Concussion 23

23
7
97377 96425
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DAVOUD
On the Cover: Whoa, that’s not a frontside air or back Smith in a pool.
What’s going on here? Sean Stockton mixes up the street and the vert
with a backside nollie on a bank to wall in Oakland. Hope that gets you
some photo incentive, dude. You deserve it. Photo: Bryce Kanights.
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11
’ve been going down to Vans Milpitas a lot lately. Well, maybe not a
lot, but a lot more compared to how much I usually go there, which
is as little as possible. That place sucks. But it’s winter
here in Nor Cal and it’s been raining a fair amount, which
has left the skateboarding options more limited than
during the rest of the year. So yeah, Vans is lame, you
have to pay too much money, wear pads, listen to shitty music, and ride with all kinds of kooks. From clueless roller bladers to fully padded old barneys, I find
myself constantly rolling around, never skating one
thing for too long, continually trying to get away from it all
until the two hours are up and they let us out of the cage.
I
In any case, I tend to end up riding the mini ramp a fair amount. It’s
as mediocre as anything else Vans offers, but it’s sort of wide and fun
to cruise around on. On one particular night we were having a pretty
fun session on the mini. Drehobl and his roommate were there, Jason
Strubing and some of his friends were there, it was fairly crowded, people were getting juiced and it was staring to turn into a bit of a snake session. And there was this one dude from Santa Cruz there too. Some guy who
kept getting snaked by everyone and wasn’t too happy about it.
He’d put his back wheels over the coping and try and drop in but by the time
he looked to see if it was clear someone else was already in the middle of their
run. So this guy was getting frustrated, he was getting snaked and it was obvious that he was out of his league. But instead of going and riding something else,
say the little kids’ mini ramp, he started glaring at people and accusing them of
snaking him. “You took six more runs than me,” he would shout. “You, you’ve
gone three times in a row!” At first people were trying to blow the guy off
but this just made him more agitated, and he started getting in someone’s face, yelling and cursing all puffy-chested Santa Cruz surfer style.
The guy he was yelling at brushed him off and dropped in, and the
angry guy started focusing his energy on someone else, a girl
named Hudson. She was getting more runs than him too. But
unlike all the guys on the ramp, who were avoiding confrontation with this “angry local”, Hudson wasn’t about to take any
shit from anyone, especially this guy. She got right back in
his face and started yelling at him, and more or less told
him to shut the fuck up. He kept verbally abusing her and
puffing his chest out like some kind of wild game hen
fighting over territory, but instead of backing down,
Hudson started punching him in the face. It was
truly a classic moment. The guy didn’t
really fight back but he kept getting
pummeled, until someone pulled her
back.
Sooner or later someone got
one of the Vans employees over to
calm the guy down, and he should’ve been
thrown out for being such an idiot, but they let him stay,
although his pride was now wounded and he was still getting
snaked. If this incident would’ve happened at a Santa Cruz surf
spot, say Steamer Lane for example, the guy getting snaked would
never in a million years yell at the people who were better than
him. In the surf world, the guy who sucks gets run back to the
beach and/or beat up on the way. And here he was, a bona fide
Santa Cruz local, accusing more skilled people of snaking him. What
a kook. Anyway, out of all the retards, dudes skating with camelbacks like they were dehydrated on the ski slopes, and other
assorted barneys that frequent Vans, this is the story of the
biggest kook I’ve ever seen at Vans. See you next time, bro.
Concussion Staff
Senior Editor
Davoud Kermaninejad
Associate Editor
Jonathan Hay
Art Director
Lee Charron
Video Production
Dave Amell
Director of Development
Jason Murray
Photographers
Charlie Middleton
Bruce Rodela
Jon Steele
Rhino
Contributing Photographers
Bryce Kanights
Patrick Malpass
Adam Conway
Blair Alley
Patrick Trefz
Uri Korn
Ken Nagahara
Tsuyoshi Nishiyama
Rob Taylor
Patrick Jilbert
Bart Saric
Todd Cooper Barnes
Writers
Paul Morrison
Chris Tobias
Holly Anderson
Mickey Stamm
Rob Krautheim
Josh Zickert
Ryan Furtado
Cody McClintock
Todd Cooper Barnes
Christine Hughes
John Sayers
Sarah Drexler
Graphic Artist
Lee Charron
Katch
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Factory 13 Skateboards
www.factory13.bowlrider.com
Danny "Making Boards and Breeding
Children" Creadon goes to Parent Teacher
Meetings, lives in the Ohio countryside, and
hangs out making skateboards for a living.
Rolling hills, small farms, snowfields, and slabs
of beefy Maple surround him.
He is the man behind Factory 13, the skateboard operation responsible for producing
the pink punk point I've been riding. Factory
13 makes custom skateboards, like the one
shown here. They also make a slew of model
boards including a JFA series. Oh yeah, and
they do it all for the love and fun of skateboarding. See, Danny isn't looking at
where in China to open a factory, because
he's got his own damn factory in back of
his house!
He and a few friends are everything
behind the final product-I've seen it all:
the sheets of wood, the clamps, the
fans, the glue, the screens, the paints,
the power tools-hey, these guys even
have a ramp (next to a bunch of tobacco chewin‚ muscle car racing, white trash
neighbors) to test their products and fine
tune designs. Danny can make a great skateboard and he's down to grab some beer and head
on a mission for the same reason he has his own
skateboard company: for the love and fun of it.
You may never find yourself in Ohio, but you
should find the Factory 13 website and see more
for yourself. –Sarah Drexler
Terror Skateboards
terrorskateboards.com
These days, any asshole with a bank account full of cash and
some stupid graphics can have a board company. But it’s another
thing to have a bunch of gnarly dudes ride for your little board company. Terror has a sick team, they’re like the new Anti Hero team,
although I doubt they’d want that sort of comparison, so let’s take
it back. But they do have a lot of lurkers on their team and they all
fucking rip. G Man, Slob, Roche, Sperm, Jamie Weller, the list goes
on and on. Terror makes a variety of nicely crafted boards with
scumfuck and/or death metal graphics. The Fang inspired deck
pictured here is nice, as is the larger, 8.5” wide GG Allin deck which
is not shown here. I haven’t ridden my Terror board long enough to
see how well it will last, but it’s flat and stiff and feels good. All those
guys down at the park ride those boards and they all fucking rip so they gotta be doing
something right, huh? Speaking of the park, Glenn who runs Terror is one of the guys who
is responsible for Washington St., so as a general rule you should buy a board from him just
because he built that gnarly park under the bridge for free.
Terror also has what looks to be a very good video coming out sooner or later. If it’s
anything like the trailer they have on their interweb, it’s gonna be good. -dk
Independent 146/156/59Trucks
independenttrucks.com
I don’t know what’s going on with Indy these days. They keep changing their truck
sizes and confusing me. For a while 156s and 159s were the same truck, and now I hear
that they don’t make 156s but the 146s are the same length. I think they can get away
with this just because as Americans we are ignorant to the Metric System. Exactly how
big is one millimeter anyway? 156 is like seven inches, right? Or maybe not.
In any case it doesn’t really matter. It’s always been the same truck for me, more or
less, and aside from the set of Tracker Ultralights with built-in copers, Indys have been
the only trucks I’ve ever ridden. Indys are the shit. When Wade Speyer got kicked off
Think, he was actually hyped because he could finally ride Indys. Sure the bushings are
a little weird on a new set of trucks at first, but I just crank them down, break them in
and then they’re ok. But then again I don’t know anyone who likes riding new trucks,
regardless of the brand.
You can grind Indys for days, they turn great, and a lot of people get six months to a
year out of a set of trucks. Or maybe those guys aren’t skating enough, but either way
it’s hot to grind ‘em down to the axle. I don’t really know what else there is to say about
Independent Trucks. It’s lame to see all these mall jock kooks rocking Indy gear, but if
you actually ride the trucks then you really know what it’s about, right bro? - dk
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Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale
Yorkshire, England
Mmmmmm, beer. Nothing like coming home from a long day of work and popping
open that first beer. Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale is possibly the best beer I have
ever had. Now if you’re one of those “I only drink mass produced watery American
beers” kind of guys, then ignore this and keep on drinking that shit, boss. If you
order a pint of Heifeweizen and get a slice of lemon in it, or secretly like to drink
Smirnoff Ice, then you would appreciate a bottle of Samuel Smith’s beer.
The Nut Brown Ale is my personal favorite. Brown ale is a walnut-colored
specialty of the North of England. A festive-occasion beer, brown ale is one of
the oldest English brewing styles, mentioned in literature in the 16th century.
Beers brewed at the old brewery have a round, nutty flavor because of the
Yorkshire square system of fermentation. I’ve been picking up these in the 18.7
ounce “Victorian Pint” size for $2.50 at Trader Joe’s, which is a real bargain
compared to the $3.50 Beverages & More or other “highbrow” liquor stores
charge. And a deal like that makes every day a festive occasion.- dk
PHOTOS: DAVOUD
Curtis Franklin lays into a Smith grind in the round bowl at
Folsom. Hey, you got kneepads under those pants, right?
Sean O’Loughlin crosses the Moraga channel with a sweeper.
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Folsom Skatepark
Lamorinda Skatepark
Folsom, CA
Moraga, CA
“Ohmygod, have you been to the new park in Folsom yet?”
No.
“Well you should. Wormhoudt has really outdone himself this time. The bowls have vert and there’s lights.
It’s fucking sick. Best park in Nor Cal dude.”
Oh boy. The sad thing is, this may be the best park in Nor Cal, but that’s really not saying too much. Actually
it’s saying that this park is slightly better than Ripon. Maybe. It’s still a “California park.” The bowls in fact do
have vert, maybe even six inches to a foot of vert in some places, which is a hell of a lot more vert than most
Nor Cal “vert” parks like Ripon or Berkeley. I guess Redwood City and Sunnyvale have actual vert only on one
extension or wall.
Anyway, if you don’t know where Folsom is, it’s a Sacramento suburb whose biggest claim to fame is the
Johnny Cash song about the jail they have there. And now they have a skatepark, which our good buddy Zach
Wormhoudt built. And to his credit it is slightly better than most of the parks he designs, but it still kinda
sucks. It’s sort of a combi-bowl deal with a round and a square bowl separated by a flat-wall hip thing. That is
the vert part, and via a couple hips leads into a 7’ non vert channel thing and a couple other smaller bowls on
each side. And behind that is the street section, which we didn’t ride until they were kicking us out.
The Folsom park does indeed have lights, but you also have to pay $2 or $3 to get in, and you have to wear
full pads, which is actually monitored by the park attendants. Maybe you can get away with long sleeves, a helmet and one elbow pad if you’re wearing jeans, but the day we were there they were definitely enforcing their
rules to the letter.
I’d be hyped if I lived anywhere near that park, it’s probably better than Berkeley and most of the Bay Area
parks, especially if you didn’t have to pay or wear pads, but I don’t think that I would drive an hour and a half
to skate there. You do have to pay, and you do have to wear full pads, and you do have to put up with a dozen
clueless kids trying to skate the shallow bowls, so you can’t really put a full line together. And the construction
is somewhat irregular, but then again since the designer and the contractor are separate people, you never
know if it was the poor design or a clueless contractor. The cement work is pretty good and it’s not too lumpy
so I’d tend to bag on the design more, but whatever. The bowls here are pretty big and the hips are pretty
steep, but like most every other Wormhoudt park, the lines are off just enough to make you change your line at
the last minute or slam and do a tranny check for no reason.
This park is pretty good I guess, and I’d be hyped if I lived anywhere near there, especially in the summer
when it’s 100 degrees in the day and the only time you can skate is at night. At this rate, maybe Wormhoudt
will build a good park by 2010. Hey buddy, here’s a tip. Try building Palo Alto’s Greer Park again but make it
steeper/deeper and add coping, that would be kind of rad. Hope springs eternal.
I think this park is actually in Moraga, but the yuppie hamlets of Lafayette, Orinda and Moraga have come
to been known as ‘Lamorinda’ by restaurant reviewers and the upwardly mobile residents alike, so there you
go. The Moraga park is another Wormhoudt masterpiece, not quite at the top of the shitheap with Pleasanton
or Milpitas, but more like Novato crossed with a little Redwood City but not nearly as good as either of those
parks. And speaking of Pleasanton, word on the street is that Wormhoudt designed Pleasanton Part Two which
is currently being built, although we haven’t been able to get a sneak peek at it just yet.
In any case, Moraga has the 5’ bowl with a hip and relatively a useless channel, and then on the perimeter
you’ve got a little fucked up street track that has some ledges and a couple hits and some of the worst lines
ever. The dumbest thing about this park is all the steps that surround the bowl. It’s pretty much a poor imitation of EMB or something (similar to the useless steps at Redwood City), a sad, fat little 3-set that is pretty
much useless. Not even the kids ride it. But you’ll be going around the little track on the perimeter, which
could/should be sort of rad, and you can’t get a speed line because whoever designed this park wasn’t thinking.
Then again, maybe this park was designed for seven year olds, because that is the largest constituency that
uses this park. The times that I have been to Moraga, it’s packed to the brim with super beginner groms, and
their anxiously enthusiastic yuppie parents. Lots of crying when the kids fall down and get boo boos, it’s like a
daycare center. But listen up sponsored guys, since the area is full of rich kids that all have $100 in their pocket, it’s also a pretty good place to sell boards and stuff. One could probably get $30 a deck.
I guess the bowl can be fun if you go at the right time of day; the best line is out over (or onto) the long
one foot ledge that separates the bowl from the flat bank. It’s kind of fun to try and transfer back and forth
between those two sections of the park, and the bowl itself is okay in a Novato sort of way. Unlike Folsom,
you don’t have to pay or wear pads, so it’s got that going for it, but that’s looking on the glass half full side
of things.
