Band of brothers

At first look, it’s really hard to tell one 19-year-old twin from the other.

Joe and Luke McGarry are seamless in looks and in the music of their indie pop group “Pop Noir.” The Huntington Beach duo made their debut at 16 at an abandoned skate park in Costa Mesa.

Now, they are on the cusp of performing at Manchester’s “In the City” music festival, a British version of the South by Southwest music fest in Austin, Texas.

“In the City,” known better for launching the careers of Oasis, Coldplay, Doves, the Stereophonics and the Foo Fighters, runs from Oct. 29 to Oct. 31.

The McGarrys are excited and cautious about the opportunity.

“Right now, England is looking pretty appealing, but we’ll see after this trip how much they like us,” Joe said.

The twins are Manchester-born, and grew up shuttling between the U.K. and U.S., finally putting roots down in Huntington Beach.

They enrolled in the Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana. The school influenced them a lot, and learning with 1,000 talented students was the best experience, Luke McGarry said.

When the twins first performed at the High School of the Arts, Luke remembers being laughed at.

“All the kids looked down on us because they knew more chords than us,” he said.

“It was pretty rough, but we have learned our lessons,” Joe McGarry said.

But in the years that followed, they picked up a few things, honing their musical talent and performing more than 70 shows throughout Southern California.

The twins divvy up roles of several band members between themselves. Luke comes up with the lyrics and plays the keyboard and bass. Joe, the elder twin by 45 minutes, plays lead guitar and handles most of the recording work.

Featuring prominently in their life is their father and manager, Steve McGarry, who introduces himself as “the one lugging the amps off-stage while they are signing autographs.”

Steve jokingly refers to his job as Svengali-esque: the crafty mastermind shaping the twins’ musical talent and future.

The duo have no plans to expand their band yet.

“We don’t relate well to other people,” Luke said with a laugh. “We speak in twin language sometimes.”

Pop Noir’s Europe trip will start off with a performance at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood on Friday, playing alongside the Bubonic Plague, Cute Phase and Death of a Dancer.

The tour highlights for Pop Noir are playing at “In the City” and the famed Fleche D’Or nightclub in Paris.

They wrap their tour with a show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, appearing with “Everybody Else” and “La Rocca.”

The duo have gotten interest from record companies for their demos.

“We have been turning them down, as daft as it sounds,” Steve said.

The boys’ good looks are a throwback to the Beatle era with a little inspiration from the Rolling Stones: Their tousled-hair, all-black ensemble with skintight jeans helps them look the part.

The twins did some modeling jobs to build up their wardrobe, Luke said.

“And thanks to the Goodwill of O.C.,” Joe said, referring to the Goodwill store they shop at.

Enrolling in the graphics design program at Cal State Long Beach after high school, they dropped out the first day of school.

“Why go study art when you are already doing it?” Joe said.

The band name was coined in the car over a conversation about film noir while driving on the “dreaded 405” freeway, Joe said.

“Pop Noir suggests pop with a darker edge,” Steve said.

The music comes first, long before the lyrics take shape, Luke said.

“Usually Joe comes up with a riff on the guitar, and we go into the garage and work on it,” he said.

Opening for Mexican rock band Kinky has been the high point for them so far, along with opening for Every Move a Picture and Mickey Avalon at Chain Reaction in Anaheim.