The Lemon Twigs

Go To School

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.

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.

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.

‘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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.