Twin Coast Interview: “Being unique is something that we have always thought about”

With the slogan “noise for yr ears”, Twin Coast are another to rise from the fertile landscapes of Chicago.

The band consists of siblings Reid and Kira Isbell. Judging by the dissonant waves of noise that the pair conjure up, it feels like they were brought up on a steady diet of their parents’ record collection.

Through the Twin Coast lens, there are faint echoes of the Velvet Underground (there’s a nod at the beginning of their song, i’d like to be) and even Jefferson Airplane. A homage captured during their formative years of cherry picking weathered first pressings and 7 inches, which resulted in the duo’s 2023 debut EP, Twin Coasts.

Answering series of questions via email about their follow-up EP released last Friday, noie! noie! noie!, Reid and Kira said that the focus was “making something really different and unique”. There is a clear progression from the greyscale voidgaze of Twin Coasts, with something more dynamic and further afield on noie! noie! noie!

Further investigation will tell you that Twin Coast leapfrogs the shoegaze tropes where the flange and tremolo combination has enjoyed a resurgence among the new generation. Starting with the tsunami of sound that is try to finally, and while the untrained ear may land at lazy comparisons to My Blood Valentine, if anything Twin Coast feel more aligned to Chicago counterparts, Luggage and early-era Sonic Youth.

Penultimate track, To Feel, even goes beyond guitars and pedals, feeling better placed for big sound systems that adorn abandoned warehouses rather than sweaty alt-rock shows.

Ending with how we can’t, it rounds out the endorphin rush that is noie! noie! noie! Sound that lands blow after blow, and while Chicago has been a hotbed for acts carrying the torch for the ’90s American underground with Lifeguard and Horsegirl leading the charge, it’s the likes of Uniflora and Twin Coast that feel like the next bands to break through the fourth wall.

“It is our favourite part of being in the band,” say Reid and Kira when asked about of the vibrant local scene. One that is making giant strides as one of the most vital in underground culture.

S13: Firstly, what are your first memories of music?

Kira Isbell: “My first memory of live music is from 2008, I was seven. Our mom snuck us into Lollapalooza through the vendor line.”

Reid Isbell: “My dad showing me the David Bowie Fashion music video.”

S13: Can you tell us the history of Twin Coast?

KI: “We started playing together at the start of 2023 but didn’t play live or take the band seriously until the summer of that year.”

S13: What was the most important aspect you wanted to achieve with noie! noie! noie!?

KI: “We are really inspired by innovation. Noise for yr ears.”

RI: “We think of noie! as a movement that embraces inconsistencies usually considered mistakes. Creating songs out of accidents.”

S13: Comparing your last EP to noie! noie! noie!, and there feels like there are more hooks here. Was that something you were looking to achieve?

KI: “From the drums perspective, I think that comes from just getting better. I started playing drums for the band, so when we recorded the first EP I was just learning how to.”

RI: “We understood our place in music better since the last EP. The first one was very rough, our sound was really influenced and unrefined then. To me noie! noie! noie! feels more like our debut.”

S13: With the likes of try to finally and to feel, it got me thinking of the cinematic aspects of your music. Is television and film something that inspires your work?

RI: “Yeah, Marquee Moon is a great album… Silent films are really the only movies I watch so I guess scores that are specifically written for a film are inspiring in the sense that they create specific moods.

KI: “I’m inspired by the concepts behind all media. Television, film, interviews…”

S13: How we can’t feels like such an essential closing track. Do you know this would close the EP after you wrote it?

RI: “It was written last so it was intentionally the closing track, but I wouldn’t say it was written with that in mind.”

– Shoegaze feels very prominent within your influences, which is interesting, because I never really associate Chicago with shoegaze. Was this something you’ve thought about over the years?

RI: “Though shoegaze is the broad genre we fit under, I get more influence from genres like ambient or industrial or folk rather than shoegaze.”

KI: “Being unique is something that we have always thought about.”

S13: It’s the kind of aesthetic that is very remixable, too, and Issac Lowenstein has worked on your song, to feel. How did that collaboration come about?

KI: “We’ve known Isaac for a long time and were at some very early Donkey Basketball shows. He approached us with the idea to remix one of our singles, and we of course said yes. The end result is one of the projects I am most proud of.”

RI: “I think jungle and IDM go really well with our style, so it ended up being an amazing collaboration.”

S13: Do you believe that twin coast is reflective of your personalities outside of the project, or do you see music as an escapism from that?

KI: “The band is us, so yes.”

RI: “I would say it’s reflective of our personalities. All the songs are anecdotal and our performances are expressive.”

noie! noie! noie! is out now. Purchase via Bandcamp.