Frankie
and His Fingers
By Peter Aaron
The
concept of expanding the lineup is one that audiences who’ve
seen the energetic twosome perform are likely to forget, too. “[Theband]
is just so exciting and so crisp-sounding every time they play,”
says Kristen Garnier, organizer of Woodstock’s annual teen
band battle, the Garage Rumble, at which Frankie and His Fingers
have performed as non-competing special guests. “They have
such a full, complete sound for being only two people.”
Inevitably,
the group’s two-person/lady percussionist configuration has
led unimaginative listeners to compare it to, you guessed it, The
White Stripes—which makes about as much sense as comparing
Rush to The Jam simply because they have similar-sized lineups.
“Yeah, we’re nothing like The White Stripes,”
reasons Niss. “Their stuff is more raw, more bluesy. We’re
a lot more poppy.” It’s true; on One Hell of a Skeleton,
Frankie and His Fingers’ independently released debut, poignant
and sugar-smacked cuts like the handclap-punctuated “Thank
You, Mr. Vinkermichael” and the improbably titled “The
Boys Who Cry During the Last Scene of Ghost Make Better Boyfriends
Anyway” have more in common with McGinnis’s admitted
pop-emo influences of Weezer and the Get Up Kids than that of Jack
and Meg White’s punk blues. (Not to mention the fact that
McGinnis plays bass on his band’s studio tracks.)
But
while One Hell of a Skeleton’s clean-and-clear production
(by the Felice Brothers’ Jeremy Backofen) adequately captures
the unit’s hummable bubblegum M.O., it was a recent gig at
Joshua’s in Woodstock that won this music fan over. Live,
the duo’s combined high energy and McGinnis’s jangly
guitar hooks reveal more Buddy Holly/early Beatles/Marshall Crenshaw-esque
melodies than even the front man himself might be conscious of—no
bad thing at all...
CONTINUE...
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