Twin Temple on Doomed Lovers & Symphonies for Satan
By: Josh Kitchen / October 9, 2026
Alex and Zach James of Twin Temple have been brewing demonically inspired rock and roll for nearly a decade now, but there's no denying that they're having a moment. Coining the genre "satanic doo-wop," the duo found themselves at the center of a wave of attention this past summer following a highly publicized tour shake-up, when self-proclaimed "outlaw $10 cowboy" Charley Crockett kicked them off his tour after discovering just how serious the band was about singing the Devil's music.
This interview doesn't dive into that rift, but the Devil works in mysterious ways, and the newfound attention comes at a deliciously devilish time. Twin Temple's fourth album, Doomed Lovers, is out today, just in time for spooky season. In the wake of their departure from Crockett's tour, the band received an outpouring of support and praise, made their live debut on The Daily Show in July, and, most notably, caught the attention of Jack White, who invited them to open for him at the Hollywood Palladium last month.
"Alongside the Ramones, his songs were some of the first songs I ever learned on guitar as a teenager," Alex told me.
And while "satanic doo-wop" is certainly an easy way to describe their music, the world Twin Temple has created for themselves is rooted in something much deeper: the history of rock and roll in America. Artists like Little Richard, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Ray Charles, and countless others were accused of playing the Devil's music more than sixty years ago. It's part of what makes rock and roll just as vital today as it was when Chuck Berry and his contemporaries helped bring it into the mainstream. This was music born of rebellion, freedom, and the pursuit of pleasure. Twin Temple are simply carrying on a tradition that has been woven into popular music for generations. As Zach told me, "Phil had symphonies for teenagers. Brian had symphonies for God. We have symphonies for Satan."
I really love this collection of songs. What I've always loved about Twin Temple is how deeply you embrace your musical influences. On this record, you've cited artists like Roy Orbison and the Shangri-Las, but you give those sounds such a distinct identity.
Beyond the satanic doo-wop moniker, what stands out to me is how personal this music feels. You can hear your perspectives on love, relationships, memory, and desire throughout the record. It feels like a reflection of who you are, both as artists and individuals, and I think that makes Doomed Lovers a great entry point into Twin Temple. Talk to me about those ideas and what went into this record.
Alex James:
Thank you so much. I mean, that means a lot that you're hearing all of that in this record. Not that our other records weren't personal, because they're definitely reflections of our personal ethos and worldviews, but this one is definitely more rooted in our personal lives and experiences, and some of the things we've gone through on this forsaken Earth.
I think it kind of spans the gamut of what we've been through. Like you said, it's everything from love and loss to our worldview when it comes to all of those things.
I think it's also very much a tribute to all of the classic music that we're completely obsessed with. Maybe Zach can talk a bit about the production, because he's an amazing archaeologist when it comes to this. I'm always blown away by his ability to recreate and find sounds.
He finds all sorts of things, like a manuscript on the Beach Boys from the '60s or Phil Spector's studio logs. He's basically this historian, and I'm always learning something new from him. Digging deeper into our love of this American music was a big part of it.
This at Sunset Sound. Combining that location with how much you love and revere music and sound, Zach, being there had to be so inspiring.
Zach James:
It was an incredible experience to get to play the piano that Prince recorded "Purple Rain" on, and just to be in one of the last independently owned classic studios in Hollywood that was around in the late '50s and early '60s and was part of those records that we love. It was an incredible experience to get to create in there, working with Shooter [Jennings.]
AleX:
Yeah, and Zach went deep. Don't even get him started on his bass obsession. All I heard about for months straight was the bass, the bass, the bass.
Zach:
We got pretty obsessed with the bass, all of us. I think we bought three or four different basses during the recording sessions. We were trying to improve on the tic-tac sound that I was getting very, very hung up on.
One of the reasons I love Doomed Lovers so much is how tight it is. There are only eight songs, and I think there's something refreshing about that. We're seeing a resurgence in appreciation for the full album experience, but there's often a temptation to overload a record. This one never overstays its welcome, yet there's so much to discover through repeated listens. It feels like a really intentional collection of songs.
