A third visit to the Roundhouse in as many weeks, this time to see the Lemon Twigs. As is my wont, I arrived early enough to get my usual perch down the front and catch the support act. My friend who was attending this gig (but with whom I never actually met up in the end) described this act as "too dweeby" for him. And after listening to him I can see his point.
Mike Maltese has a great voice, able to rise up into a strong falsetto, and he seems a nice, good looking young man. But. But the stuff he plays one could imagine on a cruise liner. More muzak than music. Pleasant enough, but not so as you would actively choose to listen to it.
In stark contrast - the Lemon Twigs. If you haven't come across them (and be honest, you haven't), they are a force of nature. Any way I can describe them will not make them sound appealing, so you just have to accept that they are worth seeing. They are fronted by young brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario from New York. They are not handsome, being two rather skinny lads. A bit glam rock.
One of them seems to try and perform like a cross between Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger. I suppose if you were going to copy someone you might as well pick on them. They verge on parody. But the music is pretty much rock rather than pop.
And their latest album was a rock opera called Go to School, which is based on a chimp being adopted and going to school. A sort of simian Tommy. I know that doesn't sound promising, and I didn't take to the album immediately either, but on further listening it grew on me. I stopped feeling that it was musically very contrived and started to realise that it was very clever. My only complaint about this gig was that they didn't play very much from it.
They are very entertaining and energetic on stage. They may not be your cup of tea, but you can't fault them for effort.
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| They have other band members but it is fair to say that the brothers suck all the attention away from them. |
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