The Los Angeles-based rockers Frankie and the Witch Fingers ratchet up the nervous energy on their newest offering, Trash Classic. The ten spastic tracks shimmy, bang and slam forward as the band embraces new-wave and post-punk influences in a significant way.
Recorded in Oakland, at Tiny Telephone Studio, with producer Maryam Qudus (La Luz, Spacemoth), Dylan Sizemore (vocals and rhythm guitar), Josh Menashe (vocals, lead guitar, synthesizer), Nikki Pickle (bass), Nick Aguilar (drums) craft tense, buzzing excursions that seem to be paranoid of the surrounding world. The first words on the record arrive during the clanging/jittery “T.V. Baby” as Sizemore sings “This is over-stim-u-lating,” and that sums things up.
On their previous studio offering, the fantastic Data Doom, the band incorporated afrobeat into their prog/punk style. This time around, however, the group dropped that aspect completely (and most of the prog) in favor of a new wave meets post-punk combination. It can all be a bit too much at times, as the twitchiness factor is everywhere with repetitive riffs and synths shooting out like accusations.
The grooving dance rock of “Fucksake” and the angular guitar/offbeat funk around speeding drums of “Eggs Laid Brain” both amp up that post-punk vibe while the digital handclaps and electro-groove push the new wave factor straight onto the dancefloor with “Conducting Experiments”. The band fuses both of those styles with Buzzcocks’ pop punk and Devo’s electro rock on the pounding “Dead Silence,” which is an early highlight.
The best of the bunch is also surprisingly the most straightforward rocker, as the revved-up “Out of the Flesh” is a motoring beast with fuzzy, descending riffs and a banging low end. The grinding dance metal (complete with more synths) “Gutter Priestess” also works well, but this is an outfit that can’t sit still for long.
The band gets freaky with lots of changes on “Economy,” which feels cracked out at wits’ end as guitars, synths, and bass all bounce around, showcasing experimental influences like Man Man and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. The group saved their prog love for the extended album closing title track that uses tons of changes and a spacey jam in the middle to build it all back up.
The fidgety and high-strung Frankie and the Witch Fingers revel in chaos and manic energy, both of which are delivered in abundance throughout Trash Classic.
