News Twin Peaks: ‘Friends, Fun, Bummers, The Whole Range’

Twin Peaks. You might know it as the fictional Washington town that’s inhabited by some truly weird (and bewilderedly nihilistic) characters, but it’s now also the name of a bunch of hooligans from Chicago. Mixing dreamy escapism with a jangle-heavy rock ‘n’ roll, the band Twin Peaks have been making waves with a bunch of snotty-nosed singles in recent times but have just now dropped a new mini-LP titled ‘Sunken’. But are they concerned that naming themselves after one of the biggest cult TV shows of all time might lead to people passing them off as just another fleetingly popular band? Frontman Caiden Lake doesn’t seem to think so.



“The thought used to pop into my head and bug me. But to be honest, the show has nothing to do with our music or attitude,” he states. “If people want to form opinions based off of a bands name and write us off, it’s better off they aren’t our fans anyway.’

Like fellow Chicagoans The Orwells, Twin Peaks are barely out of their teens. Their music carries with it a sense of nostalgia that’ll take wiser listeners back to their abandoned summers of old, but are there any themes touched upon on the record besides the idea of youth of and growing up?

“‘Fast Eddie’ is about the movie The Hustler,” explains Caiden. “For the most part ‘Sunken’ is an album about our high school experiences… family, friends, relationships, fun, bummers, the whole range. I think you can expect more diversity in subject matter on forthcoming songs, as we’re growing up a little bit, touring and experiencing new things, and focusing on music as a craft. Things are starting to have more variety.”

He makes an important point to any critics – Twin Peaks are only just getting started. To be able to produce a record at such a young age is a remarkable feat, and who cares if it’s dominated by tunes about growing up? It’s what they’re doing right now – there’s plenty of time for diversity down the road.

Caiden says that for the most part, the guys are mostly ‘60s and ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll obsessives - it shows. Key single ‘Fast Eddie’ is a joyful romp through those eras, but it also adds a shimmer of contemporary summertime dream pop akin to Real Estate or Diiv underneath its seductive fuzz. The video is a fine companion to youthful nostalgia, showing the guys tearing up Lake Michigan on bikes and generally having a blast in their own territory around campfires.

“That video was actually for a Columbia College student’s project, which was an entirely different edit than our video,” Caiden explains. But is it really a genuine representation of what they get up to generally, or is it just a view of their lives through a mumblecore filter? “It was supposed to be a kind of Mad Max-esque thing with these barbarians in a world where they go out and destroy all technology,” he continues. “But the vibe of it — biking around, being hooligans, hanging by campfires — is actually pretty accurate.”



Twin Peaks’ ‘Sunken’ is out now.

Read the full interview in the new edition of DIY Weekly, available from iTunes now.