“Space sonnets, orchestral garage psych, porn and witch fingers.”
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
Waking from an evening nap of wet dream porn nostalgia, witches, mushrooms, and crooked fingers it was only fitting I found myself driving to Casbah for Frankie and the Witch Fingers and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. I was cranky and in need of rest so I put my hoodie on and ignored the familiar faces who tend to socialize at these types of shows.
What this particular demeanor granted me was an opportunity to observe the show from an alt-dimension, one where acid clouds and unicorns exist, and one where I could pay closer attention to what was happening musically. What I caught glimpses of was something very different from the carbon copies currently trending in the psychedelic music scene. What was held on full display by these two bands was something of caterpillars and butterflies. At the heights of their prowess, both bands were pushing out of the sleeping bag confines of the genre/chrysalis algorithm.
Sure Frankie and his Witch Fingers were drawing from the Southern California garage/surf rock scene but they did so with astonishing tastefulness, musicality, orchestration and punk rock indifference. Their energy on stage was punctuated by uncontrived John Dwyer type of faces and gestures, good wholesome band dynamic and well executed vocal melodies. They were tight — tight as surgeons and tight like a band that is going for broke after recording an album and touring relentlessly.
The Psych Porn Crumpets also drew from elderly statesmen of their Australian psych scene. From the ambient riff rock of bands such as Tame Impala/Pond and the progressive insanity of King Gizz, the Crumpets pieced together a quilt of their Australian heritage and pierced the veil with a heroic venture. It was playful and had more of a jam band influence, maybe even, dare I say, Phish — not to say there wasn’t something darker brooding in their minds. There were moments of swampy expansiveness, like Pink Floyd in the K-hole, or The Wizard of Oz played in reverse at ½ the speed. These boys could play and showed you so, the songs looped and dipped with roller coaster motifs, through composed passages and other amalgamations.
All in all, these bands are the cream of the young crop and we will certainly be seeing more and more of them as they grow older and wiser. I highly recommend the Frankie and the Witch Fingers’ new album ZAM and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets’ High Visceral {Part 2}.