Psychedelic Rockers Frankie and the Witch Fingers Excite With New Single “Bonehead”
- Genevieve Cai
- Oct 15, 2024
- 2 min read
Los Angeles-based rockers Frankie and the Witch Fingers officially mark the start of a
new era with their latest psychedelic rock single, Bonehead. Over a year after the release of
their last experimental project, LP Data Doom, the band felt inspired to return to their roots with the new electrifying song. Born out of Indiana, Frankie and the Witch Fingers have long been trailblazers of the garage and psych-rock scene (with further incorporations of proto-punk and other subgenres of experimental punk rock), unafraid to deconstruct their sound and embrace the raw chaos of it all.
With “Bonehead”, the four-piece deviates from traditional formulas of songwriting by
melding energetic distortion effects, thrashing synths, punk riffs and frenzied drumming
guaranteed to make your ears ring. Indeed, the final chord of the song echoes at a high pitch for several seconds after the vocals have already died out.
Not only does “Bonehead” successfully combine all these eccentric sonic factors, its
lyrics directly criticize modern society’s subduing power systems, the negative aspects of
technological advancement, and their controlling influences on young peoples’ identities. In the chorus, lead vocalist Dylan Sizemore roars, “They want you falling to pieces / Your bodies piling beneath them”, urging the audience to push back: “Don’t fall in line, I want you out of your mind / Let go”. In this sense, both the composition and subject matter of “Bonehead” aim to go against the grain.
Over its runtime of just under five minutes, “Bonehead” notably divides itself into two
parts. While it introduces a hummable guitar riff in the first few verses that feels like the rumbling start of a revolution, the urgency of the lyrical message is developed as the tempo doubles in speed halfway through and the noisy distortion increases. At this point, the cacophony of sounds truly conjures the feeling of being in the exhilarating pit of a basement punk show. Says Frankie and the Witch Fingers about the recording of the song: “We wanted to capture the chaotic energy of those unfiltered live moments. Recorded the basics in one take, warts and all.”
Though the band has not announced an album alongside “Bonehead”, these Witch Finger
“warts” continue to remind us of the importance of questioning the world around us and the joys found in imperfection.
Listen to "Bonehead" on all streaming platforms now.