The LA quartet’s latest single bridges the gap between CBGB and the sardonic edge of post-punk.

There is a fine line between revivalism and pastiche, and Los Frankies seem determined to dance right on the razor’s edge of it. On their latest single, ‘Gunna Wanna,’ out today via New Noise, the Los Angeles outfit slows down the frenetic, amphetamine-paced tempo of previous cuts like ‘I’m on Drugs’ for something sludgier and decidedly more hazy.

The track, a tongue-in-cheek ode to marijuana described by frontman Frankie Salazar as a “green reprieve,” anchors their upcoming debut LP, ‘D.E.D. City’. While the band rounded out by guitarist Frankie Clarke, drummer Miles Deiaco, and bassist Davide Cinci has undeniable roots in the aesthetics of “indie sleaze,” the recording pedigree at Hollywood’s Sound Factory lends the track a sonic weight that feels less like a costume and more like a callous.

Critics have been quick to pin the band’s dual-guitar attack and sneering vocals to the leather-clad ghosts of the 1970s. However, when asked about the lineage, the band insists their sonic palette is wider than just a nostalgia trip.

When asked about their sound and comparisons to punk icons like The Cramps, The New York Dolls, and The Heartbreakers, the band replied, “those are three of the greatest bands to ever do it, so being mentioned in the same sentence as them is honestly an honor. We’ve obviously taken a lot of influence from that era of rock and roll, but it wouldn’t be true to say the entire album sounds like that. On a few of the tracks we lean into a more modern, heavier rock sound. I think what makes our perspective a little unique is that we’re just as influenced by bands like pup and Viagra Boys as we are by the Dolls or the Cramps.”

While the New York Dolls comparison holds water regarding their swagger, ‘Gunna Wanna’ possesses a rhythmic tightness and a sardonic, muscular delivery closer to the contemporary post-punk of Viagra Boys.

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