Twin Temple, the musical duo comprising married couple Alexandra and Zachary James, make Satanic doo-wop. That's their brand. There's no missing it. They have songs like "Let's Have A Satanic Orgy" and "Lucifer, My Love" and "Burn Your Bible" and "Sex Magick," all of which sound like authentic '60s doo-wop songs, except they're about worshipping Satan. I don't know how you book them without understanding their whole deal, but apparently someone got confused.
Twin Temple were set to open two shows for the prolific outlaw country traditionalist Charley Crockett next week, but according to a statement from the duo Wednesday, Crockett dropped them from those gigs due to their Satanic imagery. "We are sorry to everyone who was planning to see us," they wrote. "We're grateful for your support, not only of Twin Temple, but more importantly of artistic freedom. HAIL SATAN!"
Jack White noticed. White, whose rad new album Frozen Charlotte is out today, took to Instagram a few minutes ago with a show offer. "Twin Temple, Would you like to open my show in L.A. on September 29th at the Hollywood Palladium?" he wrote. "Let me know. Get in front of me Satan!" We love a good callback, don't we, folks?
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Crockett offered his rationale for dispensing with Twin Temple: "I thought they were like Black Sabbath, but they ain’t. Not today, Satan." On Instagram, he adds:
FUCK TRUMP
FUCK EPSTEIN
BUT HAIL SATAN?
NOT ME JACK
Someone in White's comments asked him, "I’m genuinely curious: as a practicing Catholic, how do you see promoting a band associated with satanic imagery fitting with your faith? It seems at odds with the values Catholicism teaches." This was White's response:
I never claimed to be a practicing catholic or christian, you assumed that. and i'm not scared of satan or any bullshit imagery man made up to live in fear of. commune with god on your own terms and communicate with god and find your own path, not some path somebody made up to make you afraid and make money off of you.
Twin Temple, meanwhile, have accepted White's invitation:
Unholy hell…. Sir Jack, you have no idea what this means to us. Lifelong fans- dead leaves on the dirty ground was one of the first songs I (Alex) ever learned on guitar. We were actually planning on coming to this show. It would be a most infernal pleasure to play the devils music with you
They also have a new booking agency.
UPDATE: Charley Crockett has shared a statement following all the attention…
I won't conform and I'm not sorry. There are many things I've done in my life to apologize for but this ain't one of them. I might wake up at 1pm on the back of that bus and find out that the opener ain't working for me that night. Tough luck. Life is hard. This ain't no temp agency. Get to stepping. Shit you might get you a life changing gig just by standing next to me. That's magic. Im not gonna advertise my charity out here because as soon as you do, it ain't nothing but self promotion. I'm not on the left. I'm not on the right. I'm on the road, and that's a hard way to go. Believe me, the pace would kill you bronc. I don't give a damn whether you think I'm right or wrong. They say love your struggle. I say love the strength the creator gave you to overcome your struggle. Dont believe in any kind of spiritual power? I'm sorry to hear that. God is the fabric that ties all life together. No need to even define or institutionalize it. The entertainment business is chock full of shameless exhibitionists possessed by the desire to be famous and have the public's adoration. I swear they'd kill a relative. I see them everywhere. Been betrayed by many. Always stricken by the crack smoke and just dying to get ahead. I love what I do and I'm grateful for the privilege every minute, and if everybody disappears I'll go back to the street corner where I started. Hell sometimes I dream about it. Shout out to Angel in New Orleans who told me that if you wanna get high boy you got to start down low. I've found that about the only help you get out here in this business is when they lower the box.
