[cover photo by Harper King courtesy of the band]
Hailing from the glorious gutters of L.A. by way of Bloomington, Indiana, psychedelic garage rockers Frankie and the Witch Fingers brought their full-time frenzy to the likes of The Fox Theatre last Friday, September 27th. Denver’s own Slow Caves heated up the stage with their melodic rock sounds (catch their Denver show on October 18 at Hi-Dive).
The black-clothing donned crowd anticipatorily awaited the get-down as the intimate theatre began filling up with eager fans. Right on cue at 9:15PM, the five grunged-out members of Frankie and the Witch Fingers sauntered on stage to deliver 80 minutes of ear-splitting, pure raw rock and roll. Taking all the forms of this famed three-word genre – FATWF coasted through episodic pages of psych, garage, fuzz, synth-frenzied, prog-ladened, doom daze, and every filler that lays between the rock and the the roll.
Kicking it off with “Empire,” the opening track off their recently released album Data Doom, it’s safe to say the band was in high and heavy spirits, presenting this hard-hitting anthem with no holds barred. With founder Dylan Sizemore (vocals, rhythm guitar) captaining the ship, the band delivered a full seven and a half minutes of pure sonic action. Keeping in line with the album’s order, “Burn Me Down” conceded to the crowd with its fast-paced, punk-powered rhythms and distorted guitar shredding (Josh Menashe).
Unrelenting in their playing, the group worked through synth-dripping fanatics by Jon Modaff for “Futurephobic,” and a personal favorite from the new album “Syster System,” before transporting back in time with “Get Down” from 2016’s Heavy Roller. Frankie then headed deeper into past musical realms with “T.V. Baby,” and “Brain Telephone,” a Californian-oodled surf-rock classic from their 2016 record of the same name that takes you straight to the seventies.
With Nikki Pickle thumping the bass and Nick Aguilar banging the drums to seamlessly hold down the effervescent rhythm section, the band continued to light it up with back-to-back numbers from 2019’s ZAM. They cruised through “Realization” and “Dracula Drug” before hopping over to 2020’s Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters…. Starting as a journey through a melodic dreamland with storied lyrics, and sandwiched in the middle by a 30-second breakdown of fuzz-heavy drippage, “Reaper” had the crowd fully captivated and wanting even more.
“Cavehead” ensnared its listeners into an audio-sensory portal of sound, filled with revitalizing down strokes, infectious percussion beats, and a classic psych rock breakdown. “Tea” was up next – a song recorded on their The Reverberation Appreciation Society x LIVE at LEVITATION album from their 2022 show in Austin, Texas. This song transmuted any bounds, crossed any sense of norms, and brought all hell to surface via the thrashing mosh pit with its fast-paced display of wired and weird.
Leaving it all out there for the sweat-soaked and energy-fueled Fox goers, the band stepped off stage for a beat before coming back out for an encore to really remember – a very welcomed cover of DEVO’s “Uncontrollable Urge,” with Jon Modaff and Josh Menashe switching it up on instruments to add a last lil’ bit of extra spice to cap off the night. It’s no wonder this Greenway Records artist has taken the scene full throttle since their inception just over the last decade ago. Be sure to catch the unmatchable and very lovable ruckus that is Frankie and the Witch Fingers at one of their remaining fall shows in a city near you.
