{"id":398583,"date":"2026-07-14T23:51:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T23:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/398583\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T23:51:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T23:51:07","slug":"frankie-and-the-witch-fingers-bring-synth-fueled-psych-punk-to-oakland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/398583\/","title":{"rendered":"Frankie and the Witch Fingers bring synth-fueled psych-punk to Oakland"},"content":{"rendered":"

On July 23, 2024, Frankie and the Witch Fingers<\/a> took a sunny Seattle afternoon and turned it into a broiling mess of psychedelic synth lines, fierce guitar riffs, throbbing bass and pummeled drums. Sweaty bodies bounced off one another in KEXP\u2019s performance space as the newly christened five-piece played with wild abandon while providing their hallmark punk-rock energy mixed with tight musicianship during a 40-minute set.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecorded real, raw and raucous at KEXP,\u201d read the live album\u2019s liner notes. The set is a perfect document of FATWF\u2019s knack for melting faces while moving between sludgy metal rumblings and frantic garage rock with a pulsing potency.<\/p>\n

Ripping through nine songs in the presence of the legendary arbiters of indie music, of course the band members knew they were being filmed and recorded. That\u2019s kind of\u00a0 KEXP\u2019s thing, fueling its on-air and streaming content machine, but FATWF also intended to release the live performance on wax. What\u2019s more, this was the first gig that they\u2019d ever played with new band member Jon Modaff on synthesizers. Yeah, no pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew when we were recording KEXP that we were gonna put it out. That added, for me, an extra layer of stress,\u201d bassist Nikki Pickle recalled in an interview. \u201cPlaying a live show, having a good show for everybody and you\u2019re recording it for vinyl\u2014like, \u2018Don\u2019t fuck up.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pickle looked cool as a cucumber, per usual. Meanwhile, frontman and guitar player Dylan Sizemore brought an unhinged intensity to his vocals, but he wasn\u2019t just yukking it up for the cameras. He exhibits this baseline energy expenditure at every FATWF show.<\/p>\n

In between the penultimate rager, \u201cEmpire,\u201d and the set closer, Sizemore was seen plugging in his mic with the extra-long cord while drummer Nick Aguilar shed his soggy shirt. Sizemore graciously thanked the crowd before the gut punch of \u201cBonehead\u201d wrapped it all up with Sizemore-as-emcee, sans-instrument, crowd surfing. As he fished his cord out of the crowd, he shouted his final lyrics of the dystopian revolution anthem backed by a wall of riff-tastic noise: \u201cThe prototype has proven itself broken; The washing of our brains was set in motion; The poorest class will rise and rip them open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guitar player Josh Menashe recalled, \u201cThat was actually the first live performance we did with old Johnny Boy.\u201d To be fair, Modaff had performed with the band before, filling in as a tour drummer in 2021, but that was his first time playing synths.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have thrown around the idea of adding a fifth member for a while now,\u201d Menashe continued. \u201cI was kind of doing double duty with playing guitar and then I\u2019d have the synth to the right, and it got to the point where I couldn\u2019t cover everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although keys were Modaff\u2019s first instrument\u2014\u201cI\u2019ve played keys my whole life,\u201d he said\u2014they aren\u2019t what he\u2019s primarily done professionally as a touring band member or composer. \u201cAt my core, I\u2019d say I\u2019m more of a drummer,\u201d he said. Still, it\u2019s familiar territory, and \u201cit was a really unique challenge jumping in and wearing that hat.\u201d He said that hitting the ground running, KEXP was \u201ca wild first performance to sink my teeth into.\u201d But the 2021 tour went a long way to quickly establishing cohesion as \u201cthere was already a lot of camaraderie and familial-like sense to it all, so it just seemed kind of seamless.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the aura may have felt instantly right, that didn\u2019t mean FATWF didn\u2019t overprepare for the gig.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we ran that set like 20 to 30 times,\u201d Menashe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty times, yeah,\u201d Aguilar responded. \u201cThose songs are ingrained into my muscle memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no coincidence that the band\u2019s latest record\u2014Trash Classic, released in June 2025\u2014really leans into a new synth sound. \u201cHaving more synths as a texture was something that was really interesting to us,\u201d Sizemore said.<\/p>\n