If you’re ten years old, want to sell boards, or hit on hot MILFs, this is the park for you. If you’re looking to
do some actual skateboarding, this park is worth hitting once or twice, but as a general rule before you head
out to Moraga, you might want to think again and go somewhere else. Thanks again Wormhoudt. Keep it up,
bro. We can’t wait for the next one.
I love staying in hotels. It’s like getting a rental car but better, in essence, saying to yourself, “I don’t give a fuck, it’s not
mine.” I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t get all “Motley Crue” and break shit, but there is a certain sense of freedom that only
a hotel room can inspire.
When we arrived at San Diego’s Manchester Hyatt for ASR, my love for hotels grew by leaps and bounds. You see, the way the
Hyatt is set up, it’s two towers facing each other and if you are lucky enough to get a room that faces the other tower, well my
friend, get ready for a spy-tastic adventure. After we had dropped off our stuff in the room I went and looked frantically for a set
of binoculars downtown, no luck. I was making my cohorts a little uneasy with my enthusiasm, what can I say, I’m a freakin’
hunter. Finally, I came across a Discovery Channel store that had this handy little telescope called the Spymaster. I was sold. We
went back to the room, beers and weed in tow and commenced to see some of the most hilariously disturbing shit ever. Below are
some of the most memorable. A big thanks goes out to my team of Spymasters: Gangsta CJ and The Dark Horse, couldn’t have done
it without you. - Don Frenchy
The Pant$-On Quickie
The Show-Off
Approximately 17:00 hours. Location: B/17
Approximately 14:00 hours. Location: F/21
The pants-on quickie was pretty disturbing. Gangsta CJ
originally spotted this one, “I think I gotta lap dance on
B/17.” I directed the spymaster to the coordinates and
sure as shinola this female was clearly dancing on the lap
of the male. Seemed harmless enough until she took off
her shirt exposing her big fake boobies, which she seemed
pretty fond of but the male didn’t really seem to care
about. Things took a gigantic turn when he took her to the
bed, with his pants on – no – basically he had all his
clothes on and had intercourse with her for a little over 30
seconds. After the extensive half minute of lovemaking ,
he threw her clothes at her. Woah.
The show-off was our first big catch. We had originally
seen the show-off’s “lady friend” meandering by the window. In order to get her attention we spelled “look” on the
hotel window in toilet paper. We got her attention alright
and we apparently got show-off’s attention as well,
because no sooner did we see him than he came up
behind the female and pulled up her shirt, exposing her
breasts, as if to say, “Here you go fellas, a little gift from
me to you.” Just when we thought that would be the end
of it, the show-off pushed his lady friend’s head “down
south” and commenced to get...how do the rappers
say?..dome. The creepy part was that he was staring
directly at our room with his hands on his hips, like some
sort of gladiator, fuckin’ show-off. Suffice it to say, we
were pissing our pants with laughter after this one.
The Plumpers
Approximately 01:00 hours. Location: M/14
The plumpers weren’t that special, this was like watching
animals do it at the zoo. A middle aged couple, a little
over weight, just kind of going for it missionar y style.
Each of them getting lost in each others fleshy folds. I
guess it was sort of special because just recalling the
The Shadow Humpers
Approximately 23:00 hours. Location: C/14
The great thing about the shadow humpers was that
when the deed went down, all the people that were calling us perves earlier in the day were now in our room
getting their spy on, fully hooked. There was nothing
really redeeming about the shadow humpers except one
thing: The male was taking her from behind, standing up
and that was all he was doing. For the first 15 minutes
the female seemed into it, 15 minutes after that she
was clearly over it, like, “Ok there stud, you ready to
wrap this up?” The funniest part was all the females in
our room were calling it as the male was finishing.
events gives me a warm fatty feeling all over.
more bad tattoos.”
The people have spoken and they’re saying, “We want
watching your fellow man
It’s not that surprising, there ain’t nothing better than
of a potentially ongoing
or woman do something stupid. So here it is, Part Two
.
Concussion saga that is Bad Tattoos
All pictures courtesy of Marks of Art tattoo parlor.
showing budding tattoo artists what not
The picture to the left is Scott from Marks of Art tattoo
hat.
painters
er
Budweis
a
wearing
to do: No gloves, in your kitchen
DAVOUD
For more information and details on
subscription prices, see page 96
23
by Jon Steele
Do you feel young as ever?
First tattoo?
Well pretty much, I mean from like 20-40
really doesn’t feel that much different. I’m
sure in the next couple years I will feel my
age a little more, but it’s pretty much the
same as long as you are skating and surfing a bunch. Nothing different, you just
start wearing pads, people start talking
and saying, “Oh, you’re getting old and
you can’t do this and that,” but I think you
can, just try not to get hurt and slow down
and fuckin’ be a little more aware of your
abilities. They become a little bit worse
with skating and such.
I got a little cross on top of my left hand. I
saw the poster for the movie “The Blues
Brothers” and John Belushi had a little
cross and I said “Ohhh I want that.” I lived
next to this low rider girl and she tattooed
it on me and then after that that was a
Thrasher tattoo, which has since been
covered up.
Best tattoo?
Duke Kohonamoku, Miki Dora, my mom’s
face, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords on
my back.
Above my eye, the scribble. I let some guy
practice and he didn’t know what he was
doing. He scribbled some thing you can’t
even read anymore. It was my mom’s
maiden Italian name, “Cirinciona.”
Tattoo “213”, what’s that about?
What percent of a surfer are you now?
“213” is L.A. I grew up in Venice and consider myself Vencie for life…6th grade to
12th is where you kinda establish your
roots I think.
I’m 100% surfer when I’m surfing. You
should be 100% of whatever you’re doing
at the time.
Worst tattoo?
Well now you have your own pro shoe?
That must feel good?
Osiris is helping me out a lot. I got some
Grind King Trucks which are a little wider,
designed more for parks and pools. I also
got a deck from Dog Town skates and an
old school deck from Z-flex.
Most influential band?
They change a lot. At first it was Ted
Nugent, then punk rock really influenced
me a lot. I grew up with Suicidal
Tendencies and they were a huge influence to me. I listen to a bunch of different
stuff now. In the 80’s I was kind of brainwashed and only listened to punk rock.
Now I put on Black Sabbath…I like a
bunch of different shit now. I put on chick
music when I’m with my chick.
What does the 100% skateboarder tattoo
mean?
I consider myself a skater who surfs.
Surfing in the 80’s I kinda established that.
I thought surfing kinda got soft, kinda stupid. I got into punk rock. Surfers during that
time were really snobby and kinda closeminded. I felt I wasn’t a surfer, but a skater
who surfed. I didn’t want to call myself a
surfer. But now, I’m happy to be a surfer
again. I just programmed my life to be that
reckless skater…punk rock attitude thing.
What do you do for work?
Well, I was working at the House of Flys,
but now I just get endorsements from
Osiris, Dogtown and Grind King trucks.
I’m basically getting paid to skateboard
and go to the beach again. I kind of want
to take advantage of that again while it’s
here. It’s a nice welcome.
open your mouth. Surfing has all sorts
of different groups of guys. There are
lawyers, doctors, and real conservatives,
and then you get the drunks and the
drug addict guys. I mean, there’s such a
large group of different personalities.
You got long boarders, short boarders,
boogie boarders, whatever, we’re all out
surfing. I just happened to fall into that
Surf Nazi category.
Surf Nazi? What is a surf nazi to the
uninformed?
You might see a swastika on my board
or something, that doesn’t mean I’m a
racist or don’t like Jewish people. In the
60’s there were these surfers who were
anti-establishment, punks before punk,
and they called themselves “Surf Nazi’s.”
We used to draw swastikas on our
skateboards for shock value and freak
people out. Even though I am proud of
being white. There is nothing wrong with
being proud of who you are, whether
you’re black, white, Mexican or whatever… I believe we are all equal until you
Did surfing and skating come to you with
difficulty or were you just naturally born
with it?
No, I’ve been skating and surfing before I
can really remember. I started at 4 years
old, my step-dad was a surfer and I grew
up on the beach. Back then, skateboarding
just came hand in hand with surfing. That’s
what surfers did when the waves weren’t
good. In the 70’s it became more popular
and available for me to pursue it more.
Which do you prefer, surfing or skating?
I have always liked both of them equally. I
couldn’t pick one of the two. A lot of peo-
ple ask me, “What would you rather do,
surf perfect waves or skate a perfect
pool?” It’s like asking me if you would
rather have a hot black chick or a hot
white chick. Pretty dumb question ‘cause
you love ‘em both.
What do you get out of surfing you don’t
get outta skating and vice versa?
I get barreled out of surfing. Actually I get
the same enjoyment out of both of them.
Finding a really good pool is like surfing
perfect waves. Surfing perfect waves is a
little more special cause it doesn’t happen
that often.
There are shots of you skating barefoot.
Do you recommend skating barefoot or
were you trying to up the ante?
I was always the guy skating barefoot, I
hated shoes. I was a surfer kid and I
learned to skate before they had grip tape
and I really didn’t like shoes. When I was a
kid, I had an allergic reaction to wearing
closed tennis shoes, and my feet would
crack and stuff. I didn’t really like shoes. I
think it was an early surfer thing. We used
to skate pools without shoes just for the
fun of it, but obviously it is better for your
heels and stuff with shoes.
You’re deemed as being one of the most
influential people in skateboarding. How
does that make you feel?
I’m proud to have done everything that I
have done for so long. I started in 1965,
and I’ve seen a lot of people come and
go. It blows my mind how somebody
could stop skating or surfing. I just have
so much fun, I’m just as stoked now doing
either one as I was as a kid. Fuck, I love it,
it’s kinda what I really live for. It’s what my
life revolves around. You can’t let other
things get in the way like drugs and stuff,
which I happen to have done at one time.
Jay Adams cont’d I’m just proud to be a
surfer and a skateboarder. It makes my life complete.
When you were growing up getting your
own helmet and other big sponsorships,
did you ever think about how you might
affect other kids to come, or influence
these kids?
We (Dogtown team) were getting in
magazines and stuff. Kids were writing
us, telling us how we influenced them,
but when I was young I never cared to
be a good influence to people. I was just
being myself and didn’t like being told
what to do by other people. The whole
pro thing kinda turned me off because I
saw people’s egos running out of control and I really didn’t want people to
think of me that way. A lot of guy’s egos
were going crazy and that just looked
ugly to me. I just wanted to be one of
the boys. It’s way more important to me
now to be a better influence now than
when I was a kid. I’m getting older and
more mature now I guess.
Where is family in your life?
All my family members passed away a
few years ago in a one-year period, it
was pretty heavy. I have a seven-yearold son who lives in Santa Cruz with his
mom Samantha. She’s been sober four
years and my boy is doing well. We talk
all the time, and I pay child support and
I’m part of his life now. I’m just planning
on spending a lot of time with him. He’s
hopefully coming over again soon.
What is your take on big wave surfing vs.
small wave aerials?
I prefer 4-8 ft. Backdoor range. I like
surfing Sunset when its good, but when
it’s like 15 ft., it’s pretty fuckin gnarly. I
plan on doing more tow-in stuff, but I
don’t paddle out at Waimea every time it
gets big. I don’t need to go kill myself, I
just like to have fun.
What’s up with the Pool Duel contest and
Mainland dates?
Well, I switched over to Dogtown from
Deathbox and Dave Hackett was helping
me with that, but I might be trying to get
a bowl riding series together on the side.
What setup are you riding now?
9 by 32 inch Dogtown model. The kids
model is smaller but I ride a little larger
model. I have my Grind King trucks, and
wheels by Bones (60mm Bull riders)
What do you think about the state of
modern skating, is it progressing? Do
you feel skating has progressed faster
than surfing?
wasn’t what I was into. I didn’t like losing and I didn’t like fucking egos. When
it got “too professional,” it took the fun
out of it. It didn’t seem like guys were
having too much fun, like we did when
we were younger. I mean, guys nowadays, I love watching them skate and I’m
stoked they are finally getting paid what
they deserve. It’s just amazing to me
what they are doing nowadays.
Where is the center of surfing? In
Hawaii, California, or spread out? Where
does it start and end?
Well, I think it used to be completely in
Hawaii, but now I think it is wherever
the guys are at…Australia is insane.
California is crazy. California wasn’t a
big wave spot in the 80’s, but look now.
You’ve got Mavs, and all the guys doing
tricks up in Santa Cruz. There’s just no
one spot for it. Look at the East coast,
Kelly Slater. Who would have thought
that one of the all time greatest competitive surfers would come from Florida.
It’s wherever the guys with the biggest
heart and the most love for it are. That’s
what I think. That’s where it’s at.
What do you think of the pool skating
revival?
For me, pool skating was always the
most fun form of skateboarding. Even
though skating is different, I can have
fun cruzing down a hill with a chick, to
riding through some slalom cones, to
riding in a pool. I just like to see guys
doing it all and not being closed minded,
just flipping down stairs, or only grinding
pools. I think guys should be open minded and I think skate parks really open
that door up. They have both street trannies. I always thought the bowl/pool was
the best for me, the ultimate.
You guys didn’t have pads?
Yeah, in the early days, we were skating
pools before there were pads. But I love
kneepads, kneepads rule! Its like surfing
with a leash at Rocky point. You don’t
need to, but it sure does fucking come
in handy.
Any concussions?
Yeah, uh, I’ve knocked myself around
pretty good skateboarding a few times.
Nothing too bad though. I’ve knocked
my head and not known what I was
doing and stuff a couple times in the
early days. I’ve busted my chin, broke
my arm once, but I’ve been pretty lucky
though. I skated radical but in a conservative sort of way. Just having fun, not
as reckless as I could have been. Ha ha
ha. Or maybe it was just luck, and I
knew how to fall pretty good.
Did you grow up with your mom?
I think both of them are progressing a
lot. Nowadays surfers are more influenced by skaters than skaters by
surfers. This was the exact opposite in
the beginning. I think more kids are
looking at skate tricks and going, “I can
do that surfing!” Skaters aren’t looking
at surf guys going “Oh, I can do that.”
