An inevitable force of nature. That’s the best way to describe Los Angeles–based four-piece garage psych band Frankie and the Witch Fingers, who play Moe’s Alley the night before Halloween. Formed in 2013, this band consciously breaks down all barriers, playing whatever they please across genres, instruments and emotions. Sometimes even within the same song.
But it’s more than just musical genres they’re playing with. It’s the idea of music itself.
“As for influences, I’m digging stuff that isn’t strictly music these days,” lead vocalist, rhythm guitar player and co-founder Dylan Sizemore writes in an email.
“I find myself more inspired by the aesthetic of certain environments or scenes from films. I’m more tuned in to textures, sounds and emotions that push me to want to communicate through what we do as a band. Lately, I’ve got this thing for trashy, run-down places—like, I step into some grimy gas station bathroom, and my brain starts filtering all that chaos into something creative and entertaining.”
And yet through their destruction Frankie and the Witch Fingers builds something wild, monstrous and beautiful. Their live shows are manic displays of endurance, with the four-piece blasting through their songs, often connecting multiple tracks through intense jam sessions that leave the audience clamoring for more.
“Josh [Menashe] is definitely the jammer leader,” writes bassist Nicole “Nikki Pickle” Smith. “Nick throws in some fun vamps and Dylan and I like to also mess around with fun additions to the jams, but we’re always following Josh’s lead, for sure!”
Along with Sizemore, the band was founded by lead guitarist, synth player and vocalist Josh Menashe. While they’ve undergone several lineup changes over the last decade, the current roster of Sizemore, Menashe, Smith and drummer Nick Aguilar formed in 2022.
That’s when they first appeared on my radar, after spotting their irresistible name on a flier. However, it wasn’t until the end of last year that I saw them live. Needless to say, I haven’t been the same since. Their incredible energy had the entire venue moving, dancing and even moshing. It was a genuine moment of pure happiness experienced by everyone in the room, including the band, who were clearly in their element, thriving on the vibes.
By the end of the show, one is left begging the question, “Am I on drugs or just listening to Frankie and the Witch Fingers?”
“Probably both,” writes Aguilar.
The quartet creates layers of sounds between each other that are unbelievable until seen—and heard. Their recorded material is equally multifaceted, blazing through funky riffs to headbanging thrashers with white-knuckling ease.
Take their latest single, “I-Candy,” with its B-side, “Bonehead.” While “Bonehead” has a dirty rock ’n’ roll feel, “I-Candy” combines elements of new wave with sci-fi garage rock that channels Oingo Boingo and Devo.
“Danny Elfman is a huge influence for me,” admits Menashe. “ I love anyone who can create and expand upon an entire universe with just music.”
Which is fitting as Frankie and the Witch Fingers often write albums with a recurring theme. For their seventh studio full-length—last year’s Data Doom—issues of technology, digital dystopia and the future flowed throughout, carried on a river of garage rock, psych, Afrobeat, Zamrock and avant-garde jazz.
Inspired by the band and album, Los Angeles–based cannabis company MOTA asked to collaborate with the band for their own strain of weed called “Doom Bloom.” For the strain, the band was invited to pick the flavor profiles, variant of highness and cross strains to breed from.
“And MOTA told us that they play Frankie for the plants as they grow,” Smith writes. “I think you can really taste it in the flavor—tastes funky.”
Despite Data Doom being only a year old, members say they already have the next album recorded and in the bag. While the name and release date have already been chosen, the band is keeping that info under proverbial lock and key.
However, there is some info Sizemore can disclose.
“I was really into the book Naked Lunch and bugs while making this record, and that definitely crawled its way in.”
So be prepared, because there’s a mind-melting storm a’coming.
Frankie and the Witch Fingers with Spoonbenders play at 8pm on Wed., Oct. 31 at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $25. 831-479-1854.
