Since initially forming in Bloomington, IN over a decade ago, the acclaimed Los Angeles-based psych rock outfit and JOVM mainstays Frankie and the Witch Fingers — currently founding duo Dylan Sizemore (vocals, guitar) and Josh Menashe (lead guitar, synth), along with Death Valley Girls‘ Nikki “Pickle” Smith (bass) and Mike Watt’s Nick Aguilar (drums) — have a long-held reputation for restless experimentation rooted in the multiple permutations of their lineups, and for a high-powered, scuzzy, garage and thrash punk take on psych rock paired with absurdist lyrics frequently fueled by dreams, hallucinations, paranoia and lust. The result is material that can shift between mischievousness and menace.
Last year’s Data Doom was primarily built around the cerebral yet visceral songwriting of the band’s co-founders while marking the first batch of written and recorded material featuring the band’s Smith and Aguilar. While crafting what may arguably be their most rhythmically complex work to date, the band drew influence from each member’s distinct sensibilities: Smith tapped into her extensive background in West African drumming, an art form she first discovered through her music instructor parents. Aguilar leaned into formative influences like longtime Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen.
Self-produced by the proudly DIY-minded band and recorded direct to tape by the band’s Menashe, Data Doom ultimately took shape through countless sessions in their Southeast L.A.-based rehearsal space, with the band allowing themselves unlimited time to explore their gloriously strange impulses. “There was no pressure and no real time constraint for this record, and because of that the creativity flowed in a very free way that probably wouldn’t have happened if we’d been on the clock in a studio,” Frankie and the Witch’s Dylan Sizemore says in press notes. “It showed us that the more we take the time to communicate and share our ideas with each other, the more it feeds our creative energy and helps us to make something we’re all really excited about.”
The Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstays return with “Bonehead,” the first bit of new material from the band since last year’s Data Doom. The new single is a scuzzy, mosh pit friendly ripper that begins with a menacing opening groove that quickly drops into a distorted, double-time cacophony of blistering power chords, thunderous drums, bursts of quivering synths paired with rousingly anthemic hooks and punchily delivered vocals.
“’Bonehead’ is a primitive, buzzy thumper, raw and stripped down,” the band says. “In a world where it’s easy to add more, we had a blast cooking out the junk and keeping it potent and pure. We wanted to capture the chaotic energy of those unfiltered live moments. Recorded the basics in one take, warts and all.
Thrashing around with a crowd of free spirits reminds us we can push back against the parasitic noise trying to keep us controlled—this is a little slice of that in recorded form.”
The new single is the first taste of new material that they’ll be sharing this year. Of course, they’ll be more releases and tour dates, including their headlining set at Daze & Confused, the successor to what was originally Desert Daze. Their current list of tour dates is below.
FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS
LIVE 2024
9.27 – Fox Theatre – Boulder, CO
9.28 – Aggie Theatre – Fort Collins, CO
10.3 – Underground Music Cafe – Minneapolis, MN
10.4 – Project Nowhere – Toronto, ON
10.5 – Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL
10.12 – Daze & Confused – Los Angeles, CA
10.24 – The Grove House – Mariposa, CA*
10.25 – Cypress – Reno, NV*
10.26 – The Shrining – Boise, ID*
10.27 – Volcanic Theatre Pub – Bend, OR*
10.29 – Sierra Nevada Big Room – Chico, CA*
10.30 – Moe’s Alley – Santa Cruz, CA*
10.31 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA*
11.2 – Hipnosis – Mexico City, MX
* with Spoon Benders
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