Time-wise, it’s a short blip of a release, but the new split 7” single between Port Orchard, Washington, rock resurrectionists Stone Axe and green-thumbed Brooklyn, New York, stoner punkers Mighty High has much more to give the listener than its seven-plus minutes would indicate. The offering, released by Ripple Music, brings together two seemingly disparate bands with two very different missions, who nonetheless work well in a row because listening to each one serves so specific a purpose. It’s short, but for anyone who hasn’t yet experienced either, Metal Damage/Don’t Panic it’s Organic is a great way to be introduced to two bands who most definitely are worth your time.

And if you have heard either band before now, you don’t need me to tell you whose song is “Metal Damage” and whose is “Don’t Panic it’s Organic.”

Present for Stone Axe on “Metal Damage” is the core duo of multi-instrumentalist and recent Obelisk interviewee T. Dallas Reed and vocalist Dru Brinkerhoff. To compare the track to Stone Axe’s recent full-length, Stone Axe II, “Metal Damage” is heavier in a traditional sense and, as you might guess, pretty metal. One of the best parts of listening to Stone Axe is picking out the influences on display – in that way they’re very much a band for music nerds – and here they pair Judas Priest’s driving rhythms and Holy Diver-era Dio riffing with an early Ozzy Osbourne (think Bob Daisley) bass line that’s just killer throughout the short, straightforward 3:41 song. Brinkerhoff does the lion’s share of tying “Metal Damage” to Stone Axe’s prior output – he’s a rock vocalist here almost in spite of himself – and the song in no way sounds flat for having just the two of them recording it. As ever with Reed’s recordings, you get a full band sound whether or not you get a full band.

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As a force for all that is right and not-taking-itself-too-seriously in Brooklyn — where such forces are sorely needed — the band Mighty High should not be allowed even the faintest hiccup of inactivity. Accordingly, let the following announcement from the band ring out so that some good soul can step in and fill their now-vacant bassist position. Tommy Blow, we hardly knew ye.

And by that I mean we never met. But anyway, all the best. Here’s the note from the band:

After seven and a half years of service Tommy Blow has decided to retire from Mighty High. So that means we need a new bassist pronto. Tommy will be retiring after our show on April 10 with Cortez, Federale and Kevin Omen at Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn.

If you or anyone you know wants to work the thud stuff on our Black Flag Railroad attack, get in touch and let’s rock. We got nine songs in the can for our next record and a bunch more we’re about to start working on to finish it off. There are shows to play, beers to drink and ears to bleed. Life is short, so play loud!

Available through the band?s own Mint Deluxe Tapes on a blue splatter 7? vinyl, leading hemp advocates Mighty High?s Mighty High Drops a Deuce affirms the appeal put forth by the band on last year?s ?In Drug City full-length. And it?s a pretty basic appeal. These are four dudes from Brooklyn who write simple stoner punk songs about getting high. Rarely does it get more straightforward than that.

I like Mighty High because they?re honest. There?s infinitesimally little bullshit to their presentation. They?re not on stage pretending to be monsters or posing out as pseudo-intellectuals too smart to rock. They?re singing ?Hands up if you want to get high!? and calling themselves ?Brooklyn?s number one regressive rock act.? They?re having fun. Non-ironic fun! What a concept.

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It’s more than just a clever name — these dudes are seriously fucked up. Like “Set your phasers to ‘stoned.’” So high that when the album showed up the cover was sideways. Really, really, really high. That’s apparently their thing.

I always wonder what bands like this say to their parents. Granted, I’m pretty sure Jesse D’Stills (drums), TJ Whippets (guitar), Tommy Blow (bass) and Woody High (guitar/vocals) are using stage names, but even so, when mom calls and asks how the band is, does Tommy Blow answer, “Well ma, we’re really fucking high. How’s dad?” I sure hope so, because that would be awesome, and Mrs. Blow would never see it coming.

Mighty High do one thing and do it well. Their brand of junkie punk encompasses a narrow scope and even “T.S. Eliot” is about getting high and fucking shit up. On last year’s debut, …In Drug City (released through their own Mint Deluxe Tapes), they come off like a druggier (obviously) Easy Action, and Woody has a regional aggression in his voice more fitting the band’s New York City home than their penchant for killing brain cells. As songs like “Dusted,” “Hooked on Drugs,” “Stone Gett-Off,” “Buy the Pound,” “Mighty High,” the title track, “Albert Hofmann” and “I Live to Get High” would suggest, they know what they like and they stick to it. As they say in the aforementioned closer “T.S. Eliot,” “You don’t like it?/So what?/We do/Tough fucking shit.” It may not have made the cut as a basis for foreign policy throughout this decade, but coming from Mighty High — who, like the guy being dragged out by security dangling a Ziplock baggie full of green nuggets, “aren’t hurting anyone, man” — it’s positively charming.

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