More specifically, FATWF wrote a record that required a fifth member to play all the synths. \u201cIf we write too many synth parts, then there\u2019s no way Josh is going to be able to have fun up there on stage trying to do both things,\u201d went the thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got to the point where I couldn\u2019t even have a beer before we played because there was just too much to focus on,\u201d Menashe said.<\/p>\n

While Trash Classic still exudes the psych-punk vigor for which FATWF is known, more dance-punk vibes \u00e0 la LCD Soundsystem are found on tracks like \u201cConducting Experiments,\u201d \u201cT.V. Baby\u201d and the meandering title track, which ends the album with head banging and flailing arms as the driving guitars become dance-friendly synths. Other influences came from experimental innovators like XTC\u2014specifically the 1979 album, Drums and Wires\u2014and \u201cthe weirder side of Devo,\u201d Menashe said. It\u2019s all rich with even more of the group\u2019s signature eccentricities in textures and rhythmic changes, thanks to Modaff\u2019s additional contributions.<\/p>\n

Whether in the studio or onstage, FATWF\u2019s output is impressive and includes a fresh visual aesthetic with each release. From collaborating with artists and designers on new album and single art to developing t-shirts, posters, hats and other swag, the band, alongside Harry Portnof of Greenway Records, has produced a zillion kaleidoscopic color variations for its vinyl records. The most mind-blowing Trash Classic offering is dubbed sewer spew: a neon-green, liquid-filled LP that\u2019s reminiscent of a lava lamp or an old-school liquid light show.<\/p>\n

The band was elated at the results of working with Blood Records to create the unique collectible, with Menashe saying, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to drink the forbidden juice inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickle added, \u201cAnd get the powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of making a music video for the fuzzy, angular track \u201cGutter Priestess,\u201d FATWF tried something new: a side-scroller video game backed by the propulsive rocker. The band members were excited to showcase their music in a different medium that genuinely aligns with their personal interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was this really cool opportunity to collaborate with new people and make something that we\u2019re all super into,\u201d Sizemore said. \u201cWe all play video games in the van on tour, so it\u2019s kind of an extension of what we like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frankie, the band\u2019s namesake, is a cat who\u2019s a dozen-or-so years old. \u201cI get updates from our friend Virginia all the time. [Frankie] just had surgery. I think his hearing\u2019s not doing so well, but he\u2019s on antibiotics. However old the band is, he\u2019s a year older,\u201d Sizemore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have to retire when it\u2019s time,\u201d Menashe said, trailing off and not wanting to address the mortality of the group\u2019s divine inspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like the voodoo doll of the band,\u201d Sizemore continued. \u201cSo if something happens to Frankie \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Menashe asked, \u201cWait, his hearing is going out? And Jon\u2019s been having ear problems \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

A boisterous round of laughter erupted from the band as Pickle and Aguilar shouted, \u201cOh no!\u201d<\/p>\n

Witnessing what looks like limitless stamina, one can easily understand Frankie and the Witch Fingers\u2019 consistent drive to record new music and play more shows. There\u2019s very little downtime for a band this hungry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis band is full-time,\u201d Pickle said.<\/p>\n

Sizemore still remembers when \u201cwe were playing basement shows \u2026 so the fact that we\u2019re touring all the time and getting to make art with all these amazing artists, it\u2019s definitely not lost on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickle added, \u201cIt\u2019s the best job in the world. You have to grind and you have to be busy all the time, but when you\u2019re having fun, it doesn\u2019t feel like work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frankie and the Witch Fingers play Mosswood Meltdown on Sunday, July 19, at Mosswood Park, 3612 Webster St., Oakland. mosswoodmeltdown.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On July 23, 2024, Frankie and the Witch Fingers took a sunny Seattle afternoon and turned it into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[69162,143,145,144,22998],"class_list":["post-398583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-mosswood-meltdown","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-punk-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}