It’s hard to wrap your head around just how young brothers Michael and Brian D’Addario really are. They recorded their first official full length album “Do Hollywood” in 2015 at the tender ages of 15 and 17. Nearly a decade later, the 23 and 25 year old Lemon Twigs consecrated the stage at Colectivo Back Room on Tuesday, May 3.
The Gen Z brothers have already had a full career. They spent their teens and early twenties touring and sharing the stage with acts such as Phoenix, Arctic Monkeys, and Savages. Their first album was recorded by Johnathon Rado of the band Foxygen. They can call behemoths like Iggy Pop, Questlove, Elton John and Gerard Way their fans. They started their band in early adolescence and in less than 10 years have built a career that rivals bands three or four times their age.
For their spring tour they invited all-woman Gen Z band, Tchotchke to open for them. Together they are demonstrating the natural aptitude and creativity we have to look forward to as Gen Z bands begin to take their place in the larger music space.
The Colectivo Back Room was a moody and intimate space to re-acquaint ourselves with the social norms of events and shows. Because we were all adjusting to maskless “post-pandemic” socializing, the room was pretty quiet and groups of people were spread out throughout the space– making it one of the first times I didn’t have to physically touch or move others on my way to the front of the stage. Tchotchke started right at eight.
The New York-based band is composed of Anastasia Sanchez (drums, lead vocals) and Eva Chambers (bass, vocals) and Emily Tooraen (guitar, vocals). As teenagers, Sanchez and Chambers both played in the band Pinky Pinky. Now at age 23, they are touring the country before even putting out their debut album. Their only two singles were released in December of 2021 and just a few months ago in February.
The trio put on a great set— led by lead singer and drummer Anastasia, who looks just like a young Fiona Apple (and can sing like her too). Their songs were a celebration of young womanhood and would be right at home for fans of Vivian Girls, Alvvays or PJ Harvey.
Their nine-track debut self-titled album is set to be released July 15th. The album that features their singles “Dizzy” and “Ronnie” with newest single “Don’t Hang Up on Me,” was produced by the Lemon Twigs and recorded at the famous Electric Lady Studios.
When it was time for The Lemon Twigs to come on stage, they opened their set with a cover of “Teen Line” by Milwaukee’s best, The Shivvers. Lyrics for the song, which fit seamlessly with their set, were read off of a music stand– leading us to believe that they learned that song just for their Milwaukee show.
The D’Addario’s voices are so malleable and androgynous that for Milwaukeeans, you could simply close your eyes and perfectly picture Jill Kossoris on a local stage in the 80s. It was such a heartfelt way to open the show– especially when thinking of the effort they went through to perform that song for us. It was a clever way to immediately take charge of the room.
“That’s called pandering,” said Brian D’Addario.
Afterward they went right into the first track of their latest album, “Hell on Wheels.” Of their many incredible songs, this song is one that demonstrates their range of songwriting and instrumental skills– melodic baroque elements, glam vocals and showmanship, fetching powerpop hooks.
Throughout the set they played songs from their albums “Do Hollywood,” (“These Words”) “Go To School,” (“Queen of My School”) and “Songs for the General Public,” (“No One Holds You,” “Fight,” “Only A Fool,” “Ashamed,” and “Leather Together”) as well as introducing songs from their upcoming album.
The young brothers are masters of transformation and throughout their set were not only channeling the music of everyone from Gene Clark to Phil Seymour and Jobriath to Brian Wilson but also physically bouncing to different instruments between songs demonstrating what skilled craftsmen they truly are.
Throughout the night, I couldn’t help but think of a quote by writer Pearl Buck, “The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible, and achieve it, generation after generation.”
The show was a great reminder of what music fans have to look forward to as we get older. Younger and younger artists are finding their footing. We all get witness to the real-time impact young artists are making on the world around them. And for artists like The Lemon Twigs and Tchotchke, well, it’s an honor to watch as their bright futures unfold.