Thursday, October 31, 2024

Album Review: Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Live at LEVITATION

Frankie and the Witch Fingers
Live at LEVITATION
*** out of *****

The Los, Angeles based genre blending rock outfit Frankie and the Witch Fingers newest offering is a capturing of the band onstage in 2022. Live at LEVITATION was recorded when the outfit pulled into Austin, TX and played Stubbs.  

Live at LEVITATION opens with the same track as their excellent 2023 album Data Doom as "Empire" uses heavy, fuzzy riffs to get started before lighting quick riffs, up beat dance ready low end that pulls from both prog rock and afro beat. The bad ass opener leads into "Cocaine Dream" which is a straight ahead punk rock burner in Motorhead fashion. 

After a quick breather the band slams into "Electricide" which continues the metal meets punk rock vibes as the riffs fly furiously and the drums pound ferociously. The over driven speakers are a bit fuzzy and the speed can cloud the lyrics but for a live album this is to be expected as the band fires forward with pummeling power. 

The off-kilter punk/funk of "Pleasure" calls to mind Infectious Grooves while "Tea" bangs ahead with thunderous drums before pushing the pedal to the floor with galloping energy that devolves into high speed Texas rocking midway before a crashing finale. The synths get squirrely along with the guitars one the almost jamband sounding, pumped up "Cavehead" which flowed into the prog of "MEPEM..." that uses layers of stops and starts over the extended run time. 

Another elongated number "Dracula Drug" ends the live album with a spaced out intro that grows into ominous sounds and rumbling drums before shifting into a straight up rocker before again flashing Frankie and the Witch Fingers prog love by stop and starting, jamming and wailing from measure to measure, ending the live album with wah-wah and power riffs.   

Live at LEVITATION captures Frankie and the Witch Fingers manic energy and while the cleaner studio recordings really allow the band to experiment, the intensity of the playing here is admirable and worth checking out. 
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