Growing up, all of our skating was copying surfing and now I think that is
reversed. Both sports have advanced so
much. Sometimes I look at all the sports
and get bummed out because everyone
is just so professional. I wonder if they
are having as much fun as they used to.
Sometimes I think the whole pro thing
can kill it and not make is as much fun.
I’m kinda stoked I’m not young and I
don’t have to be a pro skater or pro
surfer. For me, that wasn’t where I got
my most enjoyment out of it.
Not in the contests and such?
Nah, I wasn’t into that.
Even when you were blowing them away,
taking first place and so on?
Well, I mean I did well in contests, I was
Amateur World Champion, but it just
Well my step dad was born and raised in
Hawaii, and my mom was from Los
Angeles – we moved to Hawaii in my
7th grade for a while.
Can you speak pigeon?
Oh, I don’t try to talk pigeon too
much….laughs…I’m a California boy,
Venice all the way.
You guys got a scene in Hawaii. A lot of
bowls, I know there are a lot of parks
going up there. How is that skate scene?
We got some parks which are ok, but
they are actually intermediate parks and
the pools we get here are not a whole
lot so we appreciate them. The mainland
pools are better to me. Living in Hawaii
and being a skateboarder is like living in
the San Fernando Valley and being a
surfer. The best terrain is on the mainland, the best surfing is here. For me,
you make the best of what you got. We
got a couple fun pools around here, you
just gotta work hard in them. We don’t
have Oregon skateparks, but it’s good
enough. Surfing takes up a lot of time
over here. Basically, we wait for the
Jay Adams cont’d waves to get junk to
go skating. This year
has been good waves and not a lot of
skating.
Best surf story?
There is crazy shit on the north shore all
the time from drowning to the best barrel
of the day, season, or week.
Favorite skate trick?
For me, I enjoy frontside grinds in a pool
or a good carve. It feels pretty good. I’ve
toned down a little bit. I kinda surf/skate
now. I’m not trying McTwists or shit, but
I still like to get in a pool and get a little
bit crazy.
him 2 good years, he’ll cut me lose.
That’s only a year away.
What put you in jail in the first place?
Drugs put me there and I let myself get
carried away. I let my drug use get completely out of control. I used that to
ease the pain of reality, and I eventually
let heroin become all that I really cared
about. I got to the point where I didn’t
care about going to jail or anything, and
eventually it led me to what actually
saved my life. The best thing that could
have happened to me was going to jail
for two years. It made me realize how
bad I was messing up and throwing my
life away. I don’t regret going to jail one
bit. It’s a small price to pay to get your
life back in order.
Favorite pro skater?
Omar Hassan and John Cardiel.
Favorite pro surfer?
Andy, there so many, Nathan Fletcher,
Archy, there are so many it’s hard to pick.
It’s whoever I’m hanging out with and having a good time with… You know who
really impressed me was Jake Patterson
at Haliewa last year, that guy was doing
some really nice turns…And of course
Andy and Bruce. Sunny, fuck man! Kelly
and Joel Parkinson and all those guys are
so hot right now. There’s a lot of kids
coming up right now like Tory Barron,
Mikala Jones, and little Jon-Jon Florence. I
mean how hot is that guy? The kids’ ten
years old and getting stand up barrels at
Backdoor already! The kid is just amazing!
You were in the 1970’s movie
“Skateboarder” and other films in
Hollywood. How was that?
No, no fortunately, they wouldn’t take me
‘cause I was a little out of control. Tony
(Alva) got the good part ‘cause he could
get a little punk and fart and drink and
look at Playboys. But I think those
movies are an embarrassment to skating.
Anything with Leif Garret and that kinda
shit, I was glad I wasn’t a part of. That
movie “Thrashin’” makes skating look
stupid too.
Was skating better now or in the
Dogtown days?
Hard to say. I think we had a good time,
we were more “rock-n-roll, party animal,
skate stars,” but nowadays, they’re
probably making more money. It seems
that it has definitely softened up a little
bit, when we were doing it, it was pretty
hardcore and more punk rock.
Nowadays it seems it’s calmed down
and way more professional. They have
better terrain and more advanced
maneuvers. It’s just such a different era.
It’s like comparing Larry Bertleman and
Kelly Slater era. It’s just different.
Was the Dogtown film an accurate portrayal of your childhood? Was anything
added or taken out?
The DT movie portrayed me kinda like
somebody who could have had it all but
didn’t give a shit and then got into
drugs and threw it all away, which is
completely not true, because out of all
the guys in the movie, I’ve been skating
and surfing the whole time since day
one. I might have shined away from the
whole pro thing, ‘cause I really didn’t
give a shit about it. I didn’t make that
my number one priority. I was more into
making a little bit of money and going
on surf trips and having fun and doing it
with the boys in the backyard. It kinda
made it look like I dropped off the face
of the world, and now I was in jail and
“Poor Jay.” But in reality, I’m the one
that’s the Energizer Bunny out of all of
them. I haven’t stopped the whole time.
You are currently on probation, correct?
I’m on parole, which is better. I got a ten
year sentence and I get off parole in
2010, but my parole officer says if I give
Was there just one instance, or a build
up of warrants?
What really happened was I came home
and found my girlfriend in bed with
another man. He wouldn’t come outside
so I smashed the door in with a fucking
crowbar. I was trying to fight him and I
got five years probation. I didn’t give a
shit about life or anything after that. I
was doing drugs, and got caught in a
house where they were selling drugs.
That being a violation of probation, I
went back in. That gave me an open ten
year sentence and I did two and a half
years of it. If I wasn’t drunk and on drugs
when I went over there, it might have
been different.
What do you feel is your peak moment in
your career?
I got a wave at backdoor that was as
good as any of ‘em. As for being pro,
yes, when I was younger it felt just as
good as anything ever has. Then there’s
Peter Cole who is 70 something and
surfs Sunset and gets great waves and
I’m sure he’s just as stoked as ever.
With surfing you can keep that stoke on
‘til the day you can’t paddle out anymore. I don’t wake up and go “Oh, I’m
bummed, I’m 42 and I’m not going to be
Andy Irons.” I might get a good wave at
Pipe and it will be the best thing in the
world. It’s just as fun as it always was, if
not more. The difference is I can actually
remember most of the days now…enjoy
it because it’s there to enjoy!
Any epiphanies or head clearing?
Traveling and meeting people are one of
the greatest things. Surfing all over the
world and meeting new people to surf
with. Surfers are such greedy little fuckers. If there are two guys out at a perfect wave, they might be angry for you
coming out. Tennis players don’t get
mad when other people play on their
court. It is so selfish, but I see when it’s
overcrowded and guys are dropping in.
Then it’s definitely good in Hawaii to
have a pecking order and a little respect
and stuff. Some guys just take it a little
too far and then it just looks so childish
and stupid. I just gotta laugh at ‘em.
Advice for groms who look up to you?
If they want to become a pro, the best
thing they can do is do it every day for
as long as possible. That’s where the
greatest guys have come from, the guys
who do it all the time. Try not to let
things like drugs get in the way. I’ve
watched Tony Hawk grow up. I’ve
watched Christian Hosoi, Lance
Mountain, and a lot of surfers grow up.
The best ones are always in the water or
in the bowl doing it all the time.
Any last words or thoughts?
Yeah, keep surfing and keep skating
and don’t rely on negative things to
make you feel good about what you’re
doing. You should be able to enjoy life
and concentrate on the positive, instead
of the fucking negative, and enjoy yourself. Nothing wrong with being a fucking
happy guy…a nice guy. Ha ha ha.
29
The Crew:
Kays, Bobby
Katch, CAZ, Brenden Leung, Josh Zickert, Chris
(photographer),
Rodriguez, Dave Davis, Billy Wilson, Blair Alley
and Luke Huff (filmer).
The Mileage:
1,800 miles in 10 days. Los Angeles, Phoenix,
Albuquerque, and Santa Fe.
Tucson, El Paso,
The Rukus:
demo. Bobby
The roof of the van caved in after the El Paso
demo, then we
licked a dead fish on the street at the Phoenix
trying to get
drove over it and guts flew all over three chicks
escaped in
background props. 5-O got us in Phoenix, we
Tucson.
Juice:
Applejuice used
“La Vida Loco.” The gangsta walkin’ Juice A.K.A.
lookin’ for
his most famous pick-up line endlessly, “You girls
this silver
some juice, I got it as sweet as it comes.” He carried
Box” and it’s still a
briefcase everywhere. It was called the “Love
us. He MC’d our
mystery to me what was inside. Juice is hilario
finished the
demos for the rest of the tour. That’s right – Juice
ix and will be
tour with us. He took a greyhound back from Phoen
invited on all tours in the future.
30
than ours.
captions here. They’ll be funnier
Go get a sharpie and write your own
curacies.
inac
al
factu
or
s
and often contain typo
Our captions suck. They’re boring
iest captions for these two
The person who sends in the funn
Even better, how about a contest?
rs correctly but you can
skate
the
name
to
magazine, you have
spreads (you have to write on the
schwag that we have
other
some
and
DVD
n
will win a Concussio
xerox the pages and send ‘em in)
on page 96.
d
foun
be
can
h
whic
into our po box address
laying around. Send all entries
31
Trick of the trip:
In Tucson, Chris Kays climbed this rusty fence and tail dropped into a narrow 15
foot high ledge with a drop off leading into a ditch, in Vans slip-ons first thing in the
morning. Sick!
Psycha Crew:
Hooked us with VIP status at El Paso’s premier strip bar High Heels. 50 Cent playing all night with NK shout outs by the MC. Of course, Juice knew all the girls and
spent the night on stage with them. Chuy and Rob, the owners of Psycha, threw us
money all night. We rolled around through El Paso tough in two Escalades with
multiple video screens in each. As we were driving back from the strip bar porn
played on the screens and cars were following us along the freeway to catch a
glimpse of the action. – Josh Zickert, with photos by Blair Alley.
32
We don’t. But
captions. Give ‘em praise or talk shit. Who cares?
Here’s some more space to write your own witty
than that you’re on
Other
Leung.
n
Brende
and
Davis
Dave
Kays,
we’ll give you a hint: These photos feature Chris
your own.
33
hose who live in a sub-tropical climate
can never comprehend the effects of
a mid-west winter on the body and mind.
They cannot understand the pain of taking a
shin shot from your board when it’s fifteen
degrees outside or seeing all the places you used
to skate covered with a foot of snow. They do not
realize just how hard it is to get out of bed in the
morning or gain the motivation to do anything productive. They do know the stress one goes through,
being forced to skate inside a park that’s overcrowded
with eight year old children whose parents never taught
them the concept of “taking turns.” Most of all, they cannot appreciate each and every day that the temperature
rises slightly above freezing and the snow melts just enough
to be able to skate. This is winter time in the windy city.
T
Winter brings many misfortunes, but with it comes one of the
most important things in skateboarding and life itself: desire
and dedication. It is in times like these where the true skateboarders are defined. They are the ones that are motivated
to keep skateboarding alive in these cold and dark months.
While most people sit in their apartment wasting away,
there are some that are building ramps in their living
rooms and hosting sessions with twenty kids that want
none other than to skateboard. And when you haven’t
skated for a month, a simple four foot ramp inside a
heated building is a dream come true.
Fortunately, these freezing months can only last a
short while. And come spring, we find all the pain
endured has only made us stronger. Those who
were lazy during the snowy months reflect it in
their skating, while the ones who continued to
pursue their love seem to skate with a passion,
taking advantage of each and every day and
traveling to everyplace they can. For it is they
who realize that it is only a matter of time
before the next snowfall.
Snowman hopper: Luke McVeigh
36
37
Interview by Frank Soles, Louis Cuccero, Beaver, Taj,
and Donut
Beaver: Wrestling is gay. What about the phone call
from the Jones Brigade?
Taj: So what’s up with your straight edge tattoo?
D: That happened a couple years ago. The legendary
Jeff Jones had some crazy demo for hire team called
“Hell on Wheels” and somehow he got my number. He
wanted me to skate some big jump ramp live during
the Philadelphia Phillies Half Time show. I asked how
much money I was possibly getting to embarrass
myself and he said “Nothing,” and that was the end of
that conversation. No cash, no 360 judos.
Donny: I put my time in, ‘88 to’98. Back when I was
going to shows every weekend and doing a fanzine. I
got the Gorilla Biscuits mascot on my leg and I used
to have some Xed up construction gloves. Some people say, “If you’re not now you never were” but I never
considered straight edge a trend, I just don’t have that
discipline anymore. Life isn’t very sobering.
Beaver: What’s with this weed-to-go shit?
Taj: Did you collect records?
D: Oh yeah. At one point I had Youth of Today “Break
Down the Walls” on Wishing Well and all the Schism
releases except for Project X.
D: Man, you know I can’t drive all zooted. So sometimes I try and get a courtesy nug to go ...
Donut: Yeah, but I ain’t running no weed drive thru
over here.
Louis: What’s the first metal record you had?
controlled by secret societies, and Presidents are like
puppets. The real movers and shakers are not voted
for, they’re born into powerful families and groomed.
Frank: So you’re pretty big on conspiracy theory?
D: It started when I was given the book “Behold a
Pale Horse.” I haven’t looked at the world the same
since.
Frank: How so?
D: For one thing, I don’t think the American public is
being told the entire truth about 9/11, among other
things. Do yourself a favor and check out the documentary “9/11: Road to Tyranny” by Alex Jones and
then repeal the Patriot Act. “Bloodlines of the
Illuminati” by Fritz Springmeier is another good read.
Frank: So, do you believe in aliens too?
Beaver: And what about your bad beer etiquette?
D: Actually it was a tape - Iron Maiden “Powerslave.”
Christmas of ‘85 maybe?
Louis: What did you think of that King Diamond show
we went to in November?
