Frightwig performs at The Ritz Lounge in San Jose

BAY AREA — If you heard drum beats echoing in the Sierra last week, they might have originated from The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco or The Ritz Lounge in San Jose.

Bay Area underground punk rock iconoclasts The Avengers, Kid Congo, and Frightwig scorched audiences last Wednesday and Thursday nights with power chords and political anthems.

Downieville shares a cosmic connection.

Frightwig’s original drummer, Cecilia Kuhn, better known to friends as Saint Cecilia, was a longtime Downieville resident and served as Sierra County county clerk before transmuting into the celestial in 2017. Her defiant nature and relentlessly positive aura still pulsate within Frightwig today.

Reminiscing about Frightwig’s original lineup, founding band member and bassist Deanna Mitchell jokingly described their trio together as comprising the ideal woman. “Cecilia had the legs. Mia had the ass. I had the tits.”

They were also united by a mission of radical female empowerment and positive social change through collective action.

Today, the world is still reeling from a global pandemic, unceasing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and widespread political unrest.

Roe v. Wade no longer protects the rights of American women to form their own medical decisions.

We need Frightwig now, more than ever.

Fortunately, the San Francisco Bay Area’s trio of paradigm-smashing rockers heralded the clarion call with a searing new album, “We Need to Talk,” released in September last year.

Founding members Mia d’Bruzzi and Deanna Mitchell are joined by drummer Tina Fagnani and veteran keyboardist Eric Drew Feldman, delivering a powerhouse album that ranks among The Best Bay Area Music of 2023, according to music critics at public broadcasting station KQED.

Also released are some of Frightwig’s final recordings with original drummer Cecilia Kuhn, including the jarringly beautiful bonus track “Shine Your Light,” written and performed by her.

Last week, Frightwig returned to the stage yet again to continue dismantling the patriarchy.

Evoking their characteristically unapologetic feminist ethos, Frightwig’s setlist Thursday at The Ritz Lounge in San Jose included protest anthems “Redistribution of Wealth” and “War on Women” as well as their classic tongue-in-cheek dance number “A Man’s Gotta Do What a Man’s Gotta Do.”

Together or apart, Frightwig has weathered the decades, raised families, and lost friends along the way. They’re battle-worn and wiser for the journey.

That’s why perhaps the best summarization of this current incarnation of Frightwig can be found in their frenetic new track “Aging Sux” about the inevitability of getting old.

I’m not going to live forever, nor do I want to

One thing I want you to know now is that I really love you

On Thursday night, however, Frightwig showed no signs of slowing down.

They bashed out “Aging Sux” in a succinct and very punk rock 75 seconds.

According to founding band member and guitarist Mia d’Bruzzi, returning Frightwig to the stage isn’t just about honoring their legacy as women’s punk rock pioneers.

They’re delivering a message that’s urgent and necessary.

Long live Frightwig.