Alex:
Thank you so much. We really appreciate that. We actually have a ton of songs that we recorded for this record that didn't make it on. But I think it's kind of our thing. With the first record, we joked that it was like Black Sabbath. We recorded it in a day and then put four songs aside. We found that we really liked that approach, and we've kind of kept it going with every record.
Zach:
Yeah, this one wasn't recorded in a day.
Alex:
It definitely wasn't recorded in a day!
Even talking about making sure those tic-tac sounds were extra legitimate, Zach, it's so well produced. And that goes to show the incredible work of a real outlaw country musician, Shooter Jennings. Wink, wink.
Zach:
He's the GOAT.
And this 37-piece orchestra is insane. Talk to me about all that.
Alex:
Wow, where to begin? You mentioned Shooter and being a real outlaw, and that's definitely the approach we were taking with this record. To us, outlaw music isn't just aping sounds that came before. Shooter is such a supporter of music as a whole. He comes from country royalty, but he's really versatile. It was great to work with him because he was so open to any kooky idea we had.
Zach:
And getting to work with the orchestra was a nightmare come true. It's been a goal of ours for a very long time. On God Is Dead, we did one song with one violin player. We stacked it up and overdubbed it, and that was kind of an entry into that. We had planned to dive deeper into orchestral arrangements for this record, so to get to do that and see it fully realized was just incredible. I really love what we captured with them. I'm really happy with the results, personally.
Alex:
Zach's also a really big fan of a lot of string arrangers from the '60s, like Jack Nitzsche. He dove really deep into how they arranged strings during that time.
Zach:
Yeah, it was fun to give it a go and see if we could get close to a Jack Nitzsche or Stan Applebaum arrangement. We really love those old arrangers, those great, classic romantic arrangers.
One of my favorite quotes from a musician, and it's so goofy, is from Bono, I think. He said that the string arrangement on "God Only Knows" is proof of angels. So I wonder if the string arrangements on Doomed Lovers are proof of demons.
Zach:
Phil had symphonies for teenagers. Brian had symphonies for God. We have symphonies for Satan.
You refer to yourselves as satanic doo-wop, and I love that idea because it connects to the history of the music that inspires you. When artists like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Ray Charles first emerged, their music was often condemned as the devil's music. But what that music really represented was freedom, liberation, and pleasure. I feel like Twin Temple carries on that tradition, both musically and philosophically, by embracing what was once considered dangerous or taboo. Talk to me about that connection.
Alex:
Yeah, I think you nailed it. Part of the reason we incorporate satanic imagery into what we do, beyond just being Satanists and being drawn to that ethos, is that through line. Early rock and roll was meant to be dangerous. It pushed back against societal norms. It was hugely influential in breaking down Jim Crow laws in the South.
I always like to bring up Frankie Lymon, who sings this music for teenagers while being a teenager himself. He was actually demonized. American culture hated that a Black kid was rich and successful. More than that, when he performed on Alan Freed's The Big Beat and danced with a white teenager, all of the Southern sponsors of the show caused a huge uproar. There was all this backlash, and the entire show got canceled over this teenager dancing with a white teenager.
And so I think rock and roll, because of its ability to bring people together, impact culture, and move culture forward, has always been demonized. It's also been created by American minorities, whether women, Black people, Native American people, or poor Appalachians. It's this melting pot of so many different influences. We would not have rock and roll without those people. For us, it's a lot about pulling on those threads and bringing rock and roll back to shaking the cage.
Zach:
The music of rebellion.
Alex:
It is a music of rebellion. And in that sense, it's also a very American ideal in terms of representing freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press to cover these sorts of things.