D: Beer tastes foul to me. I don’t drink much but when
I do I’m like Uncle Jemina ... I wanna get bent quick
and beer doesn’t do it for me.
D: I don’t research that sort of stuff but I’ll say this ...
we send all these random signals into deep space
hoping that someone will intercept them and contact
us, but who’s to say what’s really out there and what
their intentions may be.
Frank: What’s your worst injury?
D: King Diamond’s stage presence was strong, he
sucked me in. His voice was as crisp live as it is in
the studio. I couldn’t believe they played “Eye of the
Witch.” The only downside was all the horseshoes that
showed up. I guess I’m used to hardcore shows;
metal kids can’t dance, they do the Columbine shuffle.
Louis: You still watch wrestling?
D: Fuck yeah. Monday night RAW, Smackdown and
COPS for life.
Beaver: You’re so paranoid.
D: My left hand is pretty shot, I can only feel half of it.
I’m a walking wound. I need some health insurance
quick. Skateboarding can save your life and ruin your
retirement at the same time.
Frank: What are your thoughts on having a board with
your name on it?
D: I’m hyped but I don’t trip out on it. I’m 30 years old
with kids so I ain’t trying to stress. I’m more concerned about my cholesterol.
Louis: Who’s the man?
Frank: Do you have any skate superstitions?
D: I’ve got a huge OCD about my shoes. They must be
untied when I skate.
Frank: Okay, you say skating is in your blood. So if I
cut you with this razor, will you bleed wood?
D: Are you wasted? Next question.
Frank: What’s up with Metal? It’s not your average ...
Frank: Who’s your pick for president?
D: Vintage Undertaker when he wore the corpse paint.
D: We don’t follow any industry formulas. We just are.
D: I don’t think it matters who you vote for. America is
38
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39
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41
43
S
ean Stockton rips. The kid is an underrated lurker. Originally from Atlanta, Sean has been
living/lurking in Berkeley, couch surfing, hustling, shacking up, and skateboarding like a mother-
I’ve been trying to shoot and do an interview with Stockton for at least four years. We’d run into each
other and manage to shoot a couple photos here and there every three or four months, but lack of moti-
fucker for the past six years or so. Last year Sean Stockton made something like $1,700 in taxable
vation and lack of my photography skills prevailed. I blew at least five to ten really good shots because of
income. His eyes light up and with confidence he says that he could easily live off $10,000 a year. Many
my janky setup, and we’d just end up running the good Stockton photo in the Random Skate section or a
people felt that he should have won that $10,000 at the Thrasher/Deluxe sponsored Bayview Rumble
510 ad. It’s funny – going through the photos of Sean to use for this article, I came across a lot of ollies.
contest, where he ollied to frontside five-o over and down the huge fun box and was awarded a humbling
Backside and frontside ollies on tranny, big snaps on street gaps, huge sidewalk bump pops, Stockton
3rd place. He (or Steve Nesser) sure could’ve used the money more than Dustin Dollin, but sometimes
has the ollie shifty down with a style that few can imitate. There were more photos that I wanted to run for
that’s how it goes when the fix is in, eh guys?
this thing, but they were all of ollies, so they didn't get in. In any case, it finally took a professional pho-
44
Monster pop shove-it somewher
e in Oakland.
tographer, Bryce Kanights, to get all this shit together, and I’m glad that he did, because this has been a
long time coming.
essay on Sean Stockton written by a guy with writer's block who can't do a good interview.
Sean is 24 years old now, I think I met him when he was eighteen or nineteen. He had probably just
I finally set out to do an interview with Sean. I picked him up from some girl's house in Oakland at
moved here from Atlanta and all he wanted to do was skate and party. Bum smokes and skate. Head out
11:30am on Valentine's Day and took him out to a yuppie beer joint on Telegraph, but the interview didn't
to Alameda or hit some street spots, go bomb a hill. Smoke weed and hit on chicks. If you wanted to get
go too well. Neither of us really wanted to do it, I hate doing interviews for the most part and Sean would
a hold of Sean, the best way was to look for him at the shop sometime after noon, where he ended up at
rather his friends write stuff about him. It was weird, we'd be having a good conversation just driving
the end of the evening was sometimes unpredictable (but it was preferably in a cute girl's bed), but he
around or drinking beer or whatever, but the minute the recorded turned on things became awkward. All of
was a fixture at 510 on a very regular basis.
my questions were stupid. So I didn't even bother transcribing the tape, and you're stuck reading a short
Sean went home to Atlanta this Christmas. There he got his nose broken by a bouncer at a bar, and
45
then he went and entered Tampa Am and proceeded to make the top 30 or something. I think
and made him pro. Instead he's groveling for photo incentive and hasn't gotten to go on any
he said 23rd place but I couldn't figure out shit on the SPoT website. Whatever, he did pretty
tours. I think they flew him to a contest in Minneapolis pretty recently. By himself.
good, but not quite as good as Jon Newport. Sean rips. He's just happy if he's rolling, looking
out of Deluxe, which I suppose could be semi-accurately described as a hippie board company
doesn't actively seek it out, I've never ridden a pool with Sean but I bet I'd be bummed at
since Matt Field and Nate Jones are the pros. I asked Sean if he considers himself a hippie and
how good he is. Sean is extremely talented on his skateboard, and you'd think he would be on
he said, "No, but you might as well go ahead and call me one." I asked why, is it your long hair,
some team legitimately or even pro by now. After all a bunch of his friends are, and he's just
do you like the Grateful Dead? Are you an eco-activist? "No," he replied with a sheepish grin,
as good as them. Maybe it's harder to "come up" living in California, because there are so
"but I like to party and I like a free ride." - Davoud
many other good skaters that compete for the limelight and in SF, attention from Deluxe. If
Sean was from some hick town in the Mid-West, Deluxe would've flown him out to California
Above: This probably looked radder in
person but it’s still
pretty sick. Treasure island ditch kickflip
.
Right: Out of the seventeen more ollie
shots we had, this
monster floater over the big flat hip
at Berkeley needed to
be slipped in. Photo: Nagahara
Further right: All kinds of people do tricks
off the end of that
quarter pipe, but Stockton’s lien air onto
the far side of the
lumpy flat bank is probably as good as
it gets.
46
But after years of lurking on Deluxe flow, Sean is now riding for Rasa Libre, the latest brand
for something to skate, cruising down a hill to the coffee shop. He can ride tranny well but
Above: Bryce has this rad new Canon
digital camera that shoots like a thousand frames a second. Shoot a bail
sequence and you can just delete it. I
had to take like half the frames out of
this sequence of Sean backside 5050ing
this huge ledge in the Berkeley rose
gardens, but it was probably first try.
Right: Back when Alameda was the
only skatepark around, Sean and his
buddies would show up all blazed and
wreck shop on all of the crappy obstacles there. I almost got a sick shot of a
kickflip over the fun box, but guess
what, I blew it. Good thing Ken
Nagahara managed to come up with
this shot, that guy knows a thing or two
about lighting up a spot. Fat, fat ollie
grab over the lumpy hip.
Photo: Nagahara
47
Above: If you can make your trick on this secret ledge hubba spot, you can just hang a left and bomb the hill.
Right: Bump to ollie on Yerba Buena island. Note back foot position.
48
Sean rides for Rasa Libre, Independent, Spitfire, Etnies, and 510 Skateboarding. The end.
49
It’s pretty lame to run a photo of someone on your own staff
in the center spread of your mag. I wonder whose idea that
was? Oh well, that’s how it goes when the fix is in.
Photo: Charron
G
oing south for the winter is not only a migratory pattern for birds, but it is also becoming a
pretty standard routine for us and many other skaters on the west coast. The plan goes
something like head to Oregon/Washington in the summer, and when the weather gets nasty
in the winter, migrate towards San Diego, Arizona or beyond. Last year we drove to Phoenix, this
year we decided to get bourgeois and fly to San Diego, rent a car and stay in a motel. Yeah, things
get crazy when one has a job and money to pay for those sorts of things.
The original plan was to go hit up a bunch of the burned down fire pools from the firestorms that
happened in the fall, as well as hit up Washington Street and anything else that came our way.
Once we got there, however, things changed. The fire pools were not a go. Even if they were, we
had too many people with us and it became too hard to organize anything in such a short amount
of time. Dave had booked us a super early flight, so when we found ourselves in San Diego at 8am,
we decided to drive up to Pala and ride the pool, since it was a guaranteed go and might not be too
hot yet. After a breakfast stop in Encinitas where we randomly happened to run into Jimmy the
Greek, Pala was on. It was indeed a go, but it
insane. Sure it’s sort of like Burnside in the fact
was already hot and so it suddenly became beer that it’s a renegade skatepark built under a
thirty at 10am.
bridge, but the physical terrain they have built
is way gnarlier. The lines are there, but it’s not
Mad Mike got some licks in and then we drove like you’re just going to jump out of the van and
back towards San Diego, having made arrange- start ripping unless your name is Pete the Ox or
ments with Glenn from Terror to ride
something.
Washington Street that afternoon. We arrived
and there was already a session going on which So more beers were procured and we spent
was nice. Apparently this was the first weekthe afternoon falling off our skateboards tryend they had the whole finished portion of the ing to figure out the elusive lines and difficult
park cleaned up, and we even got to ride a new transitions the park offers. Local lurkers like
section which was poured the night before. Let Rob Slob, Roche, Glenn, Ballard, Luke, Carter,
me just say now that this park is pretty fucking Zaroche, and many others all killed it. The only
53
Mad Mike and his 10am Pala
That Zaroche kid is pretty funny. He’s like 18
years old or something, rides a wide 80’s
board, and kills it. Nosebonk on the side of
the cinder block punk wall.
loveseat ollie.
here. He
You can’t even tell what Slob is doing
over
frontside 5050’d through the corner and
he’s
later
blocks
seven
or
six
the loveseat and
shit.
popping. On an old 70’s board or some
Shallow pocket of the gnarly
amoeba, probably my favorite
obstacle they have built so far.
But the snake run and the bowl
behind the channel aren’t finished
yet, so who knows ....
one of us who could remotely figure out the place was
Mad Mike, who was grinding over loveseats and popping stalefishes where he pleased. Fucker.
After skating all day we decided to regroup and figure
out our plan for the evening. It happened to be Dave’s
birthday, so it was elected that we should take him to
Tijuana. At first Mad Mike was super bummed on that
prospect. “No fuckin way man, I’ll stay in the hotel,”
was his first response, but his tune changed once we
crossed the border. He was pretty broke, but at the
strip club this didn’t stop him from falling in love with
54
the first girl to come sit on his lap and before we knew it he was headed upstairs for
a private lap dance. We figured that he was over his head and wouldn’t be able to pay
his bill, and we half-jokingly contemplated leaving him in TJ and heading back across
the border before we got our asses kicked too. Luckily he had enough to cover himself
and we got to watch the bouncers rough up and throw someone else out of the club
instead. We did have to drag an unwilling Mad-in-Love Mike out of the club and back
across the border, but after that his tune had changed to “Do you wanna go to
Tijuana? ¡Si!”
Saturday morning came and we were ready to ride some pools. We were supposed to
meet up with Ballard at Washington Street in the morning, but we were late or he
was early and by the time we got there they had already left. So it was time for some
10am Icehouses. After that, we pretty much got sucked
into the Washington Street vortex for the rest of the
weekend and spent the days trying to figure that place
out. But boo-hoo for us, we didn’t get to ride any pools
and were stuck having to ride some crummy skatepark
under a bridge. That place is fucking sick, dude! So for
the rest of the weekend the routine went something
like this: get some tacos, pickup some beers, go down to
the park and ride, take a break, drink some more beers,
get some tacos, etc. Fucking fantastic.
Dogboy is at home under bridges up and down
the West Coast. Here he is shown during his
seasonal southward migration from Portland
during the winter. Oh, and just like every other
photo from Washington St., you can’t even tell
how gnarly this transfer is either.
55
to
to, go figure. Eddie Alio
air was the better pho utes straight.
rlier, but the frontside
min
The backside ollie is gna and tore the park a new asshole for ten
dark
showed up just before
56
Twelve year old “Little Navs”
grinded the deathbox at Ray’s for
$5, and his other buddie ollied in
the deep end. Little fuckers are
comin’ up.
Mad Mike was ripping all weekend,
and took a special liking to this hip.
Stalefish.
We did manage to make it out to Ray’s
permission pit in Clairemont on Sunda
y
for a while, where we were outdone
by a gang of eleven year olds who skate
d
that place better – considerably bette
r – than we did. This one little fucke
r
ollied into the deep end on a dare, and
that deep end is no joke. This other
little punk, Alex I think his name was,
grinded the deathbox frontside for the
first time. We were so bitter that we
had to go get some more beers and
sulk
under the freeway for the rest of the
day, watching the locals kill it. As the
sun
set on another 68 degree sunny day
and the last of the beers were killed
, it
was time to head home and go back
to work. We all had to work in the morn
ing and the Washington Street crew
had to get ready to move some dirt
around and prepare for another pour.
The park should be officially open by
June, so if you think you’ve got the
balls (and liver) to ride with these guys,
check it out in the summer. Who know
s, they might all be on a road trip to
Oregon and you’ll have the place to
yourself.
the freeway at
This guy’s name was something like Assface. He lived under
stoked.
the park, but this night he got to sleep on Ballard’s floor,
57
After all the “street” earlier
in the issue, it’s hard not to
run 100% photos of
frontside airs, but Dan
Heassler’s back lip in
Tacoma had to get in.
Photo: Rhino
This pool had four or five loveseats, one of which was this shallow cave setup. It would whip you around and spit you out, but
Farmer managed to hang onto some backside slashers.
Photo: Davoud
Jub, pole jammer.
Photo: Conway
Mad Mike’s blowing up, he’s all over this issue,
shit. He had some super funny slams before he
finally stuck this frontside loveseat attack, the
tranny coming in was nonexistent. Photo: Davoud
58
Corey Ryan kickflipping his way out
of the Ben Lomond Park.
