Words by Jason Lee; Album art by Human Flower Productions
Much like a big hit of THC flooding the cannabinoid receptors of one’s grey matter and releasing a head-tingling rush of endorphins, likewise, a perfect musical hook (whether from a “big hit” or not) can circumnavigate one’s hang-ups and mental filters making a bee-line straight for the bio-chemical pleasure center and with it being 4/20 today and with “jazz cigarettes” being more prevalent than ever before you may have cause to inquire at some point “got a flammio?” (which is Italian, or perhaps Sicilian, for “flame” or so we’d like to think) in order to spark up a big phat spliff of hydroponically grown ultra-dank kush weed for which you’ll need some well-chosen music of course to help you reach escape velocity and lift off into the stratosphere…
…and as it turns out you’re truly in luck today cuz the person who’s got your “flammio” just happens to be named Kristin Flammio as in yes that Kristin Flammio the one with the powerful pipes who fronts The Pretty Bitchin (strumming, belting) with (more than) ample support from bandmates Matt Puckett (strumming, backup belting), Will Noland (low-end theory), and Jericho Davidson (drums, designated daddy) and thanks to their “joint” efforts (heh heh) they’ve released a new song today on =no less than 4/20 itself a/k/a Stoner’s Saturday and the song’s called “Never Too High” and no it’s not the theme to the new Cheech & Chong movie unfortunately…
…but it does open in the style of the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” with a musical head shot straight out of the gate leaping right into the super-catchy kinetic refrain (a.k.a. the chorus) cuz there’s no need for the niceties of “intros” or “verses” or “pre-choruses” for the likes of the Pretty Bitchin or for anyone else either when you got a chorus this bulletproof and K. Flammio grabbing you by the lapels with her 4.8 on the Richter Scale earth-quaking delivery, exclaiming, “When I’m with ya bayyybeeee, ohh, I’m never too high, never too hiiiigh” and especially on 4/20 we’re inclined too agree as we smoke this J cuz we don’t let educational films scare us…
…tho’ of course the Pretty Bitchin are well aware if you come on super-strong even just musically before even being introduced then it’s probably wise to follow up by backing off for a bit at least cuz that’s always the tricky thing innit but when you get the balance right it’s like smokin’ a perfect indica/sativa hybrid pre-roll and that’s just what our four fearless musicians call to mind here here which hey they’re not called the Pretty Bitchin for nothin’ with the verses of “Never Too High” hitting this listener like a well-balanced if unexpected hybrid of country and reggae as Kristin convincingly declares, “I wanna keep it hot / this fire we’ve been blazin’”…
…and while the Pretty Bitchin are hardly the first to compare good drugs to good lovin’ or bad drugs to bad lovin’ (see the multiple Mary Jane‘s for starters) still they’ve come up with a banger and one that most importantly vibes perfectly with today’s sacred holiday cuz this is a day where you wanna go up, up, up, and never come down and “Never Too High” mirrors this ideal euphoric trajectory building layer upon musical layer with a big vocal buildup to 2:30 at which point you added horns this’d almost certainly been a hit for Stax/Volt Records in Memphis back in but then within about 20 seconds it’s kinda turning into a metal song but then goes back even quicker to Stax/Volt and then back to metal again and now I think it’s secretly from a rock musical in the works that’s gonna be the next Hedwig…
…but either way if you’re digging it and wanna explore more of Kristin Flammio & the Pretty Bitchin we “highly” recommend (get it!! we are really tryin’ here!!) checking out the combo’s previous effort and an equally good one at that called “Not This Time” which even just from the title you can tell is going to be a good song to come down to later (“I’m fine / I might just cry / all night”) and a good one to get your chin up as well (“I was lookin’ for love / at the scene of the god damn crime / but not this time”) or otherwise just loop the part of “Never Too High” where K. Flammio appropriately repeats the line “I could be your light” or is that “life” or is that “ lie” or is it all three and the more you blaze up today (only if that’s your personal choice, of course!) the more you’re likely find the essence of within in mediating on these line or lines like a blunted music blogger…
Kristin Flammio & the Pretty Bitchin are excited to celebrate the release of their next single “Never Too High” on April 20, 2024 with a release show on Wednesday May 8th at The Broadway alongside Faiders and vvwhen.
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NEVER TOO HIGH
released April 20, 2024
Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar – Kristin Flammio
Backing Vocals/Lead Guitar – Matt Puckett
Bass – Will Noland
Drums – Jericho Davidson
Recorded at Metropolitan Studios by John Epperly
Mixed by Will Hensley
Mastered by Mike Tucci