Review: Frankie & The Witch Fingers @ Doug Fir

FFO: Osees, The Shivas, The Everywheres

Last Tuesday evening, Indiana-born, LA-raised band Frankie and The Witch Fingers took to the stage at the Doug Fir Lounge, bringing their intoxicating psychedelic indie rock ‘n roll to Portland as they tour the West Coast. Formed in Bloomington, Indiana in 2013 by continuous members Dylan Sizemore and Josh Menashe, Frankie and The Witch Fingers moved to LA in 2014-15, releasing six albums of intricate psychedelic rock along the way. Their music is of the type that will be familiar to fans of other California psych-leaning bands such as Osees, yet also blends in 90s indie rock influences, with some tracks such as “Thinking About You” from 2017’s Sidewalk showing common ground with Portland favorites The Shivas. A seventh studio album is set to follow 2020’s Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters… later this year.

The video for “Reaper” from Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters

After a fearsome set from Seattle’s Monsterwatch had warmed up the sold-out Doug Fir Lounge last Tuesday, Frankie and The Witch Fingers took to the stage. It was instantly clear why the show had sold out: filling the room with winding, weaving riffs and boundless energy as they opened with “Sidewalk”, the Doug Fir began dancing and never stopped, matching the intensity of the performance. Members of both bands, photographers, and whoever else could were crowd-surfing as they whipped through a selection of songs from their first five albums, including the nine-minute epic “Dracula Drug”, with more songs from “Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters… . in the latter part of the set. With Monsterwatch joining them onstage, Frankie and The Witch Fingers finally bade farewell to Portland, for now, with a Doug Fir crowd that had barely stopped moving drenched in sweat and sound. With a further album set to follow soon and a riotous sold-out night like last Tuesday’s, they may need a bigger room the next time they come to Portland.