FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS - “TRASH CLASSIC” REVIEW
Written by Beau Croxton
Frankie & The Witch Fingers by Denée Segall
Frankie and The Witch Fingers deliver a very solid, robotic-ripper with some show-stopping highlights on Trash Classic.
Frankie & The Witch Fingers have been a large force in the psych-rock scene for the past decade, keeping things highly consistent on both the live and studio front. They have also gotten much better at being themselves; their earliest releases sounded great, but there was a clear parallel to obvious modern-psych rock influences like Osees, Ty Segall or garage-y King Gizzard material. Whether it's imitation or inspiration, it's the biggest form of flattery after all– and these are all fantastic inspirations. With each consecutive release though, Frankie & The Witch Fingers have come to sound much more like their own entity. Their last record Data Doom was a great example of the band starting to shift heavily into their own lane, finding different influences in afrobeat and post-punk. The band spiked in creativity, and Data Doom made for probably their best work to date. Their new record Trash Classic finds further inspiration from CBGB-style punk, robotic garage-rock, and synthy egg-punk. The record continues down the path of the song “Futurephobic” from their last record and it is their most Devo-core release yet. It comes in with very high energy, rigid playing and robotic vocals combined with sci-fi synths. Anyway you put it, the energy is off the charts on Trash Classic– and it's a solid ripper with a few wild highlights.
“Channel Rot” opens the record, serving as a short but cool intro with TV audio samples and synth loops that lead you into their banger “T.V. Baby”. Singer Dylan Sizemore declares “This is overstimulating!” between call and response vocals with campy vibrato. Right off the bat, “TV Baby” is seriously fun and easily one of the very best tracks on Trash Classic. Halfway through the track, there is a cool excursion into some doom riffs over a halftime beat. Towards the end, there’s some really brilliant and odd overlapping rhythms from the drums that level things up among ripping harmonizing guitars— this band keeps getting more gnarly. The next track “Dead Silence” is a slightly more of an uneven affair. While the first half straddles between energetic and obnoxious, the second half of the song is a complete knockout. I will say the track is very worth it for its epic back-half, where the band sounds a whole lot like The Dickies at their best. “Fucksake” is a much more even number with excellent drumming. Ever since Frankie & The Witch Fingers added drummer Nicholas Aguilar and bassist Nicki “Pickle” in 2020, the instrumentals of this band have become even more undeniably fantastic. Big fuzzy chords, bratty backing vocals and killer vocal distortion make “Fucksake” a great time.
Lead single “Economy” might have led listeners to think the album might be a heavily electronic record upon arrival, but by this point it's clear the album is mostly a garage-punker with some synthy touches. This track revels in more egg-punk vibes, and features an electronic arcade-core intro. Singer Dylan shouts “CONSUMING IS GOOD!” like he’s starring in some dystopian infomercial. It’s a fitting and silly little punk bop for this truly odd and dark era in time. The outro of this song moves into pure punk-rock fire, like a rearranged version of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by Iggy & The Stooges. (Which the band covers from time to time..)
Trash Classic album artwork. Out today on Greenway Records/ Reverb Appreciation Society
“Eggs Laid Brain” is kind of a trip because it lands somewhere between the scuzzy garage of Osees and the funk-rock of the Chili Peppers. But nevertheless, it's a funky, punky standout with a kickass chorus. It's also highlighted by singer Dylan Sizemore encouraging you to “Bug Out!” to a seriously buzzing guitar solo. “Out of the Flesh” has a contagiously catchy descending riff– good luck trying to resist whistling or singing that for the rest of the day . It's strengthened by some 1970’s punk street-gang vocals that chant insistently, making the track feel a little more tough.
“Total Reset” is the best track on Trash Classic with insane drums, mosquito-buzzing lead guitars, zany sci-fi synthesizers, and doomy punk chords all delivered with remarkably high energy. In the outro, the band marvelously pulls off a chaotic yet classic technique, where they instrumentally speed out of control, in unison. “Total Reset” is easily one of the band's best songs yet— it's a 10/10 Frankie track where every millisecond is gold. What a ripper. Bravo!
Frankie & The Witch Fingers by James Duran
“Conducting Experiments” is a fitting song name, considering the band finds some pretty unique and funky sounds for themselves. Frankie & The Witch Fingers expand their sound on this track in adventurous ways. Although Frankie spent the majority of the record respectfully doing their own thing with this type of sound– with “Gutter Priestess” it seems like they have been listening to a bit of Viagra Boys, as some on-the-nose “Troglodyte” arrangements pop up in here. Nevertheless, there's some great riffs and synths and its a solid track among many. The title track “Trash Classic” closes the album with great bass riffs and synth lines . Around 2 minutes in, the band leads into a video game-esque electronic detour. It's nice to hear them expand on the wild arcade-game sounds and synths that have been coloring the record up to this point.
Ultimately, Trash Classic is a good addition to the rotation if you like Devo, Osees, Ty Segall, heavier King Gizzard garage-rock, neo-psych rock, egg punk or retro CBGB-esque punk. Whether this album tops Data Doom is debatable, but one thing is for sure…With each release, Frankie is sounding tighter, faster and meaner and more like themselves; the band keeps moving upward. The musical chops and the adrenaline-filled energy of the record is very strong. Trash Classic has plenty of solid punk songs and the highlights are really notable in their discography. Much like their last record, Trash Classic further establishes the fact that Frankie & The Witch Fingers are a must-see live band. About the title… It's VERY far from Trash, it's actually quite great! Although the “Classic” part might be up for debate, it might just be an instant classic for you, so we recommend that you bug out to this ripper ASAP.
Occult Highlights: Total Reset, TV Baby, Economy, Out of the Flesh, Eggs Laid Brain
(... but we suggest you spin the whole album while you bug out on a candy binge)