Frantic -

Frantic was an American garage-psych band, formed in 1965 in Billings, Mont. Initially billed as The Frantics, they issued a standalone single on small-press Sunco Records in 1966. Re-situated in Los Angeles, Frantic released the album Conception on Lizard Music in 1970.

Members: Max Byfuglin (vocals), Jim Haas (vocals, keyboards), Kim Sherman (guitar), David Day (bass), Dennis Devlin (guitar), Phil “Gordo” Head (drums)

Background

Frantic began as The Frantics in spring 1964 at Eastern Montana College in Billings. The original lineup featured Max Byfuglin (vocals), Don Mock (guitar), Larry Krank (bass), and Vaughn Smith (drums). After drummer Don Kingery joined later that year, Byfuglin became the band’s frontman. In 1965, Bill Kogolshak replaced Krank on bass, and Kim Sherman arrived from local rivals The Malibus to assume lead guitar duties.

The Frantics issued their first single in 1966: a cover of “Route 66” backed with “La Do Da Da,” recorded at Klier Sound Studio and released on Sunco Records. They soon secured management under Ray Ruff and began touring regionally. Over the next two years, they evolved into a six-piece psychedelic rock act and built a following across Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. By 1968, the lineup solidified with Byfuglin, Sherman, Jim Haas (keyboards, vocals, trumpet), David Day (bass), Dennis Devlin (guitar), and Phil “Gordo” Head (drums).

In late 1968, Frantic tracked an album’s worth of material at Norman Petty’s famed studio in Clovis, New Mexico. However, a contractual snag kept the tapes unreleased until 2018, when the set surfaced as Birth on Lost Sounds Montana. Only two of the Clovis tracks appeared on Frantic’s actual debut LP, Conception, recorded after their relocation to Los Angeles.

Conception

Frantic released Conception in June 1970 on Lizard Music, distributed by Ampex.

Conception blends late-60s psychedelic textures with early hard rock muscle. Fuzz-toned guitar figures prominently, matched by layered organ work and compact, riff-driven arrangements.

Original material alternates with reinterpretations of contemporary rock and folk standards, reworked with expanded instrumentation and altered dynamics. Haas and Byfuglin alternate vocals over pulsing rhythm work and atmospheric keyboard layers.

A1. “Baby” (3:10) – Fuzz-toned rocker with organ overlays and mid-tempo drive, framed by Haas’s dense keyboard and Sherman’s churning guitar.
A2. “Wicked Woman” (3:15) – Gritty twin-guitar interplay supports a forceful rhythm section in one of the album’s heavier moments.
A3. “Scitnarf” (1:57) – Brief instrumental centered on spiraling keyboard runs and darting bass figures.
A4. “Hey Joe” (5:12) – Atmospheric reinterpretation with haze-soaked organ textures and a restrained, slow-building approach that diverges from the Hendrix model.
A5. “More of a Man” (3:47) – Fanged riffing and clipped vocal phrasing mark this original’s brash, Stooges-like demeanor.

B1. “Little Girl” (2:56) – Van Morrison number recast with tight drumming and bright keyboard shading.
B2. “Shady Sam” (3:45) – Grinding mid-tempo progression underlines shadowy chord movement and dark lyrical edge.
B3. “Her and Her Mountain” (2:34) – Short, weighty psych-rock burst with jagged dynamic turns.
B4. “Morning Dew” (4:00) – Measured cover of the Bonnie Dobson folk standard, steeped in trembling tones and incremental tension.
B5. “Midnight to Six Man” (4:03) – Brisk, full-bodied rendition of the Pretty Things classic, ending the set with tight ensemble force.

Produced by Stan Farber and executive-produced by Gabriel Mekler, the album was recorded at Dimension Recorders and American Recording with engineers Bil Schnee and Juddy Phillips. The artwork, a psychedelic swirl of yellow and crimson with handwritten block lettering, was designed and photographed by Tom Gundelfinger.

Later Activity

Frantic disbanded in 1971. David Day later formed the hard rock band Whitehorse, which briefly included future Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars.

Jim Haas sang the theme to Happy Days (season 1 and 2 outro) and cut three singles on United Artists in the mid-1970s, including a cover of the Russ Ballard composition “I Don’t Believe In Miracles.” He also became a prolific backing vocalist, appearing on albums by Rick Springfield (Wait for Night), Boz Scaggs (“1993” on Down Two Then Left), Sparks (Introducing Sparks), Tin Huey (Contents Dislodged During Shipment), and numerous other artists, including Rita Coolidge, Barbra Streisand, Maxine Nightingale, Harvey Mason, Teri DeSario, John O’Banion, David Essex, Toni Basil, Laura Branigan, Red Rider, and Mariya Takeuchi.

Haas also performed backing vocals on Pink Floyd’s The Wall and toured with the band in 1980–81, reprising his role at Roger Waters’ 1990 The Wall: Live in Berlin. Haas passed away in April 2018, one day before Birth was finally released.

Frantic’s music, though largely overlooked at the time, now stands as a rare example of late-60s psychedelic rock emerging from the Montana scene and merging with the harder edges of early 70s rock. Their brief run bridged two musical eras, capturing a transitional sound that blended garage rock urgency with rising hard rock intensity.

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