Equally at home in art school or a biker bar, the Devil’s Twins take no prisoners. Jeremiah John Louf splits his raw guitar tone into three octaves through separate amps, his cool vocals countered by the banshee cries of his tambourine-wielding sister Nikki Marie Coogan, while Ryan Manning attacks his drum kit like an octopus on steroids, mouthing the siblings’ words for animated emphasis.
“We work really well together because we thrive off the controlled chaos,” Coogan says of the trio, who share a love for Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Johnny Cash, Social Distortion and the Misfits. “We’re not a punk band,” Louf says, “but the intensity is at a punk level. If you take Billie Holiday and Buddy Holly and put them together to play these songs, they’d come out like that.”
Separated by their parents’ divorce, Louf grew up with his mom in Salem while Coogan lived with her dad in Rhode Island. But they reconnected at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where they majored in design and illustration. She works as a tattoo artist, which facilitates ink for the band, its crew and fans.
“I’m the only one who can count my tattoos,” Louf says. “Instead of a fan base, we call it a friend or family base. It has that syndicate family feel.”
The Devil’s Twins—named because the siblings were born the same week, two years apart—also bring their visual aesthetic to the stark silhouettes cast by floodlights that Coogan controls onstage. Their self-designed album covers feature three children, looking like the band members in their cool, bad youth.
“What was amazing was when we dressed the kids up in the outfits, they really took it upon themselves to form this union,” Louf says, “to the point that the little Nikki and the little me were really tight, and we said, ‘Don’t leave Ryan out!’ ”
Striking a Chord
Catch 10 Local Bands Making Waves.
By Paul Robicheau | Photo: Hive.Studio | Aug. 1, 2016
The Devil’s Twins
Equally at home in art school or a biker bar, the Devil’s Twins take no prisoners. Jeremiah John Louf splits his raw guitar tone into three octaves through separate amps, his cool vocals countered by the banshee cries of his tambourine-wielding sister Nikki Marie Coogan, while Ryan Manning attacks his drum kit like an octopus on steroids, mouthing the siblings’ words for animated emphasis.
“We work really well together because we thrive off the controlled chaos,” Coogan says of the trio, who share a love for Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Johnny Cash, Social Distortion and the Misfits. “We’re not a punk band,” Louf says, “but the intensity is at a punk level. If you take Billie Holiday and Buddy Holly and put them together to play these songs, they’d come out like that.”
Separated by their parents’ divorce, Louf grew up with his mom in Salem while Coogan lived with her dad in Rhode Island. But they reconnected at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where they majored in design and illustration. She works as a tattoo artist, which facilitates ink for the band, its crew and fans.
“I’m the only one who can count my tattoos,” Louf says. “Instead of a fan base, we call it a friend or family base. It has that syndicate family feel.”
The Devil’s Twins—named because the siblings were born the same week, two years apart—also bring their visual aesthetic to the stark silhouettes cast by floodlights that Coogan controls onstage. Their self-designed album covers feature three children, looking like the band members in their cool, bad youth.
“What was amazing was when we dressed the kids up in the outfits, they really took it upon themselves to form this union,” Louf says, “to the point that the little Nikki and the little me were really tight, and we said, ‘Don’t leave Ryan out!’ ”
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