Photo: Winger.
Mad Mike’s blowing up, he’s all over this issue, shit! He had some
super funny slams before he finally stuck this frontside loveseat
attack, you can check them out in the Slam section in the back of
the mag. Photo: Davoud
59
Sequence: Remember the cover of last issue that had the photo of Tony
Trujillo chowing some backside box? Well here’s the sequence we forgot to
run with it. D’oh! Sorry Bryce, better late than never. Photos: Kanights
Big photo: Why it’s Mrs. Hitz’ little boy Sammy, doing an ollie in a La Jolla
pool. And look, there’s Texas Dan and Carter lurking in the background.
Smaller photo: This shot is sick too, but we’re tight on space this issue so ol’
Rochie’s just going to have to forgive us. Photos by Middleton.
60
61
Left: Jason Adams has his Miller
flip spine transfer deal pretty wired,
but this is an especially gnarly spot
to pull it off at. Out of the bowl and
into the street course, one wrong
move could spell some broken ribs.
I’m guessing this park is somewhere
in the midwest, but like I said, that’s
just a guess.
Right: “I made a backside disaster in
a pool by the ocean in San Diego,
and all I got was this lousy photo in
Concussion.” Alex Horn, working for
peanuts.
Photos by Rhino
62
63
Rhino gave us so
many sick photos
this issue that it’s
for half of them.
embarrassing, we
Instead of two or
don’t even have roo
three more spread
pages of surf pho
m
s of skate photos
tos. Sorry Rhino.
, we have to run
Sorry readers. We
issue, promise. Any
five
’ll run the rest of
way I suppose you
these there photos
're reading this so
goddamn photos
nex
t
you can get some
instead of reading
captions for the
about me talking
shit on surfing:
Clockwise from top
left: Hewitt getting
a little shallow poc
If you’re color blin
ket at the Mousetra
d, this is your lucky
p. Photo: Rhino •
day! This shot on
but here at Concus
the right was a bea
sion you get to see
utiful color photo,
Kyle Berard’s lien
gray. Set, spike, gam
to tail in Newport
e, bro! Photo: Rhino
Bea
ch in shades of
• Charno’s got som
kind of like a goo
e sick style in this
fy footed Chris Sen
frontside grind,
n. Photo: Middleton
Want to write cap
• I’ve run out of
tions for us? We’ll
not-funny caption
pay a nickel a wor
shallow end backsid
s.
d and you bring the
e Smith. Photo: Sari
beer. Eric Dressen,
c
64
65
We really did have a shitload of good skate photos to run this issue, and it’s
too bad that this is the last spread of skate shots, but what do you want to
see, clutter fuck spreads with 20 shots, or full page photos, or surfi? Oh well.
Clockwise from top left: Winter in Chicago means skating indoor or playing
Tony Hawk 4. Bart Jones prefers the former. Photo: Conway • Those pipes in the
city sure are fun, everybody’s been getting a little bit, even Jacob Tillman.
Photo: Korn. • Modern day cave man Chris Becker grabs his way through a
frontal at Berkeley. Photo: Nagahara • The only thing more fun than skating
10’ wide pipes is skating a 12’ wide vert ramp, huh? Sick invert imported to
the USA by Wataru Nagashima, if we were uptight jerks we’d probably
Photoshop out the Thrasher logo or something, but we’re above that sort of
thing, aren’t we? Photo: Nishiyama
Photo: Jon Steele
urricane season in Mexico is
treacherous and dangerous.
I recently had the opportunity
to spend about 20 days in Baja,
chasing hurricanes.
I love the rain, it gives a nice
change in scenery from sunny
California. But this wasn’t rain,
this was a storm. In fact, it had
been raining so hard for weeks
from earlier hurricanes, that
entire roads were flooded out.
The worst part was we didn’t
have enough time to bucket out
the pools and skate spots we did
find. Someone had even died as
a result of the river coming
through his house in the middle
of the night from overflow. We
decided to spend the night
elsewhere.
After surfing several nooks and
crannies, both scoring and getting skunked, we then proceeded to go south. This led to going
the wrong way at a check point
which could have gotten us
shot. We also experienced
mutiny between the ranks,
dealt with allergic reactions to
kelp, scorpions in our shoes,
urchins in our feet and money
extortions from federales.
One killer part was we ran in to
“Reef The Kid” at the Pescadero
surf camp. Reef was a super
good skater and a better guide.
I saw photos his old man had
shot of him ripping, but unfortunately his dad couldn’t drink
with us because he was recovering. “Recovering from what?”
you might ask. Recovering from
taking a board to the face, giving him a great concussion and
two bruised retinas which made
his eyes super black and gnarly.
He was lucky to be alive.
Despite running across some
inevitable problems, Baja is
dope with plenty of waves and
shit to skate. Stop by Squid Row
in Cabo to pick up your Soma’s.
Fuck, it seemed like the trip
would never end, but we made it
out alive with waves under our
belt and plenty of memories.
H
Alex Gray boosting!
Cerritos empty wave
Jake and the only urchin on the beach
Alex floats across another border checkpoint
Alex - air reverse at Lobster Traps
Photos & words – Jon Steele
Adam Wickwire boosts just as high in either direction
70
Road to Paradise
here are at least 1200 miles
of surfable coastline
between San Diego and Cabo.
On any given day, there are
hundreds of waves perfectly
peeling with no one around to
bear witness, let alone enjoy.
Most of the surf spots are well
documented and easily located
with the assistance of surf
guides and blown out websites. Fortunately, there are
still some hidden secrets out
there filled with the rewards
of empty line-ups and hollow
pits.
T
This spot is one of the heaviest
waves on the West Coast,
maybe even North America. My
friends, Greg and Rusty Long
and I discovered it on
Thanksgiving weekend of 2001.
Talk about stuffing, we gorged
ourselves on hearty slabs of
cold water and frothy shacks,
definitely one of the best
turkey days I can remember!
Over the past three winters,
we have surfed it over 50
times by ourselves. It breaks in
about three feet of water over
urchin infested limestone reef
about 50 feet off of the rocks.
We've seen it head high and
we've seen it holding at solid 8
foot, handling every swell the
north pacific can dish.
Greg Long
Rusty Long
Fortunately, we have been able
to keep our spot secret, giving
hope that there are tons of
waves like this, not only in
Mexico but all around the
world. Go out and find yourself
a little slice of perfection for
you and your crew.
Greg Long
Photos & words - Jason Murray
Rusty Long
71
Photo: Hay
The open road Photo: Trefz
Vulture Photo: Steele
300 miles deep into Baja, our car had broken down
only miles away from our chosen surf destination of
El Rosario. Nevertheless, we were not going to let
the trivialities of a broken down car hold us back
from reaching our goal. We tied up the front
bumper with ropes and towed the car behind my
friend’s truck. Everything was working out until we
reached a running river, about 2 1/2 feet deep.
While crossing the river, the ropes snapped one by
one, like the fraying fibers of a rope holding someone from dropping off a thousand foot cliff, almost
stranding our chariot mid river. The final rope
snapped as the front wheels touched the muddy
banks. Fortunately, the car had made it just far
enough for us to get knee deep in the river and push
it safely to solid ground. We retied the shortened
ropes and towed our pathetic ride another mile or
two across a rugged dirt road to the campsite.
In typical surf trip fashion, we drove 700 miles only
to discover the waves to be flat. There wasn’t as
much as a ripple, which left us wondering if this
place ever had waves like we had been told. The
next morning we had to deal with the reality of
dragging a broken down car back down a 4-wheel
drive road. We scrounged up some longer rope from
the fishing village we were camping next to and
started the process over again.
For some reason we had decided that smuggling
LSD into Mexico was a good idea, and in our current
predicament, now would be the perfect time to take
this powerful mind altering substance. My friends
Curst, Zak “the desert fox” and I, had just started
tripping when a truck of amped Mexican fishermen
pulled up blasting Mexican music. They proudly
pulled out a sack of shellfish and a machete and
started asking us if we had any marijuana. Being in
our altered state of consciousness, we decided it
was a bad idea to let anyone know we had anything
illegal going on. One of the fishermen pulled out his
intimidating blade and cracked open what we
believed to have been a low-grade abalone type
shellfish. Always willing to experiment with something new and peculiar, I bit into the little fella. A
sharp bitter rancid taste (that stuck in my teeth for
the next few hours) was nothing compared to the
visual that stained my memory forever. The suction,
or meat of the abalone, writhed back in pain as
72
Photo: Hay
Christian Hurst Photo: Hay
silent screams cursed me for my cruelty, evidenced
by my teeth bite marks that resculptured its physiology. That was enough for me. Laughing the whole
way, the fishermen gave us a crazy high-speed ride
back to town and then pulled up to a metal gate.
They pulled up, the gate opened and we entered
into the large, ominous warehouse. Heated panic
flushed through my mind and body as I realized we
had been taken to Federale headquarters. They
knew we were on acid, they were going to search
us and find our weed and then send our asses to
Mexican jail and throw away the key. As we sat and
waited for our nightmare to unfold, we suddenly
appeared invisible. We jumped out the back of the
truck and walked out of the warehouse unnoticed.
We found our friends down the road at the mechanic, balancing the car over a 15-foot cement ditch on
two planks of wood. We were free!
- Haywire
One year we were hanging out down in Baja Sur,
towards the tip, near the town of Todos Santos.
After surfing a beach break all day, we were just
settling in for the night. As we began to cook dinner
and have a few beers, the sun set and the light
began to fade away. There were four of us that year,
three guys and one girl. As it began to get dark, our
female companion went to the car to get a flashlight to help with the cooking. The rest of us were
sitting in the dark, cooking on the table by the back
of the VW bus, when we heard talking. “Who is she
talking to?” we asked ourselves. What we could not
see was that she had come around the corner of the
cars only to find this guy going through the
truck, trying to rob us. Well, one by one we
got up and proceeded to walk towards the
commotion. First up was Thomas, followed
by Lars and then myself. Just on the other
side of the Toyota drivers side door was
this fat, drunk, Mexican local, and he was
naked! He was going on and on in his worst
Spanglish about how he needed "agua por
mi caro." Then Lars saw that he was holding something behind his back and then
realized exactly what it was: my little blue
bag that we kept the ‘kitty’ in, as in all of
our expense money. As Lars
reached for it, the guy turned and started to run.
Lars was quick to pursue and snatched it back from
our drunk adversary. The guy ran off into the night
towards his friends down the beach where they had
been partying all afternoon. We kept worrying that
the guy was going to return with his friends, so
when these two figures appeared on the beach just
at the edge our camp light, we quickly planned our
defense. As it turned out, it was just two surfers
from mainland Mexico coming over to say hello. I'll
never forget the expressions on their faces when
we told them the story of the guy who tried to rob
us "completo desnudo" as they so eloquently put it.
So, next time you are down in southern Baja camping near some partying locals, beware of the naked
fat Mexican and his unabashed quest for your
dinero.
– John Sayers
A few years back, some good friends and I went to
northern Baja during the holiday break. We headed
straight for K37. After a couple hours of glassy
waves all to ourselves, a dreadlocked surf gang paddled out. Tacos and cold beer were calling, we had
had our share.
Coming in over the sea urchin minefield, my buddy
Watts starts frantically yelling at me. Once on the
beach, the good surf vibes quickly vanished.
Deadpan, Watts broke the bad news, “your car is
gone.” I wasn’t mad, just shocked. Then, bummed
about everything the banditos had stolen.
I found a payphone and called my dad. No answer. I
walked back and my friends were
looking at me like I was the butt of
a joke. They were standing around
my brand new 6’6” pintail I had just
surfed. A baseball-sized hole was
now gracing the bottom. As it turns
out, a car had driven by and lobbed
an M80 off the bridge. It landed in
the middle of the crew, bounced
once and landed on my board and
exploded. Talk about adding salt to
the wound.
The string of bad luck was surreal. We kicked back
and had a laugh. After a smoke and finishing off a
twelve pack we headed for town. It felt odd
strolling through Rosarito with a pink towel around
my waist and a fluffy John Denver jacket. I gave
the law dogs my report and can only imagine what
a sight I was. We headed back to the U.S. – five
guys in a ford ranger is not a smooth ride.
The irony of it all? The Arizona State Troopers
found my car a year and a half later smuggling
Mexican folk over the Arizona/U.S. boarder. Thank
god for Mexican car insurance.
- Todd Cooper Barnes
One day when I was driving deep in Baja, I pulled up
to the checkpoint of a yellow shirt Mexican DEA
agent. Upon inspection of my trusty Toyota 4x4
packed with surfboards, bottles and clothes, the
officer reached under my seat. I was relieved of a
Playboy, which I was told to be illegal, and a small
straight bladed hunting knife. I explained that I use
the blade for cutting avocados and that it was a gift
from my father to me when I was a kid; which made
it extra special since birthdays were outlawed at
age ten when the Jehova Witness’s took over.
My sentiments met the slimy smile of fate as the
officer unbuckled his pants and slid the knife and
case onto his belt and proceeded to model it for me,
bragging about how good he thought it looked on
him. With the cold eyes of someone having been
snaked on a set wave I carefully explained that I
gave him no permission to have it and that taking it
was on his conscience. My words were very careful
because planting a kilo of dope on a solo surfer is an
easy thing to do. The officer assured me that he
was my friend and that everybody needs friends
and that he was my best friend. I smiled, put my
truck in gear, and drove off in a rage of disbelief
that he would steal a piece of my childhood. To this
day I haven’t heard from him and I find myself wondering why my best friend in Baja still hasn’t called
to wish me happy birthday.
