The Coathangers

An all-female garage punk outfit known for its playful irreverence, the Coathangers favor concise, catchy songs that draw equally from classic girl-group traditions, current teen-pop styles, and the vintage punk and new-wave acts that helped shape their approach. Their initial releases, the 2007 self-titled album and 2009’s Scramble, captured a proudly unpolished energy where raw exuberance dominated. Accumulated road time and rehearsal refined their playing, so that beginning with 2014’s Suck My Shirt the group balanced its earlier rowdy clamor with sharper musicianship and tighter arrangements without ever softening into something conventional.

Formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2006, the quartet consisted of guitarist-vocalist Julia Kugel (Crook Kid Coathanger), bassist-vocalist Meredith Franco (Minnie Coathanger), keyboardist-vocalist Candice Jones (Bebe Coathanger), and drummer-vocalist Stephanie Luke (Rusty Coathanger). Kugel and Franco first met while working at a bridal-and-prom boutique, while Jones and Luke earned their paychecks behind bars. Still learning their instruments, they rushed onto stages anyway, making an informal debut at a house party before securing their first proper gig opening for the Hiss; local crowds quickly embraced their high-spirited demeanor.

A friendship with fellow Atlanta act the Black Lips soon yielded additional support slots that broadened their reach. In 2007 the Atlanta punk imprint Die Slaughterhaus Records partnered with New York’s Rob’s House Records to issue the band’s debut LP, and the Coathangers kept a steady performance schedule, playing frequent shows across Georgia and taking brief regional tours. Their follow-up, Scramble, appeared on Suicide Squeeze Records in 2009; by the time Larceny & Old Lace arrived in 2011 they were crisscrossing the United States and had embarked on a European tour supporting the Thermals. Another European run in 2013 found them opening for …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, yet by year’s end Jones had departed, leaving the Coathangers a trio. Undeterred, the remaining members tracked their fourth album, Suck My Shirt, which surfaced in spring 2014. Two years later they delivered the well-received Nosebleed Weekend, their fifth full-length. The Parasite EP followed on Suicide Squeeze in summer 2017.

Live, released in 2018, became their first official concert recording—an energetic survey drawn from five studio albums plus assorted singles and EPs. The trio spent most of that year away from the road, resting and reassessing their direction. When they resurfaced in April 2019 with The Devil You Know, a more seasoned sound emerged, one increasingly guided by pop-oriented hooks and direct rock drive, even as the lean melodic lines and distinctive vocal texture confirmed their punk roots had stayed intact.