Julian Cope review

From Julian Cope's Head Heritage website.



What with Sir Lord Baltimore unexpectedly returning as a Christian band (Gor Lummie) and the Stooges manifesting as a Madonna-bumming post-Hives power pop combo for their comeback, it’s good to see that Brooklyn’s Mighty High is still flying the flag for sheer adrenalin’n’drug-fuelled hard rock. Their debut album MIGHTY HIGH IN DRUG CITY effortlessly surfs the tsunami thrown up by DC’s LET THERE BE ROCK-period as though redirected through Grand Funk’s scorching (and remedial) version of ‘Gimmie Shelter’; the bass fuzzing everything up without resorting to High Rise-style all-pervading filth. Released on Mighty High’s own Mint Deluxe Tapes, these guys have battened down their metaphor so tight, you can’t slide a razor blade between their concepts. Clothed in a mega-tripped-out jacket rendered by the legendary Wayne Bjerke, and replete with such songs as ‘Hooked On Drugs’, ‘Albert Hoffman’, ‘Buy The Pound’, ‘Dusted’, ‘Breakin’ Shit’ and ‘TS Eliot’ (I shit you not), could there be an erudite barbarian trip more obstinate and thorough? Me neither, C’mon!

http://www.headheritage.co.uk/addressdrudion/109/2008/

Classic Rock Magazine review by Sleazegrinder

8 out of 10 stars, June 2008 issue.

There's no shortage of MC5 revivalists out there. All you need, really, is a white man's 'fro and a criminal guitar player and you're kicking out the jams, motherfucker. But a dedicated MC5 tribute that actually captures that seminal band's aura of roof-burning, citizen-spooking, pill-shoveling psycho-delic? Well, in that case you better head straight to Drug City. Brooklyn's Mighty High strip 60's death-trip rock down to its most primal essence: narcotic rage and screaming guitars. Every song is about scoring drugs, and they all sound like angry cops busting hippies' heads in.

Positively relentless and gorgeous in its shameless vulgarity. Drug City is a revolution-rock manifesto for creeps, cretins and sexy kidnappers. Awesome.

Jersey Beat Reviews

Split decision at JerseyBeat.com

Jim Testa liked it!

These Brooklyn mooks have been rockin’ the boroughs for 5 years now with their high-energy, old-school, kick out the jams style of raunchy rock ‘n’ roll. Given that every song they do is about doing drugs, it’s probably not surprising that they’re just now releasing their first full-length. It’d be easy enough to dismiss the band (who go by stage names like Woody High, T.J. Whippets, and Tommy Blow) as a one-joke novelty act if not for the fact that these songs really do rock, with a fuzzed-out pre-punk Stooges/MC5 adrenaline (or perhaps more accurately, amphetamine) rush. Even if you don’t get high yourself, rock and roll fans will find that Mighty High will still blow your mind.

But Dave Dillon did not!!

They describe themselves as a “classic rock inspired punk/metal band dedicated to getting loaded and playing loud.” All this has to offer is twelve boring songs about drugs that mostly all surpass the three minute mark and consistently fail to differentiate from the songs before them. I’m supposed to be impressed that a 30something from NYC is able to smoke a lot of weed when half the kids in my suburban town have been doing it since middle school? Yea, sure. Also, someone should tell these dudes that it isn’t smart to take pictures of your stash in public and then post them on the Internet. If you want to hear the same riffs and subject matter over and over, pick this one up.

New York Waste review

All the way from Brooklyn, MIGHTY HIGH send us “In Drug City” and it’s got a punch, a kick and a smack to it. This band launches into its songs with a strong bold mighty rock ‘n’ roll like something AD/DC or Ted Nugent might have done back in the day. Gets you just where you wanna be, and with Brain O doing the artwork, what’s not to love.

Saturday 4/19/08 @ Trash Bar, Brooklyn

This was a heavy duty show. Playing after Puny Human and Mess With The Bull is no fun, but it was the 420 show so we had no choice. IronBoss from Baltimore was supposed to play but cancelled at the last minute. Suns of Freedom played first and had a friend with them that got a little too enthusiastic and had to leave early.

Set list: Breakin Shit; Hands Up; Stone Gett-Off; Shooting Spree; I Live To Get High; Cable Tv Eye; Buy The Pound; The Ram; Drug City; Hooked On Drugs; Mooche

Live review by Kiko Jones

Wilco fan and indie rock blogger Kiko Jones' review of the record release show
(3/27/08) at Southpaw.

What Comes Around Goes Around

Good old ‘70s hard rock, of the kind championed by the likes of Aerosmith back in the day, hasn’t curried much favor with the mainstream rock audience since Guns ‘n’ Roses reminded us 20 years ago what the fuss over Toys in the Attic and Rocks was all about. Even the stoner rock scene with its re-fried Black Sabbath riffs has enjoyed a lot more press and acclaim. But all across the country, pockets of local scenes are flying the riff flag high and rockin’ like it’s 1975, Grand Funk Railroad are all the rage, and the ‘80s never happened.

Influenced equally by hard rock, Motor City mayhem and punk of the SST variety, with lyrics that clearly would’ve made them poster children for Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No!” anti-drug campaign, Mighty High celebrated the release of their debut CD, In Drug City, headlining a no-nonsense bill with a blistering set of meat-and-potatoes rock and roll, and putting on some well-received arena-sized rock star moves for the assembled crowd. Yes, a tree grows in Brooklyn but of a very different kind for these guys.
Two of Mighty High’s Brooklyn brethren rounded out the bill: Federale, with a bluesy, twin-guitar fireworks approach that shows off how tight the band really is; and Saloonatics, a ballsy, high-octane outfit whose raw energy and old-school punk-influenced assault gives new meaning to the term power trio. All in all, it was an evening of true believers giving it all in the most direct of ways possible: loud, hard, fast. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night, huh?

http://kikojones5.blogspot.com/2008/03/what-comes-around-goes-around.html

Thursday 3/27/08 @ Southpaw, Brooklyn

Record release show for Mighty High...In Drug City. Probably the best we've ever played. Going on after The Saloonatics and Federale is inspiring, to say the least. DJ Wake N Bake kicked out ALL of the jams throughout the night - James Gang, Flipper, Plasmatics, Gang Green, Led Zep, Curtis Mayfield, etc. Why can't more shows be like this?

Everyone that came through the door got a free copy of the CD whether they wanted it or not.

Set list: Dusted; Hands Up; Stone Gett-Off; Drug City; Shooting Spree; Buy The Pound; Breakin Shit; Cable TV Eye; I Live To Get High; T.S. Eliot; Hooked On Drugs; Mighty High; Albert Hofmann; The Mooche

Live snaps by Theo Wargo.