– Cody McClintock
Between surf, beer and taco stop. Photo: Todd Cooper Barnes
Brad Ettinger Photo: Trefz
Ensenada Overview Photo: Hay
View from Chad’s deck Photo: Manny Caro
Tecate launched bottle rocket extravaganza. New Years Eve Photo: Hay
Thanks to the following for
collaborating on this article:
Jon Steele
John Sayers
Patrick Trefz
Jason Murray
Christine Hughes
Todd Cooper Barnes
Cody McClintock
Chad Godett
Chad’s Mom
Manny Caro
JR
No thanks to:
The Mexican Federales. You extortionist bastards!
Photo: Trefz
Birdies Photo: Christyle
Chadow Photo: JR
73
74
75
Full name.
Nathan L. Fox
Location.
Brooklyn, NY – Originally from Houston, TX
How long have you been in New York?
Almost 4 years. After 4 years of unhappy - post
undergraduate 9 to 5 jobs, I had to get focused or go crazy.
So, I moved here with my girlfriend (now beautiful wife) in
2000 to go back to school and get my master’s degree.
What’s the weirdest thing to ever happen to you riding the
subway?
While people watching and fantasising about their
lives, I made eye contact with the woman next to me. At first
glance she appeared normal. So I nodded hello and went
about looking around at everyone, making up stories in my
head. This would prove troublesome… As we pulled up to the
next stop she coughed into her hand and hiked the skirt of
her dress up a bit. Naturally, I looked in her direction and
made eye contact again. In the process of almost being gentlemanly, I got a good look at her and what was not normal
about her at all. She was almost indescribably “Teacher’s
Pet” slutty. That older woman attractiveness that young boys
from Texas find impressionable, but grow up only to wonder
from time to time, “What the hell was I thinking?” Realizing
this unwanted familiarity, I turned away quickly. But before I
could turn, she licked her lips and hiked up her dress again.
This continued for 4 or 5 more stops and I slid further and
further away. Just before my stop arrived the moaning and
groaning started. She started including other riders in her
public displays. I had wanted to run at first, but now my
curiosity was peaked. We were all watching. It was sick and
amazing at the same time. I stepped off the train, hoping she
wouldn’t smear the glass with her face as the train went by,
or jump up and make a scene or something, but nothing happened. It could have been a performance for all I know. I didn’t even think about her again until your question. Thanks
for the trip down memory lane.
76
Do you think living in New York has an influence on your
work? Why?
All I can say about that is I wouldn’t be where I am
now if we hadn’t moved to NY when we did. I truly have a
Love/Hate relationship with this place. Some of the best and
worst live here. Some of the best and worst things can happen. Just living here has influenced my work. I would have to
say the people are the best part of being here. A lot of characters to draw.
How much of your life is consumed by art?
Don’t know if I would say consumed, but most days.
Working, freelancing and trying to have art shows, getting my
stuff out there, begging to paint murals, that sort of thing. I
am not a very active participant in the social art scene here.
Don’t know if I want to be. I used to be all, “as much art as I
can pack in.” But lately I have pretty much kept to myself.
Doing research, working on print editions, that sort of thing. I
am consumed by fitting in time to work on my own art.
Struggling like most people to make ends meet, fulfill my
responsibilities and enjoy being in NY.
How important is music when you are drawing’?
I don’t need it, but I sure as Hell love
working to it. Nothing better than hooking on
monster big stereo headphones and zoning
out .
Top 3 bands that get you artsy?
Mr. Bungle (a lot of Mike
Patton’s stuff, Fantomas, Tomahawk,
etc.), Flogging Molly and Sex Mob,
lately. OutKast’s new album gets
me jumping. Today, Mr. Lif’s I Phantom and PuffyAmiYumi. When I am working
on a job, I usually pick something that suits the concept or genre.
How much emphasis do you put on concept when you are creating a piece?
Aside from illustration to solve a problem, not much. I just go with what
works. Most of my personal stuff just happens. Dreams, fears, fantasies, movies,
music. Ever since my graduate thesis I have been working with Fast Cars and
loose women. Good ol’ sex and violence. I am just interested in making pictures
and telling a story I like. Wherever I am headed, it’ll work itself out with time. As for
the freelance, I enjoy being offered new subjects and images to solve
a problem. Comics
have felt the best so
far though. That and
silkscreen prints.
Can’t say why. I
just sleep better
at night.
Are you a comic book junkie?
Not really. I am just really getting started if I am. I have my favorites and collections going. I’m a bit too critical to be a junkies junkie in terms of collecting and selling. You can’t have a good story without equal art and vice versa.
I didn’t get into comics until college. I went to school with some really talented artists. (Jim Mahfood, Mike Huttleston, Paul Chatem and Paul Briggs)
Most of the books I started with came from hovering over their collections
and finding new books as time went on. Jim and Mike had gods and monsters of the day. I fell off my chair looking through Goef Darrows Hard
Boiled and Paul Chatem turned me on to a lot of alternative comics. Eight
Ball and Love and Rockets were the first. I never took working in comics
seriously. I went to school for Disney, what the hell did I know. Those boxes
and shelves, man!… I think it was while watching Jim and Mike work, someone mentioned developing a “Visual Vocabulary.” Being able to manipulate
images and objects in your head from memory, at will, and put it down on
paper. I got hooked and that was that.
What’s the worst head injury you’ve ever had?
Car crash. Nailed on the passenger side by a bitch doing 50 or 55 on
the shoulder of a 7 lane highway. In Texas, everything is too big to accommodate everyone, so the highways are usually too small for the traffic and the
driveways are a free for all. She said she was turning into the same driveway
to get to lunch at the restaurant on the other side. I had crossed rush hour to
turn into the parking lot to meet my dear mother at the same location she
claimed to be traveling to at mach speed. Everyone in traffic waived me on
to cross through at a red light when wham. I hopped off the driveway and
slid about 15 feet into a filled ditch. Bad smell in summer. I lost consciousness while a nurse who was on her way to lunch as well was
holding my head still. It felt great though right after the impact. I almost
made it out of the car to go see why I was in her way.
77
cult? Ever wish you
Ever wonder how to start your own
ted to do whatever
wan
just
that
kids
of
s
had gang load
t to ask the guys
wan
t
migh
you told them to? Well, you
that RU36
time
the
In
ed.
start
get
to
how
6
from RU3
tight-knit
rre,
biza
a
ted
crea
’ve
has been around they
d care less about
coul
that
kids
n
ridde
t
angs
of
circle
RU36 has the police
the consequences of their actions.
nts frightened
pare
and
department asking questions
Houston
ney
Whit
fan.
a
be
t
migh
y
Bobb
that little
well I guess
e,
futur
the
were
ren
believed that the child
welcome to the future.
78
it that these one crazy fuckers used to go around and drop huge
How long have you guys been playing as RU36?
sit
amounts of LSD in the coffee pots at various coffee houses and
band
first
my
AJ: We have been playing together since 96. This was
it was not me or anyone I
course
Of
it.
drink
people
watching
around
and I have never played guitar our anything before RU36.
Acid in
know personally, but we wrote a song on our first album called
Zappo: Yeah I’ve been playing in RU36 since I first started playing
the Kona Blend.
bass. It was 96 I think.
Zappo: I don’t drink coffee.
Who’s all in the band?
RU36?
How much does drug use play a part in song writing for
Zappo: I play bass and sing and yell.
but I am currently sober right
drugs
of
lot
a
done
have
I
Well,
AJ:
guys
other
few
AJ: Me and Zappo do all the music but we have a
and
now. But I think it has played a big part in the way I view things
and
that help us when we play live. A-Tone operates our samplers
designed
basically
is
music
our
of
All
hear.
to
like
I
that
sounds
the
soaker
electronics and Two Mom Tim runs our lights and LSD super
the
around the fact that I have LSD psychosis and that I try to give
cannons.
a taste of what it is like to live in my mind. A lot of my inspilisteners
cult?
own
your
How does it feel to have
n full
ration comes from memories of things like listening to Beethove
Zappo: It’s cool. You should start one.
TV muted and about 20 hits of high
the
on
Crystal
Dark
the
with
blast
AJ: What are you a fuckin’ cop or something?
grade acid running loose on my mind.
RU36
In the beginning it was weird to see kids with RU36 tattoos and
of
Zappo: LSD was definitely a good inspiration to play the kinds
desengotten
just
have
I
guess
I
but
flesh,
their
into
carved
or
burned
enjoy
still
I
now.
sober
I’m
goes,
writing
as
far
as
But
play.
we
music
it is that
sitized to it. Now it seems normal to me. The best part about
they
hearing stories about people taking acid and flippin’ out cause
of
when we play a show it’s like we all play a show. Every last one
Then they usually ask us if we were on drugs
CDs.
our
to
listened
the
to
other
each
on
feed
We
eyes.
our fans is part of the show in my
when we wrote it.
get
point that it feels like the whole thing is gonna just blow up and
far as
Apart from the music, RU36 seems to be pretty visual as
way out of hand.
t part of
importan
pretty
a
that
Is
stuff.
and
art
’s
Pacheco
Sean
crazy?
What do you think it is about RU36 that makes kids go so
RU36’s presence?
so
AJ: I think the fact that we are real people and that there is
ce.
AJ: Absolutely. Shawn’s art is totally apart of the RU36 experien
bullshit
about
sing
don’t
We
fans.
our
of
all
much unity between
working on a DVD with this phenomenal film dude
are
we
now
Right
the
from
running
like
issues
real
teeny bopper crap, we sing about
our
named John Snapp. He is a total genius. We have been taping
and
cops, dropping acid in the coffee pot, fucking under age sluts,
gave him a big ass box of tapes
we
and
lives
our
filming
and
shows
life
suburban
throwing watermelons at ten speed tweakers because
is
and he has really captured the true essence of RU36. The film
kids
is so fucking boring. Our message is the brutal truth and the
called “Dumpster in the Sky” and will be out later this year.
respond to that.
kind of
Zappo: Visuals are very important. Sean’s art work was also
Zappo: I think vodka and LSD have a little bit to do with it.
n for me. When we used to practice he would always be
inspiratio
an
a
law
the
with
in
run
your
about
Do you want to tell the readers
there painting some bad ass shit. So the music and the art have
ment.
while back...the one that involved a certain coffee establish
always been a unit for me.
had
legend
But
AJ: I could never openly admit to any criminal activity.
e you?
How old ar
16
t RU36?
ll
great abou
funny as he
What’s so
and they’re in Contra
y,
av
he
is
ic
nd
Their mus
biggest ba
n
is like the
cause I ca
r music be
well, RU36
ei
th
e
lik
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t real shit.
ty.
ou
un
co
ab
lk
ta
ta
Cos
they
shit to
lot of shit
a bunch of
relate to a
st make up
ju
t
n’
do
They
e bands
.
u tattoo th
make cash
would yo
ll
he
e
th
Why in
?
wn
your body the scene. I’m a do
name on
ce.
n with
on
w
e
do
liv
ly
I’m
Because
g. You on
representin
fan and I’m your parents?
t of
te
have, a lo
Do you ha some times where I
ey
Th
d.
ba
at
en
There’s be , but they aren’t all th s a lot.
y as
ally
m
tu
ac
ve
sa
es
tim
they
t in court,
help me ou
How old are you?
19 years of shit
What’s so great about RU36?
Well they are just two white trash dudes like
me and they write good lyrics about what ever
amuses them and they are somewhat musically talented and they are nerds just like me.
Why the hell would you tattoo the bands
name on your body?
‘Cause the tattoo symbolizes music friendship
and good memories of fun times and I like the
band a lot.
Do you hate your parents?
Well, parents for me is two moms and they
are totally gay. They kicked me out with nothing and won’t let me move back in. They
suck. They’re jewish.
How old are you?
I’m 19
What is so great about RU36?
I think the real question is what’s bad about
RU36? I can’t think of one thing not to love
about this band. They are loud heavy and hard
fuckincore. But I guess the greatest thing is
seeing them live and going crazy in the pit for
every song.
Why in the hell would you tattoo the bands
name on your body?
It represents where I grew up. Plus its gotten
me laid on several occasions.
Do you hate your parents?
I hate parents in general.
How old are you?
21
What’s so great about RU36?
RU36 is great because they are something new to the
music scene, even though they have been around for
years they are one of a kind, there is just massive
amounts of energy coming off of the stage at live
shows. They make fun of and put in perspective
some very real issues in today’s world – inside their
songs if you really listen to them (the songs).
Oh, and they have some of the best god damn mosh
pits I’ve ever seen.
Do you hate your parents?
No way, I love my parents without them I wouldn’t
be here and besides my parents are old school
cokeheads who like RU36 just as much as me.
79
CONCUSSION: WHEN DID YOU
GUYS FIRST START THE BAND?
Shane: Spring of 2001.
CONCUSSION: WHO GOT EVERYONE TOGETHER?
Shane: It was a mutual thing, but these guys
were in a band already.
Dave: Jake and I were in a band called Grand
American Modified, it was pretty short lived.
That band broke up, and I was in a band called
Self Destruct for a little while, then I quit and
started playing with these guys.
Shane: It all started from scratch.
Jake: We knew we wanted to be in a band
together, but just waited until the right time.
Dave: We all had kinda of the same idea of
what we wanted to play, and what we wanted
to do with the band.
CONCUSSION: WHAT ARE THE BAND’S MAIN
MUSICAL INFLUENCES?
Shane: We started out saying stoner metal,
old New York Hardcore and thrash. But now
it’s just Hightower.
Jake: Good music is good music. There’s so
much stuff we enjoy.
CONCUSSION: THERE WASN’T ANY BAND THAT
YOU GUYS WERE LIKE “WE WANNA SOUND
LIKE THAT!”
Jake: I’m sure if you really listen you can hear
things here and there that we were influenced by but nothing really in particular.
Dave: We definitely have our inspiration and
influences from Afro-Cuban to metal basically.
CONCUSSION: HOW DO YOU GUYS PUT YOUR
SONGS TOGETHER?
Shane: I don’t know, they write themselves.
