The Lemon Twigs - Go To School

Not so much a traditional album as a high-concept, theatrically overblown rock opera, ‘Go To School’ exists in a venn diagram of one right now. Sure, affiliations with pals and first album producers Foxygen might be in the vague eccentric ballpark, but even the latter’s adventures in retro oddity have nothing on this: a musical by any other name, about two failed entertainers and their adopted chimpanzee son, Shane. In the hands of most, it would all be self-consciously kooky enough to immediately land in the bin, but The Lemon Twigs are masters of multi-layered, intricate instrumentation and nostalgic, classic melody. The result is that it all, somehow, sounds bizarrely natural. Landing in the unique middle ground between the ’70s warmth of Todd Rundgren (who lends guest vocals as Shane’s dad, of course) and Little Shop Of Horrors, ‘Go To School’ is a genuine original.