Frankie And The Witch Fingers: ZAM 2019

A band whose take on garage punk has a heavily psychedelic flavor, Frankie & the Witch Fingers play

rock & roll rooted in '60s and '70s influences, but with an edgy energy and broad range of flavors to go along with the trippy but elemental melodies. Along with the usual fuzzy guitars and buzzy keyboards, Frankie & the Witch Fingers season their music with plenty of reverb and period-appropriate studio effects, and their dedication to the sounds of the past is impressive.
                                                                          

But the group has songs to go along with their retro style, and the fierce passion of their performances

gives their music a kick that adds a contemporary sheen to their attack. The band's garage rock leanings were at their peak on their debut album, 2013's Sidewalk, while their freak flag took center stage on 2016's Heavy Roller and 2017's Brain Telephone. The band's first several albums were sterling examples of home-brewed production, but 2019's ZAM revealed that a studio approach only added to the impact of their music.
                                                                       

Frankie & the Witch Fingers were founded in Bloomington, Indiana. Guitarist Josh Menashe, bassist

Alex Bulli, and drummer Glenn Brigman first crossed paths in 2009 when they were freshman at Indiana University, and in 2011, they joined a group called Prince Moondog, fronted by a guitarist and singer named Alex Barrett. Prince Moondog dissolved in 2013 when Barrett left Indiana for New York City, and after the breakup, Brigman began jamming with guitarist and singer Dylan Sizemore.
                                                   

(Sizemore had already been playing with Brigman and Menashe in another project, Triptides.) While

Brigman and Sizemore briefly entertained the idea of forming a guitar-and-drums duo, they decided a full band would better suit their musical ideas, and Menashe and Bulli came on board. They named themselves Frankie & the Witch Fingers (Frankie being Sizemore's cat), and in September 2013, they released their first recordings, an 11-song cassette called Sidewalk that was recorded using Brigman's home-recording setup.
                                 

                                                    
In 2014, the band left Indiana behind and relocated to Los Angeles, and they struck up a relationship

with Permanent Records, which issued their second album, Frankie & the Witch Fingers, in 2015. The band were prolific, releasing a single ("Merry Go Round" b/w "Manta" and "Mystical Rapture") and an album (Heavy Roller) in 2016, with another full-length, Brain Telephone, following in 2017, along with extensive live work in the United States and abroad.
                                                  

In 2018, Glenn Brigman left the band following a tour of Europe to devote more time to Triptides, and

Shaughnessy Starr, who had previously played with the group Hooveriii, took over on drums. Entering Silverlake's Studio 666 with engineers Zachary James and Kevin Mills, Frankie & the Witch Fingers released their fifth album, Zam, through Greenway Records in March 2019. The group toured hard in support, and once they returned home, bassist Alex Bulli left the lineup.
                                          

For the recording of their next album, Josh Menashe and Dylan Sizemore took turns on bass during

their five days in the studio. The LP, Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters..., appeared in October 2020, and Nikki Pickle (of Death Valley Girls) signed on as their full-time bassist.
Artist Biography by Mark Deming
                                                   

ZAM 2019

                                                 

So when did people get the idea that psychedelia is supposed to be peaceful and languid? Back in the Bronze Age of the late '60s, psychedelic bands were loud and aggressive (cue up Blue Cheer, the MC5, or the 13th Floor Elevators if you don't believe that), not lazy and noodling, which is how plenty of

folks seem to mis-remember the era. Frankie & the Witch Fingers seem only so interested in carefully mimicking the sounds of the past, but though they clearly dig vintage acid rock, they also have a taste for garage punk both old and new, and they play with an energy and focus that makes it clear they're here to party, no matter what was used to spike the punch.
                                        

Frankie & the Witch Fingers' fifth album, 2019's Zam, sounds as psychedelic as a paisley shirt under a blacklight, but it's also the work of a furiously tight band with plenty of guitar firepower, a killer rhythm section, and enough energy and momentum to fly around the globe non-stop. On

extended numbers like "Dracula Drug," "Underneath You," and the title cut, the musicians can stretch out to eight minutes or more without petering out or losing the plot, with Dylan Sizemore and Josh Menashe exchanging hot-wired guitar riffage, Alex Bulli shoring up the low end on bass, and drummer Shaughnessy Starr keeping things rolling like a long-haul trucker after his fifth cup of coffee.
                                   

They show just as much stamina on the shorter numbers, and while the liberal use of audio effects and slightly bent melodies reinforce their trippy side, there are dozens of punk or hard rock acts who would

envy them for their physical impact and impressive torque. While psychedelic fans might have a bit of a head start on enjoying Frankie & the Witch Fingers, anyone who enjoys their rock & roll fast, loud, and enthusiastic should find something to their taste on Zam, and this ranks with the band's very best work to date.
By Mark Deming
                                            

Frankie And The Witch Fingers – ZAM
Label: Greenway Records  – GWY-060
Format:    CD, Album
Country: US
Release Date March 1, 2019
Recording Location: Studio 666
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock,Alternative/Indie Rock.

                                                                   

TRAXS

                                                                              

01. Dracula Drug    8:51
02. Work    4:12
03. Realization    4:40
04. Pleasure    3:52
05. ZAM    8:27
06. Cobwebs    4:23
07. Dark Sorceror    4:46
08. Purple Velvet    4:44
09. I Am    1:07
10. Underneath You    9:29
11. Head Collector    5:43

DRACULA DRUG  LYRICS

                                                                     

Gimme me your blood, your Dracula Drug
Gimme your heart, it pumps like a heart
Gimme your bones, they're shaped like your telephone
Gimme your eyes, they're hollow inside

Gimme your veins, the blood they contain
Gimme your high, a beautiful high
Gimme your lick, you lick like a lunatic
Gimme your eyes, and let me drive

Low, low, low ride
Low, low, low, low, low
Low, low, low ride c'mon
Let me take you on a low ride

 

This sound of fever, will suck you out
Unlit deceiver, pulling you down
Bottomless nowhere, detaching you
You lie there waiting

Gimme your life, take it away
Leave it behind you, body can stay
Gimme your life, take it away
Leave it behind you, body can stay

MP3 @ 320 Size: 146 MB
Flac  Size: 431 MB