The Lemon Twigs: young & fresh

If you live by the adage "you can never go wrong with a bit of Baroque", then this week you should head to the performance by The Lemon Twigs. They are young, fresh, and they love Seventies pop, hot candlewax, and the Ninja Turtles.

Do Hollywood
Brian and Michael D'Addario's debut sounds like you're stepping into a Seventies time capsule. One in which the musical wizardry of the Todd Rundgren who made Something/Anything? has the highest value, the melodious refinement of Harry "Schmilsson" Nilsson is the leitmotif, and even the madcap antics of Sparks are not wacky enough. The eccentric brothers from Long Island like to throw in the godfathers of indie pop Big Star and the cult band Badfinger, and there is also a touch of Broadway in their kaleidoscopic, boundless sound circus – they have a background in musicals. Pop won't get any more adventurous than this this year. "We love the way those classic songwriters were obsessed with crafting songs, they concentrated on the melody, the chords, and the lyrics, all at the same time," says Brian, wearing a tight pink Beatles shirt. "I've had this since I was eight." [Laughs] "We didn't go for a theme, like Bowie used to do, we just concentrated on each song," Michael says in his pink Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt, while he puts his fingers in the hot wax of the candle on the table. "Wow, it feels good to put your finger in that hole." "Actually, Bob Dylan taught me a lot about songwriting," Brian continues. "I'd listen to Blonde on Blonde the whole time in my mom's car, until she would beg me to stop." [Laughs]

Do it!
"Recording Do Hollywood was our first music-related adventure outside New York," Brian D'Addario (19) explains. "Going to LA to work with Jonathan Rado from Foxygen, whose ...And Star Power is a fantastic record, felt like we were making it. It boosted our confidence and I think you can hear that in the performances on the record, which we recorded on tape at Rado's house. Of course we knew it wasn't anything like Hollywood, because we're an indie band and Rado's place is in the Valley, far from the glamorous part of town. It's just our naive Long Island view of what all of California is." "Like that movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan," Michael D'Addario (17) says with a laugh.

Kooky
"No, no, we're not fans of the Bay City Rollers," Michael D'Addario says about his glammy looks. "One time I started doing make-up on stage, and it felt great, like doing something big. It's another reason why people won't be at the bar during the show; there is something kooky to see on the stage. I like the way the Runaways dressed, but they aren't glam because they are girls." [Laughs] "He used to dress like Dave Grohl a couple of years ago," his older brother says with a laugh. "With cargo shorts and thermal underwear. He also got into the Flaming Lips and MGMT." Michael nods: "I will probably have another phase after this."

Surfin' LA
"The Beach Boys' Surf's Up was the album we had in mind when we made Do Hollywood," explains Brian D'Addario. "That record was also home recorded, and it has this sort of mid-fi quality to it. It sounds great, but it's not too polished." "It's not totally dry, not totally wet," his younger brother says. "There are a lot of different instruments and combinations on that record, but it's not a Phil Spector wall of sound with a ton of reverb." Brian nods. "We were going for a layered, but not a totally psychedelic thing. We wanted you to hear every instrument."

The Hoffman
The D'Addarios grew up as child actors, with roles in films and TV shows like Sinister and Law & Order. "Dustin Hoffman is my favourite actor," Michael D'Addario says with conviction, and a little later he does a good imitation of Robert De Niro. "Because he's short, and...really good. Kramer vs. Kramer is a great movie, heavy but it doesn't kill you. It was made in 1979, it feels very nostalgic."

> The Lemon Twigs. 25/11, 19.30, Botanique, Sint-Joost-ten-Node