Dave: We’ll come in with a riff, a riff will just
Photographs & Interview by Ryan Furtado
happen. Just half jamming. Kinda of just piece
it together.
Jake: They write themselves.
Shane: We’re just the vehicles. (laughs)
Jake: Skategods come down and just
sprinkle magical music dust upon us.
CONCUSSION: DOES HIGHTOWER PLACE
MORE OF A VALUE ON THE INSTRUMENTAL QUALITIES OR LYRICAL CONTENT OF
YOUR MUSIC?
Shane: Lyrics come when they come, you
know.
Dave: Personally, I like instrumentals.
Jake: Yeah, lyrics are only there when they
fit.
Shane: During the instrumentals, we try to
leave the lyrics up to people’s imagination.
Dave: I guess that’s part of our whole song
writing thing, if something needs vocals or
someone thinks vocals will sound good on a
certain part….
Shane: Or we’ll have vocals written and on a
certain part of a song they’ll fit in perfect.
Otherwise we’d rather just keep the vocals
low and rock out.
Jake: Yeah, were not going to force them in.
CONCUSSION: WHAT OTHER BANDS DO
YOU GUYS LIKE TO PLAY WITH?
All: S.T.R.E.E.T.S! American River!
Shane: Damage Case.
Jake: We like to play with friend’s
bands. It’s more of a party atmosphere...everyone knows each other.
Bro-band factor.
Shane: We like playing mixed
shows the best, ya know.
Jake: You don’t want to go to a
show where you see six bands and everyone sounds the same.
Dave: Yeah, it gets boring by the third band,
when it all sounds the same.
CONCUSSION: HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS
BEEN LIVING IN SAN FRANCISCO’S MISSION
DISTRICT.
Shane: Five years for me.
Jake: Four years.
Dave: Six.
CONCUSSION: WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK THE
MISSION HAS OVER OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS
IN THE SAN FRANCISCO?
Jake: Personality.
Shane: All our friends.
Dave: Sunshine.
Jake: Burritos.
Shane: It definitely has more of a community
vibe than any other neighborhood.
Jake: Yeah, it’s just more of a neighborhood. It
doesn’t really feel like a big city.
CONCUSSION: WHAT CAME TOGETHER FIRST?
THE GNARGOYLES OR HIGHTOWER?
All: Gnargoyles.
Dave: Gnargoyles spawned Hightower.
Jake: Hightower is officially a Gnargoyle
band.
Shane: Yeah, we started in a Gnargoyle
house. There were 15 of us living in one
house in the Mission. We had a ramp in the
yard and everything.
Dave: And a band in the kitchen. We started
playing in that kitchen.
CONCUSSION: HOW LONG WAS THE HOUSE
GOING FOR?
Shane: 6 years. Our first shows were there
in that backyard.
CONCUSSION: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO
THAT HOUSE?
Shane: It was done, it ran it’s course. It got
wrecked.
Jake: (Laughs) Yeah, I feel bad for the people
who moved in.
CONCUSSION: DO YOU THINK THERE’S A BIG
GAP BETWEEN MUSIC THAT SKATEBOARDERS
LISTEN TO NOW AS OPPOSED TO 10 OR 20
YEARS AGO.
Dave: Just a broader range.
Jake: There’s just a lot more skateboarders.
There’s a lot of different kinds of people skateboarding. It’s not just punk rockers skateboarding anymore, so there’s so much different music that’s classified as skate music.
CONCUSSION: DO YOU THINK IT HAS A GOOD
INFLUENCE OR BAD INFLUENCE?
All: Both.
Shane: Skate kids now probably don’t know
who the Minute Men are, unfortunately.
CONCUSSION: WHAT BANDS DID YOU GUYS
LISTEN TO WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP
SKATING?
Jake: Any New York hardcore.
Dave: I loved all those Santa Cruz videos cause
of all those great bands.
Shane: Bl’ast, Firehose, Minute Men. All the Hstreet music like Sub-Society. And those were
just local bands from their skate scene.
Dave: Then there was always tons of thrash
metal and stuff like that.
CONCUSSION: WOULD YOU GUYS LIKE TO GIVE
ANY THANK YOUS OR SHOUTS OUT TO ANYONE?
Shane: Gnargoyles, worldwide.
Dave: Thanks to everyone who comes to our
shows.
CONCUSSION: WHO WOULD WIN IN A
GNARGOYLES VS. JAKS JOUST?
Jake: I think we’d be on the same team.
Shane: Gnargoyles are a friendly gang.
Dave: We are going to challenge the Piss Drunx
to a bowling match, if they wanna step to it.
82
“As if I even need to tell you, the band Motorhome has a logo that is
a take on MOTORHEAD’s. Never saw that one coming. Utterly predictable horseshit here: dumb punk’n’roll (and by “punk” I mean “not
punk”) with snarled hick tough-guy vocals. It’s stuff like this that almost
makes getting free records shitty-almost.”
–Amp magazine July ‘03
“As if I need to tell you, this reviewer is a pansy. Which is not that
surprising considering most record reviews are condescending diatribes of ignorance anyway. Utterly predictable horseshit? Do you suck
your mom’s dick with that mouth? Sheesh. And seriously, unless you’re
Ian McKaye or Iggy Pop, I don’t care what you think is “punk” and what
is ”not punk.” Don’t go away mad...please just go away.”
Lord knows that I’ve had to write quite a few record reviews for
Concussion. Sometimes it’s not so bad when you get some decent music
to review, but in general, it’s potentially one of the most painful/monotonous activities ever, second only to going to the DMV. I would find after
reviewing 15 records (my eyes bleeding hate) I would just slip into talking shit about the bands.Truth be told, sometimes they’re not too bad
but because I despise writing music reviews so much I would snap. Even
still, what does this guy at Amp magazine have clearly wedged in his/her
ass to give Motorhome a bad review? So, first and foremost I would like
to review this reviewers review..ahhhem:
Motorhome is a 5 piece that hails from San Francisco. The first
time I experienced them was at the Damaged premiere a while back
and needless to say my ass was rocked. If you’ve never seen
Motorhome, it comes highly recommended. I would say to definitely
pick up this album, however, your first priority should be to see them
live. Similar to bands like Drunk Horse or the Black Furies, their live
show is where it’s at.
We met up with Motorhome at the Zeitgiest over ribs and cheeseburgers to see what’s the deal and to find out why record reviewers hate
them. It’s awesome the way frontman/self-proclaimed lead asshole Matt
D’s eyes light up when he talks about the review in Amp, “...‘snarled hick
tough-guy vocals’, I mean that’s a diss but I was stoked, I loved that review.”
That’s one thing you notice right off about the guys in Motorhome, they truly
don’t give a fuck. It’s all comedy to them and they just play rock’n’roll for a
good time, weird concept. Lefty guitarist Rob Vastano sites another review
by Maximum Rock’n’Roll in which they were labeled “musical vandalism,”
which we all agreed was funny considering everything in MRR is the same
and pretty much sucks. Rob was originally in All About Evil with Mike
Baptista (righty guitarist). The two had been playing music together for 20
years. After the demise of All About Evil, Rob and Mike hooked up with
Bryan Coons (bass) who brought Matt D (aforementioned lead asshole)
and last but not least, drummer Tim Curry to form Motorhome.
From talking to the band you get the idea that the rock’n’roll fantasy of
packed coliseums and drug infused orgies is far from a reality. Considering
four of the five members are married, all the backstage “perks” fall on the
only single member, the mustached lady killer, Matt D. “These guys
depend on me to vicariously live the life,” like the Red Cross, Matt comes
to the aid of his brothers. The guy’s a saint.
As our rainy day interview continued we ended up getting way off
course talking about everything from cole slaw to why strip clubs in
Portland are so much better than strip clubs in the Bay Area. I believe Matt
D said it best “it’s like the difference between Burnside and Dublin.” So
true. Then as we were wrapping up I asked if there was anything else the
band wanted to say and Rob said something great, “Why does San
Francisco hate rock’n’roll?” Thank god somebody said it. Rob continued,
“take the Black Furies, that’s a great rock band that will railroad your ass
and people go to their shows and watch it like they are watching TV.” It’s
the sad truth that most rock shows these days, it’s more about what you’re
wearing and who you know than how rocking the band is.
Motorhome has a new 7” out on Infringement Records (get it at interpunk.com) and probably by the time you read this they will have a full length
out, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Also you better believe these guys are
down with the Silly Pink Bunnies, you’d better ax somebody. - Don Frenchy
Photos by Rob Taylor
83
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SIDEWALK
In Motion
I thought it was kind of odd that a British skateboard magazine was sending us a VHS video, because we use different formats here and there, and it seemed like the
video shouldn’t work. But these are some smart guys, and they made special NTSC copies for us blokes over here. Sidewalk is one of the bigger British skate mags and
kind of reminds me of Skateboarder or whatever. This video is pretty well done, somewhat artsy with Super 8 clips here and there. This flick is mostly street skating
from the UK and beyond. Lots of rough and rugged spots, sketchy brick banks and weird transitions. Definitely not your average strip mall or playground, which was a
nice change. I hadn’t heard of most (or, any) of the guys in this video, but that’s because for the most part they’re all European. There might have been a random Jason
Adams appearance and a couple other things like that. Anyway some of these guys were better than others but overall there were some interesting spots and some good
skating. The only negative thing I can say about this video is that I didn’t like the soundtrack, which was mostly Beatles-influenced alterna-Brit pop or whatever. Wasn’t
into that, but the skating was good. I’m not sure if they’re selling this video over here but these Sidewalk Magazine guys surely have a website and if you can find that
you’ll find out if you can order this. - DK
THE DC VIDEO
Deluxe Edition DVD
Wow this sure is a fancy DVD. It comes bound with a little book which talks about the filming of this video. There is definitely some good street skating in here, Anthony
Van Englen and Stevie Williams stuck out, but the real reason you should watch this is for the Danny Way part, if you haven’t seen it already. It is absolutely insane, he
kills it on the vert ramp so hard it’s really not even funny. And then there’s the super gap kicker thing that ends in a 29 foot quarter pipe. This is where Danny puts every
snowboarder that’s ever tried to huck-whirl the superkicker to shame, as he does all snowboard tricks on a skateboard. And if that’s not enough, the DVD has a bonus
Danny Way part which is even more out of hand. They put a big box (and subsequently rainbow rail on top) in the middle of the superkicker so it’s like a giant fun box.
Which he proceeds to go to town on, culminating in noseblunt slides and 270 lipslides and I don’t even remember what else. But that shit is worth watching alone, and if
you want to watch the rest of the DVD that’s cool too. - DK
NO TALKING
A Ballard Production
Everyone has seen the Danny Way Part in the DC video, and yes it’s amazing. But are you going to watch it in order to get stoked to skate? No, of course not, because it
has nothing to do with actual skateboarding. Matt Ballard’s new video, “No Talking” is pure skateboarding.
This video features footage of G-Man, Rob Slob, Bailey, Hitz, Pino, Roche, Ox, Delgado, and more. Highlights include tons of pipe and pool skating, including footage of Eddie
Alioto skating some ridiculously deep pool as if its a miniramp. There’s also a bunch of footage of Bailey and some locals skating that bowl in the Basque country — after
I watched this part I started checking the price of flights to Spain. But the best thing about this video is all the footage of Washington Street. That place is so gnarly,
you can’t even understand how crazy some of this shit is until you skate it. But these guys kill it.
As Ballard says, he’s a skateboarder, not a filmer. If you care more about slow-mo and artsy angles than skateboarding, watch the DC Video. Otherwise, skip that shit
and throw this one in. It will make you want to skate. - DA
ARE YOU ALRIGHT?
