Like The Beatles and Beach Boys? You're going to love The Lemon Twigs

With apologies to Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the best new Beatles album of 2026 arguably belongs to The Lemon Twigs.Their sixth album, Look For Your Mind!, is the result of a decade spent refining their signature power pop: a potent fusion of the Fab Four, The Beach Boys, Todd Rundgren, 'and other 60s and 70s hallmarks.The flower-powered title track rings with The Byrds' chiming, psych-tinged guitars. Mean To Me's wistful melodies are a dead ringer for Brian Wilson, while Fire And Gold could pass for a cut from Big Star.Powered by mop top riffs, exquisite vocal harmonies and an Ed Sullivan Show-coded music video, I Just Can't Get Over Losing You is the best Merseybeat throwback since 90s dramedy That Thing You Do!The Lemon Twigs is fronted by Brian and Michael D'Addario, brothers from Hicksville, Long Island, with a gift for melody indebted to the greats and the skills to fashion their own Sgt Pepper-worthy arrangements.So, are they sick of the B word surfacing in every interview?"Slightly," comes Brian's diplomatic response. "It depends in what context it's being brought up."Far from cagey, he's rational about how the recurring comparisons can be flattering and tricky to repudiate."I just think the denial of influence can be incredibly pretentious."I'm never gonna lie about being influenced by this or that, but it sort of ends up cheapening the conversation sometimes."Indeed, it's easy get swept up in the Twigs' vintage sound, but their inspirations run far deeper than Pet Sounds and op-shop chic.Simon & Garfunkel, glam rockers T-Rex, post-punks Television Personalities, NYC's famed Brill Building hit factory — all are as much a part of The Lemon Twigs' DNA.Plus, playing "spot the influence" overshadows the abilities of these 20-something siblings as producers and songwriters.Sibling synergyFormer child actors and the offspring of Ronnie D'Addario — a songwriter, session musician and producer in the 70s and 80 — Brian and Michael were just 17 and 15, respectively, when they released their acclaimed 2016 debut album Do Hollywood.They followed in 2018 with Go To School, an indulgent concept album about a chimpanzee raised as a human boy. Hardly a conventional industry move.Dropped from their label following 2020's Songs for the General Public, they bounced back with glowing reviews for 2023's softer, lovelorn Everything Harmony and 2024's A Dream Is All We Know.The Lemon Twigs have toured Australia just twice, in 2017 and 2023. (Supplied: Stephanie Pia)Having spent their career recording nearly everything themselves, Look For Your Mind! saw the D'Addarios bringing their touring band into their small Brooklyn studio for the first time.Namely, bassist Danny Ayala, drummer Danny Reza, with contributions from Eva Chambers, member of rock band Tchotchke and Michael's partner."It was a very natural decision for us to involve everybody," explains Brian."It's been about three years of having this line-up and we have a way of translating these sort-of-complex songs into a palatable live experience. We just thought it'd be cool to get it on record."The result adds a Beat Combo vitality, with guitars and drums acting as the pumping heart of these songs."It felt like what would be a first record for a lot of bands, 'Let's capture the live ban!' But we never had that approach before," Brian adds. "It was always an overdub approach."Meeting their heroesHaving enlisted Todd Rundgren to produce their second album and Sean Ono Lennon for 2024's A Dream Is All I Know, The Lemon Twigs know the joy of working with their idols.Among their most treasured encounters, however, is getting to meet — and perform for — Brian Wilson at the late, great maestro's birthday celebrations last year at his Los Angeles home.Brian and Michael were keeping "a low profile" as part of a cover band taking Wilson's requests."One of the first songs he asked to hear was This Could Be the Night," the 1966 tune produced by Phil Spector and written by Harry Nilsson, "that we happened to cover at one of Michael's solo shows," Brian notes."It was like the second song of the night … we were nervous as hell. [Michael] was singing to Brian … I went up and did, You're So Good To Me [by The Beach Boys]. It was just an honour.""The best part? He was surrounded by such cool, sensitive people who just loved him," Brian continues."It was nice he got that warm environment towards the end of his life after giving so much warmth and beauty to the world."It was definitely the best moment of my life."Getting the seal of approval from Wilson, one of pop's founding architects, should be enough to distinguish The Lemon Twigs from other acts that simply wear the past like a costume.Rather than cynically feed a widespread appetite for nostalgia, the D'Addarios live and breathe classic songcraft.There's an authentic dedication to refining their skill set — as DIY studio auteurs and songwriters — that rises above mere pastiche. They're carrying on a tradition — like folk, jazz or classical — rather than just imitating an era.They just weren't made for these timesEach tune on Look For Your Mind! is meticulously constructed, often presenting as love songs on the surface but offering unique twists beneath.A love triangle lurks beneath the ebullient familiarity of You're Still My Girl, while the romantic 2 or 3, all flute melodies and jangling 12-string guitars, is sung from the perspective of a paramour humbled by his more cultured partner.Beyond the timeless sounds and topics, there are moments that touch on contemporary subject matter.The playful Bring You Down disguises lyrics fuelled by the cost-of-living crisis and the threat of AI-driven automation."They got eyes on me, making sure I don't take a break," Michael D'Addario bellows over 60s surf rock by way of the Cavern Club: "They're gonna take my job and give it to a metal machine."Gather Round, a McCartney knees-up circa The White Album, is a "collective action song" written around the political disenchantment of the US election."I was feeling very disillusioned, like a lot of people, at Joe Biden," Brian explains. "And I obviously think Trump is horrible."It makes you really yearn for somebody you could believe in, but you've kind of been through this whole thing before and you find out that all these people are crooks."Book-ending Look For Your Mind! is two tracks exploring personal responsibility, employing psychedelic textures to capture the paranoia and confusion of an increasingly uncertain world."That was a good sonic symbol, the way the whole track gets destroyed at the end," D'Addario says of closer Your True Enemy."It really turns it all inward, kind of blaming yourself, which sometimes is all you have because you have such little control of the outside world. It's cathartic."Already touring and promoting Look For Your Mind! means it "actually feels like a new record, which usually is not the case," adds Brian.He and Michael typically have a "list of songs" already in the bank or being developed.After recording an album per year since 2023 at their Brooklyn digs, they're looking for a change of environment for their next release.The aim, as ever, is to continue refining their sound and style. It's a case of "quality over aesthetics," reasons Brian, regardless of the B-word comparisons."I don't even think of bands from the 60s and 70s as being that far in musical history."If that music really was meaningful, it'll be meaningful for a very long time. And the same with us and anybody putting out music now."Look For Your Mind! is out now.