Singles Spotlight:
The Pretty Flowers –
“To Be So Cool”

Hello reader,

How are you today?

We’re excited once again to discuss another band that is making some great music: The Pretty Flowers.  Formed in Los Angeles in 2013 and holding the same lineup since 2018, the group, according to their press release, has, “over the years, the band has honed a fearsome melding of pop melodicism and raw physicality. Their knack for crafting catchy anthems for outsiders and underdogs has made them one of the most respected underground bands in L.A.” You’ve got our attention. And hopefully yours as well.

That tight core of Noah Green (songwriter, vocals, guitar), Sam Tiger (bass guitar, backing vocals), Jake Gideon (guitar, backing vocals), and Sean Johnson (drums, percussion) has led the heart on their sleeves group to several releases including their debut full-length Why Trains Crash (2018), their covers album Gold Beat Sessions (2019), and A Company Sleeve (2023). Each release is worth listening to in its own right and garnered the interest of new fans of the band. If you look more deeply into their discography, you’ll also see that the release of their My Alchemist EP (2015) featured a different group of musicians, plus Green.

The Pretty Flowers, like many musicians, are music nerds, appreciative and grateful for the amazing groups that came before them, such as The Replacements. Check out their cover in 2025 of the great Mats song, “Bastards of Young,” which even features Gideon in a skirt, a kind nod to the late Bob Stinson.

(All credits and rights to The Pretty Flowers)

And now is the time for their newest release, Never Felt Bitter, which is out Friday, March 27th, via Chicago-based indie label Forge Again Records. Check out the full release there or via the label’s Bandcamp if you prefer collecting albums on CDs and/or vinyl. There’s still something awesome about having a physical copy in your hands, to explore the booklet or album cover, inner sleeve, outer sleeve, and to listen to it, not on a computer. 

Drummer Sean Johnson talks about the album, stating, “There’s a sense of urgency, fear, and confusion that comes across in these new songs. Like, each song might be the last song we write, or this might be the last album. If anything, it’s the most present we’ve ever been.”

Let’s explore Never Felt Bitter a bit by talking about one of the best songs, in SWT’s opinion, “To Be So Cool.” That’s the single that we’re going to spotlight today. We’re so stoked to share it with you. It’s a catchy, anthemic song that will remind listeners of The Replacements, Teenage Fanclub, Wilco, Superchunk, and others without trying to emulate them.

Via the band’s press release, Songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Noah Green was waxing poetic about the single, “’To Be So Cool’ is one of my favorite songs on the album, and it’s a blast to play live. The lyrics just seemed to kind of flow and I didn’t try and overthink writing them at the time. Some months later, when I was watching the film Withnail & I for the umpteenth time, I noticed that the lyrics seemed to connect to the film, in how the ‘I’ character sees Withnail going through life. Maybe a student in a community college English class will tease that idea out in an essay at some point.”  Maybe that’s you. Or future you, listener?  Check out the song and give it some thought for yourself.

The awesome video that features each band member playing the song in the back of a pickup while driving in parts of So Cal for the song, “To Be So Cool” from Forge Again Records YouTube channel:

(All credits and rights to Forge Again Records and The Pretty Flowers)

The cover art for Never Felt Bitter:

More about the album’s cover image from the band’s press release, “Its cover image comes from Control Zone, Bonnie Donahue and Warner Wada’s landmark photo essay documenting a family living in Belfast during The Troubles, discovered by Green while browsing a Boston bookshop. That tension between private endurance and wider social unrest came into sharp focus in April 2025, when the band debuted “Thief of Time” on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall during the 50501 protests. In front of tens of thousands, a song born from doubt transformed into an anthem of collective release, underscoring a record that feels deeply attuned to both personal reckoning and the wider moment it inhabits.”

The track list for Never Felt Bitter:

1. Thief of Time
2. To Be So Cool
3. Ocean Swimming
4. Came Back Kicking
5. Big Dummy
6. Convent Walls
7. Ring True
8. Safe & Secure
9. Never Felt Bitter (We Burn)
10. Feel a Little Vague
11. Tough Love
12. Not Dissolve

Alex M Theel

Co-Founder, Reviewer, Content Creator, Business side, Editor at Scummy Water Tower Productions | Web

Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com