On March 8th of 2019, my best friend and I made a trek from Durham, NC, to Asheville, NC, to see Graveyard at the Orange Peel. The opening act was a new band out of California called Twin Temple. Unfortunately, James and I had only heard a few songs leading up to the show, and while we thought it was fun and kitschy, we weren’t quite prepared for what we would witness.
A performance that consisted of a Satanic incantation, a doo-wop band playing music that pretty much would have been the soundtrack for Satan’s sock-hop, and closing the show with a Satanic indoctrination of an audience member into the Church of Twin Temple.
Yeah, it sounds over the fucking top, I know. Satanic doo-wop music? Well, it’s no more over the top than God’s bumblebees of heavy metal, Stryper. Hell, Stryper has made a very good career for nearly 40 years in the name of God, so why not do the same in the name of Satan? Hell, Satan is way more badass, he looks way cooler than Jesus was supposed to look, and honestly, who doesn’t need a Satanic doo-wop band in their life?
Twin Temple’s debut album is ten songs (well, eight songs, one instrumental, and a Satanic Church of Twin Temple Ceremony), all written around the concepts of loving the D-evil, having sex because it fucking rules and not for procreation, and driving home the fact that being a Satanist doesn’t make you a cocaine-snorting, gun shooting, womanizing rockstar which oddly enough is what Stryper ended up being proved to be.
Since 2019, I’ve been a big fan of Twin Temple, and I have been carefully following their steps as they grow in the rock n’ roll ranks. Opening for the Uncle Acid/Graveyard tour, supporting murder folksinger/songwriter Amigo the Devil, and now they’ve hit the arena circuit as the support act for the co-headlining Ghost/Volbeat tour. While I don’t think Twin Temple would be a great arena band since I find their music to be a lot more intimate and fun, they have been blowing people away left and right, growing their cult night after night with kids of all ages who wanna get down and be groovy with Satan. Far out!
While a big fan of Twin Temple, I found myself asking one question: How long can they carry this on before it gets old and tired? Like most acts with a schtick (and I mean this in the utmost respect), I wonder if either they will eventually tire out and fade or if the quality of their material will suffer.
Acts like KISS, Alice Cooper, King Diamond, or even the iconic David Bowie went on to have long, successful careers while also putting the naysayers and critics to rest. They did so by maintaining their over-the-top schticks while still releasing (for the most part) great music that would span decades or even half a century. So why do I feel that Twin Temple would differ from these acts? I believe that it’s because I don’t know a fucking thing about doo-wop music or writing lyrics about Satan. Influenced by musical genres such as bosa nova, jazz, twangy guitar rock, and good ol’ fashioned doo-wop, the more I listened to their influences, the more I began to see that what I thought could be a somewhat shallow wading pool is a well that goes much deeper than I thought possible.
This year in 2022, Twin Temple released a new single called “Let’s Have a Satanic Orgy, ” a swinging ’60s bosa nova jazz of a tune that I had to hear to believe. Of course, reading the song’s title had me rolling my eyes a bit, but listening to it, I was blown away that they pulled it off as such a great, obnoxious, and unforgiving song. Unfortunately, accompanying the song is a video that is NSFW, over the top, vile, perverted, and it would drive even the strongest of faithful Christians into the ground screaming for their lord and savior. But I fucking love it, and it reminded me once again why I fell in love with this band.
The video is an animated piece that reminds me of something you would see in one of those old-school $0.05 porn shop flip movie booths. It’s so insane that you can’t even view it on YouTube without signing in to verify your age. But, what I love about this, even more, is that it makes one want to see it even more. Remember back in the ’80s and ’90s when they put Parental Advisory stickers on albums? I can remember wanting to know what lay behind that sticker, whether or not the music was any good or not.
Twin Temple, good on you, kids. You’re out there making money in the name of Satan, and I hope you continue to prosper. I hope you get the house, the car, and all the followers you can get. I hope you buy the megachurches and fill them with Satanists for potlucks and orgies while donating all the money to Planned Parenthood, Women’s Rights Movements, and Black Lives Matter. Twin Temple, you are the real fucking deal, and I will be behind you for as long as you continue to deliver great music with a great message.
Hails to you!
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