Acclaimed Los Angeles-based psych punk 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 spent the past decade restlessly mutating their sound into bold, electrifying new form with every new release.
Slated for a June 6, 2025 release through Greenway Records and The Reverberation Appreciation Society, the Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstay’s eighth album, the Maryam Qudus-produced Trash Classic reportedly sees the band plunging into a sewer-slick fusion of proto punk venom, fractured New Wave and industrial grime. Sonically brimming with wiry synths, angular melodies and squirming and biting grooves, the material is delivered with a sly, playful balance between smirk and sneer. The band layers playful unease while exploring themes of escapism, decay and overindulgence.
The songs were born in the grime of Vernon, Los Angeles — a wasteland littered with gutted RVs and rusting machinery, where the air tastes like asphalt and dog food. But the alchemy happed during recording sessions at Oakland‘s Tiny Telephone Studio, where producer Maryam Qudus helped transmute the tracks into the final forms with unhinged tones, unconventional recording experiments and wild sonic detours.
Each day of the recording sessions began with cartoons blaring at full volume — a Looney Tunes ritual that turned the madness of the recording process into something childlike. Late night, sugar-fueled candy binges kept the energy spiking, pushing the sessions into a fever dream of jittery, spastic playfulness. The end result is a raw, twisted moment to rot and excess — and to toxic glamour and nihilistic salvation.
“Economy,” Trash Classic‘s first single is the first glimpse of the band’s refined sound: grimy synth pulse is placed in the front, alongside angular guitar fuzz and muscular yet mathematically precise drumming paired with punchily delivered vocals and mosh pit friendly hooks and choruses. Sonically the result is a scuzzier, grimier take on Freedom of Choice-era DEVO — with a similar, tongue-in-cheek sensibility.
The band has developed a reputation for being relentless road warriors. They’re currently down in Austin playing sets at this year’s SXSW. Their international tour begins in May and it includes a September 19, 2025 stop at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Their live show is a sweaty mosh pit inducing riot — and if they’re playing a club near you, you need to go.
FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS LIVE @ SXSW 2025
3/12
3pm – Waterloo Records In-Store
5pm – Monosonic Sessions – Howler Bros Outpost
11pm – 29th St. Ballroom Showcase
3/13
5pm – CREEM / Third Man Showcase – 13th Floor
8pm – Do512 Session – Do512 Lounge
3/14
1pm – KROX Radio Session – Inn Cahoots Roof
4pm – Pooneh’s Freaky Friday – Radio East
11:45pm – Spaace Caamp – Hotel Vegas
3/15
10am – KUTX Radio Session – Scholz Garden
2:30pm – Brooklyn Vegan Showcase – Mohawk
9pm – Do512’s The Big One – Radio East
12:30am – Smartpunk House – Empire Garage and Control Room
FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS
ON TOUR 2025
5/16 – Nijmegen, NL – Sonic Whip Festival
5/17 – Diksmuide, BE – 4AD
5/20 – Lyon, FR – Épicerie Moderne
5/21 – Biarritz, FR – Atabal
5/22 – Rouen, FR – Le 106
5/23 – London, UK – Wide Awake Festival
5/25 – Berlin, DE – Desertfest
5/27 – Cherbourg, FR – Le Circuit
5/28 – Brighton, UK – Daltons
5/31 – Bristol, UK – Strange Brew
6/01 – Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hounds
7/15 – Felton Music Hall – Felton, CA
7/16 – The Chapel – San Francisco, CA
7/19 – The Den – Portland, OR
7/20 – The Pearl – Vancouver, BC
7/23 – Shrine Social Club – Boise, ID
7/24 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
7/25 – Mesa Theater – Grand Junction, CO
7/26 – To Be Announced – Denver, CO
7/27 – Sister Bar – Albuquerque, NM
7/29 – Hotel Congress – Tucson, AZ
7./0 – Rebel Lounge – Phoenix, AZ
7/31 – Swan Diver – Las Vegas, NV
8/1 – Belly Up – Solana Beach, CA
8/2 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA
9/19 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY
9/20 – First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA
9/21 – Songbyrd – Washington, DC
9/23 – Grey Eagle – Asheville, NC
9/24 – Terminal West – Atlanta, GA
9/26 – Chelsea’s Live – Baton Rouge, LA
9/27 – Dan Electros – Houston, TX
9/28 – To Be Announced – Austin, TX
9/29 – Tulips – Fort Worth, TX
10/1 – Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
10/2 – Turf Club – Minneapolis, MN
10/3 – X-Ray Arcade – Cudahy, WI
10/4 – Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH
10/5 – Third Man Records – Detroit, MI
10/7 – Lee’s Palace – Toronto, ON
10/10 – Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA
10/11 – Lark Hall – Albany, NY
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