Rising LA psych-punk outfit comes to the Chapel

By Dave Pehling

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Notable Los Angeles-based garage/psych band Frankie and the Witch Fingers return to the Bay Area to headline the Chapel in San Francisco Saturday night.

Started in Bloomington, Indiana as a two-piece by guitarist Dylan Sizemore and drummer Glenn Brigman with the aim of recording a surplus of lo-fi psychedelic punk songs Sizemore was writing, the band soon expanded to a four piece with the addition of lead guitarist Josh Menashe and bassist Alex Bulli. After a self-released cassette Sidewalk in 2013 (which would later be reissued by Burger Records and Permanent Records) and an eponymous sophomore album, the group relocated to Los Angeles where they would hone a raucous, tuneful garage punk that touches on classic psych and power pop (echoes of Roky Erickson and the Flamin’ Groovies) as well as the more modern, frenetic sounds of former SF standbys Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees.

In the spring of 2019, the quartet released its first album for new label Greenway Records, the explosive double LP ZAM. Packed with some of the most infectious and propulsive tunes the outfit has come up with yet, earning Frankie and the Witch Fingers some of the best reviews of the group’s career. The band toured extensively supporting like-minded Perth, Australia-based psych experimenters the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, sharing stages at South By Southwest in Austin and across the country including an unhinged stop at the Independent in San Francisco.

While the pandemic would put a damper on their touring activity, the band has remained busy amid some major line-up changes. While still anchored by Sizemore and Menashe, the group parted ways with Brigman  and Bulli, with bassist Nikki Pickle (of Death Valley Girls fame) and drummer Nick Aguilar (Mike Watt, Slaughterhouse, Neighborhood Brats) now filling out the rhythm section. In addition to releasing their riotous 2020 album Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters…, the band issued a live Levitation Sessions album made up mostly of tracks from the new effort two months later. That was followed by an expanded reissue of their debut recording for Record Store Day and an October digital single featuring the songs “Cookin'” and “Tracksuit” that accompanied a return to the road for headlining shows and several festival appearances.

Fresh from a string of August festival dates and concerts supporting Ty Segall in Europe and the UK, Frankie and the Witch Fingers return to San Francisco to headline this Desert Daze package show at the Chapel Saturday night a month ahead of the renowned three-day festival held in the Lake Perris Recreation Area. Also performing will be kinetic SoCal garage rockers L.A. Witch, noted psych outfit JJUUJJUU (featuring Desert Daze founder and guitarist Phil Pirrone), and experimental electronic duo Wet Satin, which includes former members of Lumerians Jason Miller and Marc Melzer. Onetime San Francisco resident and celebrated psych artist/remixer DJ Al Lover plays music before and between acts.

Frankie and the Witch Fingers
Saturday, Sept. 10, 8 p.m. $20-$24
The Chapel