of the current generation of harmony-loving rockers. They know all the killer chord progressions, they’ve got the baroque flourishes nailed, and in Danny Ayala and Reza Matin, the D’Addarios now have a supremely versatile touring band to back them up.

It’s well-established that the D’Addarios are more than just a gifted tribute act, but there is validity in pondering not just how long “more of the same” is appealing, but how long it is even acceptable. Look For Your Mind! suggests we might be closer to peak Lemon Twigs than originally suspected.

The homogeneity of the record’s first eleven tracks transforms its strengths into weaknesses. Sweet harmonies become syrupy and cloying; sharp hooks start to feel overplayed; nostalgic guitar jangles sound derivative. Taken in isolation, “I Just Can’t Get Over Losing You” nails that sweet spot between early career Beatles and mid-’60s Beach Boys. It’s obviously a very good song, but its potency is utterly diminished by the record’s sequencing.

Only the tender, finger-picked “Joy” succeeds in snapping Look For Your Mind! out of its mid-tempo funk, recalling Brian D’Addario’s more contemplative 2025 solo record Till the Morning in the process. That “Joy” proves to be an anomaly is both ironic and damning. While their performances sparkle, Look For Your Mind! exposes the songwriting limitations of The Lemon Twigs. They would do well to remember that their pioneering heroes—the Wilson brothers, Lennon and McCartney, Chilton, Rundgren—rarely stayed in the same place for long.

Look For Your Mind! is out now via Captured Tracks.