These are freedoms that are not equally enjoyed in the rest of the world, so we do not take that for granted. I think it goes hand in hand with the music. We call it satanic doo-wop, and that kind of made us chuckle when we were trying to think, "Well, what genre is this?" Because in reality, we draw influence from all over the place. It's not strictly doo-wop. There are Latin influences, jazz, blues, and country. In our own way, making this obscure, nonexistent genre was our way of trying to eschew genre. One thing we're really interested in is transcending those binaries: rock and roll and country, man and woman, good and evil.
We're trying, in our own way, to see past some of these limiting binaries through the music. That was kind of what was behind the satanic doo-wop moniker. But when you dig in, not every song is doo-wop. There are some really traditional doo-wop songs across the records, but not everything is.
These ideas are ingrained in American music culture and history. It's funny because, thematically, this has been happening in popular music, including country music, for so long. Some of country music and American pop music's favorite songs, "Ring of Fire," "Ghost Riders in the Sky," Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You," have explored this kind of subject matter. I think people forget how ingrained these ideas are in everything we love and listen to.
Zach:
Yeah, absolutely.
Alex:
To us, the best music asks questions and pushes back on what's accepted by mainstream culture. In many ways, we're not trying to reinvent the wheel, and in other ways, we're trying to tear down the wheel. I always like to use the metaphor of Marcel Duchamp's piece where he painted a mustache on the Mona Lisa. By doing so, by tearing down this masterwork, he's also bringing it into contemporary conversation.
For us, it's this push and pull between defiling and subverting the music we love, while at the same time carrying it forward and bringing that torch into the next eon.
Rock and roll might be America's greatest contribution to the world, beyond our democracy or whatever. I think our music is some of the most incredible music that exists in the world, especially from that classic era, and it's something we're really passionate about continuing.
A lot of times, the chord structures we use, the recording techniques we use, the studios we're using, and the songwriting techniques we're drawing from are all traditional craftsmanship from the golden era of American music.
We're trying to make sure these things don't get lost. We're trying to keep them alive.
But at the same time, if you just recreated what was done in the '60s, I'm not sure anyone would necessarily care. So I think the way we're also painting a mustache on this canon of music is by inserting our own contemporary viewpoint, which oftentimes conflicts with the era this music was born in. I'm not sure Patsy Cline could ever sing about hailing Satan and get away with it. You know what I mean?
Totally. That would be crazy. And this style of music, Zach, your guitar tones on this record are so fresh. Even though you're inspired by historic playing, it sounds so exciting. Again, back to the production, your playing sounds incredible. I think about someone like Marty Robbins, who I feel is more popular than ever right now, which is so cool. Then I hear this music, and it's tailor-made for the kinds of sounds that are still really relevant and that people crave.
Zach:
Thank you. We love Marty Robbins as well. Again, it's referencing classic players. We're fans of a lot of the classic session musicians, like Tommy Tedesco. He was on a lot of those Gold Star sessions with Phil Spector. We're just trying to bring that classic sound and vibe through.
Alex:
Those guitars are Zach's babies.
I bet you're stoked to be playing these songs live. The dates are coming up in about a week and a half. I can't believe August is almost over, but that's another story. You're playing with people like Danzig. I'm going to try to cover that show in Ventura with Midnight Cowgirls and Frankie and the Witch Fingers. And obviously, Jack White at the Palladium has got to be so exciting.
Alex:
Beyond exciting. It's unbelievable. Every time I hear that said out loud, I can't 100 percent believe it. He was a huge influence on me growing up. I learned a lot about songwriting from him. Alongside the Ramones, his songs were some of the first songs I ever learned on guitar as a teenager.
I distinctly remember playing a lot of White Stripes songs, and that's how I learned what a chord progression was. I remember being like, "Ah, okay."
It gave me a lot of fundamental understanding of how to structure a song. Then there's all the art he brings to what he does, the world-building, and just the most iconic songs.
Again, I think he really brought all this amazing classic American rock and roll, put a fresh spin on it, and got people interested in it again.
He's a huge, huge influence on us. It's so fucking cool for him to throw us a bone and give us a show. And Danzig! Zach's first concert was the Misfits when he was eight years old.
