Neptune’s Core's journey has been quite the ride. The band consists of two sets of sisters, Hannah qnd Sofie Richter and Jackie an Kaitlin Cywinski, who have been playing together for years; we caught them at a Snail Mail show back in 2019. Since then they've opened for the likes of Geese and Twin Peaks while releasing some incredible singles, an EP, and a compilation of their early work. That's a lot for a band with members in their late teens and early 20s. But all that hard work has paid off as they debut their latest single "Lemon Car", which feels like a major leap for the immensely talented quartet.
Immediately, the song's quick blast of instrumentation announces itself with a fresh and confident vibe, much akin to their 2025 cover of "Be My Girl". It's beyond polish and years of honing their sound; like a whole different attitude coming to the band as Sofie Richter's voice cooly croons the song's opening line, "You're my lemon car, I will love and covet you". From there the song bounces along with some of the catchiest indie pop rhythms of the year.
Once "Lemon Car" gets up to speed, a bit of art rock and experimentation finds its way into the song. The "oohs" and "ahhs" of the pop around the song evoke the beautiful cacophony a band like Finom would make. Layered vocals begin to appear in the second half of the song as the lyrics twist to become opposed to the first half ("Loving you is harder than it seems") and add sonic layers that begged to be listened to again and again. If this is just a taste of what's to come from Neptune’s Core, then I absolutely cannot wait for what's next from this fantastic band.
Neptune's Core, alongside Carmen Christopher, will be opening for one of Twin Peaks eight-day Thalia Hall residency shows this Sunday. The show is massively sold out, so head over to Neptune's Core website for more upcoming dates including the Taste of Randolph on June 21!
