Go To School

The Lemon Twigs - Go To School
Critic Score
Based on 26 reviews
2018 Ratings: #420 / 890
User Score
Based on 110 ratings
2018 Rank: #509
Liked by 14 people
August 24, 2018 / Release Date
LP / Format
4AD / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Dork

The D’Addarios prove themselves to be more than capable of pulling off the preposterous, and the 50-something minutes of ‘Go To School’ pass by in a rush of precision-tooled harmony vocals, rock’n’roll mini-epics à la Townshend, woodwinds, strings, banjos and chimes.

90
The Line of Best Fit

Go to School is an artistic statement on a grand scale, and it cements their reputation as world-class songwriters. It’s a once-in-a-generation epic that, unfortunately, The Lemon Twigs will never be able to do again, owing to the purity of concept and execution here.

84
GIGsoup

Ridiculous in concept, somehow ‘Go To School’ is endearing throughout, poignant, impassioned, and perhaps would’ve been a smash if the D’Addario Brothers were born a few decades earlier.

83
A.V. Club

It’s the kind of complicated release that rewards repeated listens, as the story of a disaffected chimp translates into songs about the loneliness and longing for acceptance that linger even as high school fades away.

80
PopMatters
The Lemon Twigs have taken a lot of what made the first part of the 1970's vibrant and colorful and fascinating and applied those things to a contemporary work. The results are bizarre and at times a little confusing, but it's a unique piece of work, beautifully written, with a jewelers eye for detail.
80
Q Magazine
Thanks to their guileless sincerity and boundless invention, The Lemon Twigs manage to pull it off.
80
Classic Rock

Plentiful showstopping melodies and an authentic dedication to their influences--Todd Rundgren even plays Shane's dad--will see Go To School run and run.

80
Gigwise
Precocious wunderkinds up their own ante with a most extravagant opus.
80
Spill Magazine

The Lemon Twigs’ second debut album, Go To School, takes you on a heartbreaking journey of a young boy named Shane who is struggling with suicidal thoughts. Oh, and did I mention that Shane is a chimpanzee?

80
Uncut

Overall, Go To School is a blast, a joyous, ridiculous journey that treads a perfect line between silly, funny and heart-breaking.

80
Clash

‘Go To School’ is a highly ambitious album and some may be wary of the concept, however, if you unpack it, there’s a touching tale within that can resonate with all.

80
The Skinny

Go To School is musically outstanding; sincere and ridiculously entertaining, providing everything that modern-day rock has to offer.

80
Paste
The album is dazzling in its ambition, not least because the Lemon Twigs are in earnest.
75
The 405

Magnificent, opulent, bizarre, and wholesome, Go To School is unlikely to be remembered as a hit-filled album but as an important stepping stone in the rock'n'roll rite of passage instead.

75
Northern Transmissions

True fans will undoubtedly be in love with this latest record, as the brothers only ramp up their core personalities. It’s how this outlandish spirit is used however that can leave the album feeling like it’s going in too many directions at once.

75
The Young Folks

At its peak, Go to School featured some of the most forward-thinking ideas of the year within the alternative landscape.

70
Under the Radar

A 15-track, hour-long opus that is never dialled down any lower than mildly hysterical, it will trigger a fight or flight reflex in every listener.

70
FLOOD Magazine

Go to School is a testament to unbridled creative freedom—a concept album such as this one could easily take a turn for the bizarre, yet Brian and Michael are able to keep it witty and lighthearted.

70
AllMusic
Leaving no ridiculous tangent or exaggerated flourish unexplored, the result is a larger-than-life spectacle grown from strange but excellent songwriting.
70
Pitchfork

Listen to Go to School on a surface level, and you’ll get the tale of an adolescent chimp, raised by humans, who gets his dreams crushed and his heart broken before returning to nature in a symbolic blaze of freedom and destruction. Give the album your full attention, however, and you’ll hear two young musicians settling into their gifts as they challenge the rapidly expanding worldview they share.

60
The Guardian

In some ways Go to School is an authentically, lovingly reproduced if rather pastiche period piece, but it’s hard not to admire the ambition and showmanship, or the breadth of influences – from glam to music hall to Stephen Sondheim to Oklahoma!

60
NME

It’s charming and full of heart, but you’ll be grimacing all the way through it.

60
The Irish Times
Occasionally jarring but ultimately bananas and your enjoyment depends on how much monkeying around you can handle.
60
Evening Standard
The Lemon Twigs’ instrumental abilities just about save the collection from being irritating.
50
Loud and Quiet

For all their eccentricities, The Lemon Twigs are master magpies, so here it’s all obnoxious stage school vocals of the lead singing like a spider and over emoting. It’s bonkers song structures and big crescendos. But it’s all about a chimpanzee.

40
Mojo

Go To School is a misstep--the sound of talented young musicians over-reaching to the point of unlistenability.

zachthesnack
66

I cant even begin to explain how incredibly jubilant I feel after listening to this!

79

This is one of the most creative projects I’ve listened to in recent years. An entire musical disguised as a rock album, what a great concept! However this project lacks on its execution. It sounds great, just goes on for way longer than it should. I was invested in the story if the chimp for the first half of the album, than it lost me. This project would be stellar if it cut back some length. However, every song is a fucking jam on here, so give it a listen if you’re feeling some ... read more

itsyahboinoah
62

Too damn long for its own good!!

P.s Im so glad they put out the track "Queen of my school" such a bop for me.

40Rats
82

pretty solid

evelezt
90

Absolutely heartbreaking musical, listen if you like stories!

TitodeuS
59

Since I was a kid I liked Opera, and now I know that Opera and Rock don’t go together. I hate this. Boring asf.

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Added on: July 10, 2018