Zach:
I was a huge fan of the Misfits growing up, among many other things. So to get to do a second tour with Glenn is completely unreal. It's another nightmare come true.
Alex:
This whole tour is this magical thing that happened because we weren't even supposed to have a tour. There were some unfortunate business miscommunications with our team at the time, and it didn't get booked around our album. We were so crushed by that. We were told it wasn't happening and wasn't going to be able to happen.
But I guess Satan, if you will, the Dark Lord, had other plans for us. We got a new agent a couple of months ago, and seemingly out of nowhere, this tour just conjured itself.
It's coming up really quickly, but it started with Glenn just being like, "All right, done. Take these shows." At the time, we had absolutely nothing going on in our career whatsoever. We had this record, but we had no way of putting it out. We had no shows, no tour, no management, no agent, and no label.
Then Danzig opened up, I was going to say the heavens, but really the gates of hell, and gave us this unholy lifeline of six shows. It gave us a reason to get up in the morning again.
Like, "Fuck, we're going on tour with Danzig. Okay, life sucks, and we've been benched for years now, but we've got this. All right, we're going to go out again."
Being a musician is so riddled with ups and downs, and so many periods where you just think it's all going to go away. Danzig giving us that was the anchor for this tour that made it happen. Recently, a bunch of promoters were reaching out wanting shows, and we were like, "Well, let's route it around these dates Danzig gave us."
In the course of a week or two, when we had been told it would be impossible to have a tour around the record, it all just kind of materialized out of nowhere. It really feels like magic. Touring is really hard, but after not being able to do it for a couple of years, it reinvigorated me. I'm so excited to get back out there. It made me feel like, as hard as it is, you really miss it when you're not doing it.
That's a beautiful thing.
Alex:
We're just so grateful, honestly, to be able to have this record coming out in a timely fashion. We started our own record label to put this out.
Zach:
Yeah, to ensure that things come out in a timely fashion.
Alex:
Part of the depression, the crushing depression, that we're reflecting on with this record is that we actually finished God Is Dead in 2020, and we weren't able to get it out, I believe, until 2024. We were just caught in typical music industry jail.
This is what we do. I need to be able to write and release music like a bird needs to fly. To have a record that you're continuously pushing and pushing to release, but can't release as an artist, it's really depressing. By the time it came out, it was kind of like when you get a tattoo as a teenager and later you're like, "I don't necessarily feel like this is who I am anymore."
It was really hard. We actually have another record completed that was done a year or two after God Is Dead that still hasn't even seen the light of day because we couldn't get it out.
For me, it was crushing. It got to a point where I was having really dark thoughts, not only about my life, but I told Zach so many times, "I can't do this anymore. I can't live this way, and I don't know what the solution is. I need to be able to release music."
Never before had we been in a situation where we were just being told, "No, we will not put your record out. No, it can't come out."
We got into this whole situation where we had to buy back the entire record, our advance, plus a huge amount of fees, just to be able to slap together this release plan for God Is Dead. We faced so many setbacks with that, too. After that, we were like, "You know what? Reset." We don't need all that. Let's just agree that this won't be hugely successful. We're not going to be amplified by labels, managers, big corporations, or that sort of thing. We're just going to put it out.
I think it's a testament to who you are, both as artists and as individuals, that you've been able to persevere and put this record out into the world. And I know that so many people listening to your music are going through similar things: self-doubt, depression, and just the sheer exhaustion of living in a world that can feel so fucked up.
Alex:
Oh, thank you so much. I'm interested to see what will happen when we put this out, because in the past, songwriting has been my way of coping. That's what gives our life meaning and purpose and gets me out of bed in the morning. To have that taken away was so crushing, and now to be able to release music feels so freeing. The process of making this record was so healing as well. Just to have Shooter cheering us on and being like, "Don't quit. Don't give up. Don't go to those dark places. Keep going."
It's really meaningful in a lot of ways.
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