Transworld
This is one of the first almost all-good Transworld videos that I’ve seen in a while. Usually they put out videos that kind of suck except they have one really really good
rider whose part is sick, like Tony Trujillo or Drehobl. Are You Alright? is a road trip video to Oregon in a super plush RV, and features Pat Duffy, Danny Way, Clint Peterson,
Ryan Wilburn, Aaron Harrison, Jud Hertzler and a few other guys. Most of the footage is really good but the thing that bugged me the most was the lame narration by
a bad imitation of an old southern black guy or something. I guess they put that in to keep the kids entertained. The skating is good enough to overlook that irritating
flaw, and it was also nice to be able to skip to my favorite parts (and parks) during subsequent viewings of the DVD. That being said, my favorite parts included Klamath
Falls and Pat Duffy’s gnarly transfer into the over vert cock and balls bowl, West Linn, Burnside, Ballard Bowl and Danger killing himself, Bainbridge, and Danny Way killing
it at Orcas and Hailey. Clint Peterson had a lot of rad shit, but I would’ve liked to see more Jud Hertzler footage. It’s also pretty surprising how well Pat Duffy can skate
tranny, he was killing it pretty hard on this trip. Wilburn ollieing off an RV at Burnside was pretty funny too. There’s also some pretty good street skating interspersed,
especially one loading dock session with Donny Barley that was nice. So yeah, overall this is a good DVD showcasing badass riders visiting some of the best cement parks
around. Hard to go wrong with that one. -DK
86
MINOR THREAT
DC Space • Buff Hall • 9:30 Club
This is a Minor Threat Live DVD. It has three shows on it, which are of various (technical) quality and times throughout the band’s short history. The quality and intensity of the shows seem to get progressively more intense, as do the quality of the recordings. Some of this stuff has been available on VHS in the past, but I’m not really
sure of the details. A notes section on each show was a nice addition, as was the 16 page booklet full of photos and stuff. No cheap ass non insert DVD here unlike most
of them aside from the DC video which was a book. If you are a fan of Minor Threat then you’ll probably want to see this if not own it, for what you’re getting it’s not
very expensive. - DK
ZEKE
Zeke You DVD
I was pretty hyped when this Zeke DVD showed up, but then I watched it for five minutes, turned it off, and then promptly forgot about it for two months. I’m a big Zeke
fan, but somehow the DVD started off in such an amateur style and had a bunch of random, sort of funny interviews with the band while on tour, that when they finally
got to showing Zeke play live from such a shitty bootleg angle with blown out sound from the camcorder, that I was over it. I love/loved seeing Zeke play live, but I didn’t really like watching them on the TV. But then I watched this thing again recently, and it grew on me. For one thing, I watched more than five minutes of it. And to
their credit they actually have a disclaimer on the box which says something like “Yeah we know the audio on the songs is super shitty and the filming sucks, but it’s still
Zeke.” And it’s true. While we’re at it, the editing sucks too, but underneath all of the shaky angles and drunken backstage interviews is Zeke playing live on tour for a
couple years, 2000-2003 or something. Some of the shows are better than others, some of the audio quality is better at times, but the shows that are good are really
fucking good. The one that stuck out the most was the one from England filmed from the soundboard, which apparently was their last show. I wonder if they knew it
would be their last show, because they were rocking extra hard and extra fast. So if you like Zeke then you might want to check this out. It’s not the most well produced
DVD or anything, but if you want raw rock and roll then you’ve found it. - DF
split on second listen. I Want
You have a bit more of a melodic hardcore sound. I like them
as well, but Creep Division won
this sucker hands down. I will pursue more Creep Division. Great CD, you
should get it. – Sick Boy
Darlington
All The Wrong Moves
Woah Oh Records
Adolf and the Piss Artists
Hate Generator
TKO Records
I've been curious about these guys for some
time now. So here's what I hear: Hardcore-OiPunk. You know, like The Exploited, The
Oppressed, and Blitz. They pull it off pretty
well. There are three covers, one from each of
these bands: The Oppressed, The Samples,
and The Valves. This is the last recorded document of the band formerly known as Adolf and
the Piss Artists. They now are APA and include
Perry from the Templars on bass, Mark Magee
from Anti-Heroes and Condemned 84 on guitar, and Amos Insane on drums. This is a great
release and hopefully a gateway to a better,
badder band. I still love this label and most of
the bands on it. Buy to Die. – Sick Boy
From the sleeved tattoo dude on the cover
holding Gator’s Vision model, I had some
reservations about this CD before I slipped it
in. A touch of US Bombs style guitar solos
throughout mix with a more generic radio
friendly love song style which leaves this
release neither here nor anywhere. There is
nothing left to hang on to. If my ears were
hands, Darlington would slip through my fingers like sand, to remain forgotten and unnoticed. Stepped on and grinded into the
ground, dispersed and diffused, “All the Wrong
Moves” would eventually return to the earth, to
reform, and perhaps grow into another form of
music with a more specific core rather than a
confused and shallow identity. That said, fans
of light pop punk with a little harder edge
would lick this up. – J. Hay
Bad Reaction
Six Songs
Self-Release
The Darkness
Permission to Land
Must Destroy Music / Atlantic Records
In my drunken stupor in Vegas at Punk-Rock
Bowling (everyone should go, damn it), I ran
into some cool dude name Kash. I came to
find out he likes street thrash, lived around the
corner from me in Echo Park, and was in a
band called Bad Reaction. He said that he
would give me a copy and bring it to me later.
He ended up coming back later with the copy
and I was just stoked that he had remembered,
even though he was wasted. So I popped in
the CD and the first thing that came to mind
was Smog Town. In a way I am really bad at
comparing music to other music unless it is
that obvious. What I can say is that it is fast,
angry, has six-songs and leaves you wanting
more. They have a lot of good people on their
thank you list, which is always a good sign. Casper
So what do you people know about music?
Do you realize that music has been stagnating
for the past 10 years, at least? I can honestly
say, that besides Electric Frankenstein,
Scissorfight, and Kill Allen Wrench, there hasn't been anything truly exciting in Rock. The
Darkness bring back the fun and power of
Metal/Rock. The theatrics are hilarious. The
lyrics to the songs are infallible. If you've ever
enjoyed Heavy Metal or a Monty Python skit,
then The Darkness will tickle your fancy. The
video for "I Believe in A Thing Called Love" is
one of the best video's I've ever seen. Most of
these guys used to be in the band, "Empire."
The lead singer plays guitar, piano, keyboards,
and sings like you've never heard. There is a
feeling of hard rockin' comedy to every song
they put out. For instance, the song "Love on
The Rocks With No Ice" is a great play on
words and a crazy vocal rhythm. I welcome any
singer out there to attempt to follow the vocals
on this song. It's like some master opera
singer just testing each vocal chord. I must say
that whatever success these lads
receive is righteously so. These
guys are the actual
Spinal Tap with a
shitload more talent. I would love
for them to take
over all Pop radio
stations. If their
video for "I Believe
in a Thing Called Love" doesn't win some
awards, I will be totally blown away. What a
breath of fresh air. The Darkness are golden
gods. Highly Recommended. – Sick Boy
Bad Religion
Punk Rock Songs
Epic Records
I have to admit that Bad Religion is my favorite
band of all of time. Thank you. Now I can proceed. I came upon this album thinking that I
knew all of what existed by this band.
Apparently, I am not as much of a fan as I proclaimed to be. This album was printed in Japan
and is basically a compilation. Recorded songs
included range from the Atlantic Records era
to live songs that stem from the Epitaph years.
There is a live duet with Biohazzard (“We’re
only gonna die”) and there are also some
songs I have never even heard “Dream of
Unity” (good shit my friends) and “Dodo.” Greg
Graffin even lends to you, the listener, his ability to sing in German. There are 25 songs all
together on this album. This is a must for real
BR fans. BR is coming out with a new album
really soon, so prepare yourself. Whaachooee!
- Casper
Betty Blowtorch
Last Call
Foodchain Records
This is a fantastic album on a sad premise.
Bianca Butthole has past, leaving a trail of
Rock in her wake. If you're a punk chick and
you don't know who she is, you are way
behind. Start here and go backwards, although
you won't have to go far. This thing has a
bunch of her old Butt Trumpet songs and a
bunch of unreleased songs. I personally think
Bianca and Texas Terri are underrated. These
ladies kick as much ass as the men. Anyways,
we lost Bianca. She has worked with a crap
load of people, including The Meatmen. Any
woman that can jam with the Meatmen has got
some rocks in her sock. All the songs on here
are great. Some better than others, but none
are bad. I don't know what else to tell you. If
you don't know these ladies then buy it, if you
do know them, then this is their best stuff. Get
It. – Sick Boy
Creep Division / I Want You
Split LP
Lorelei Records
Very minimalist packaging, leaving me with no
insight into either band, so all I could do was
listen to it. I really like it. I can't exactly figure
out where one band ends and the other
begins. I know that Creep Division rule. If you
like the Old Hardcore/Skatecore/Metalcore
then you will love these guys. They blew me
away. I'd love to see them live. I can hear the
88
Deminer
Woes and So’s
Johann’s Face
Straight up: This is the best punk rock record
to come out of Chicago in 2003. No whining,
no bullshit, no rap breakdowns, no funny stuff,
no expensive haircuts, no shtick. If you ever
liked listening to
Pegboy, Naked
Raygun, or
Jawbreaker, this
record will do you
right. So c’mon,
get you a copy
already, candy
ass. Your life will
be richer and you
a better person
for the effort.
- Mickey
Descendents
'merican
Fat Wreck
Since the early '80's, the Descendents have
been writing some
of the catchiest
pop punk, and it's
both comforting
and surprising that
they can still manage to continue to
pull it off today
without sounding
washed-up. Most
'80's "punk"
bands that are still
around are embarrassing to hear or see live,
but the Descendents put out a solid release in
1996 and this four song EP is good as well.
The first song is about watching TV with your
girl, the title track "'merican" is an aptly sassy
jab at our beloved country and contains the
line, "You've got to know the truth before you
can say that you've got the pride", "Here with
Me" sounded like "Clean Sheets" and the third
song kind of rambles, because it's seven minutes long, which means it's really like three or
four separate songs because Descendents
songs are like two minutes long. Some of them
are good and some of 'em aren't so hot. But
still, this little EP is probably one of the best
things I'll listen to or review this month. - DK
The Dirtbombs
Dangerous Magical Noise
In the Red Records
Ever heard of these guys? Well you better get
to hearing. The Dirtbombs are out of Detroit
and have been putting a little soul back into
rock’n’roll for three albums now. This five piece
consists of 2 bass players, 2 drummers and 1
guitarist, which might sound excessive but
once you hear the ass they kick it’s hard to
argue. I suppose people that like to put things
in boxes would say these guys are garage
rock, but that just doesn’t do them justice. My
favorite track is “Stop” a little ditty in which
Mick lays down a
veritable motown
classic. Another
doozy is “I’m
through with white
girls”, the title
alone speaks for
itself. This should
be my friend Egg’s
theme song
because I think I’ve
probably heard him
say this like a hundred times. What’s wrong
with the white girls? Once you go cracker it
only gets wacker. Oh shit, I just made that up,
I’m a retard. – Lee
Dog Fuckr
50 Lb. Shit
Horsejohn Records
This is Shane Scoffone (team manager of The
Driven)’s, debut release on Horsejohn records.
The word debut makes things sound really official, which is why I sarcastically used it. 50
pound shit weighs in right around there, with 5
tracks at about 10 pounds of crap each. That’s
a lot of shit. Shane growls death metal lyrics
along to drums beat as fast as possible, along
with some computerized drum machine sound
as he sprays shit gold and presents it with a
home made sharpy-on-a-torn-paper-cover. This
is truly a DIY release all forms. He even said
he threw in the last two songs, just for me, the
night before. I’m honored. My favorite number,
Track 2, sounds like 5 bush pigs fucking while
being axed to death by a jealous nun ending
their bloody orgy in honor of satan. For added
effect, crank this through a shitty computer
speaker and turn it up all the way so it sounds
super fuzzed and muffled. I’ve listened to this 4
times already, which is more than I’ve listened
to any of these other CDs, so that must mean
it’s my favorite, right? Or maybe I’m just full of
shit. It’s possible that it is available through
automodown.com – J. Hay
Eddie Spaghetti
The Sauce
Mid-Fi
Supersuckers front man does the solo thing
with mixed results. Good: Kris Kristofferson’s
“The Best of All
Possible Worlds.”
Bad: what must
be the 10,000th
cover of Johnny
Cash’s “Cocaine
Blues,” and what
must be the
10,000th failure to
improve on the
original. Ugly: the
remake of “Sleepy
Vampire,” one of the most beat tracks from the
last Supersuckers record. But great: “Killer
Weed.” When I first got this record I wanted it
to be good like “Must’ve Been High” so I
could say something clever like “dude, quit
your day job,” but after listening to it a bunch of
times I’m sort of like, “uh, don’t quit your day
job.” Don’t get me wrong, this is a good
record, one that in a perfect world would do
better than that crap country poseurs like Ryan
Adams toss off, but it ultimately seems more
inconsequential than it should. It doesn’t nail
the classic country sound like “Must’ve Been
High” and it doesn’t have the kind of rawness
you want these solo-type records to have.
More Nashville than Bakersfield, this record
takes aim at Willie Nelson and hits Conway
Twitty. – Mickey
Electric Frankenstein meets El Nada
Finger Records
This is a killer idea. Each band does three originals and then they cover one song from the
other band. EF chose 502 Blues by El Nada.
El Nada chose NY Knights by Electric
Frankenstein. If you have followed EF you
know they are unstoppable. They can take anyone else's song and make it their own. They
did it on the split with The Supersuckers,
they've done it with Iron Maiden songs,
Motorhead songs, you name it they can do it.
El Nada are little known by myself. They are a
hardcore group from L.A. They give off a great
sound and vibe. Hateful, of course. The cover
art is cool. It's like Monster Biker Mexican art.
Cool stuff for those in the know. Buy or Fry.
– Sick Boy
Fantomas
Delerivm Cordia
Ipecac Recordings
Even if you tend not to like any of Mike
Patton’s projects, one can not help but
respect the sheer volume of work produced by
this man. The musical miles and styles covered
by Patton and his many cohorts throughout the
years range from rock to pop, from calculated
noise to spontaneous improvisation. The first
Fantomas effort explored a dark tapestry of
metal thunder and cliche shrouded in the context of an obscure comic book. Their next
album consisted of perverted interpretations of
movie themes given the distinct Fantomas
treatment. It can only make sense then that
their next record would provide a detailed
soundtrack for surgical procedure. This is by
far the most conceptually ambient of the three
albums recalling the more abstract works of
John Zorn as well as Patton’s solo piece
"Pronzo Altranzista." Fans of Patton’s more
straightforward work should be forewarned
that this is not going to be as simply absorbed.
There are definite moments of intensity as well
as sweet melody
hidden beneath
the layers of skin
waiting to be dissected and examined piece by
piece. An album
like this makes me
question the utterly pretentious
notion of art for
art’s sake such as
after viewing a Fellini film. Nevertheless, in a
similar way, I find my thoughts resonating far
beyond the casual listen. This album is a puzzle waiting to be put together for those with
the patience. And, for those without...at least
peep the really gory pictures included inside
the all-too-cool package design!
- Sgt. Scrapes
Jet
Get Born
Elektra Records
I hate mass media. I hate 95% of what is on
television. I hate the people behind the scenes,
controlling the whole flow of our society, brainwashing the youth and creating a docile, easily
contained culture. With that said, I saw these
guys on MTV and I really liked them. They are
one of two bands that I really like, that have
been played on MTV. The second is The
Darkness. My wife really liked Jet when she
saw the video. So I bought her the CD. Now I
really like Jet. There are several influences that
they wear on their sleeve. First off, The Rolling
Stones are idolized by these guys, along with
Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and dozens of garage
rock. At times, I hear totally original sounds
that are going to develop into huge hits. These
guys are doing the right thing by worshipping
the ROCK. If you haven't heard these guys yet,
give 'em a whirl. Truthfully, I believe these guys
could level most bands out there right now. I
even love their slow songs. Get this NOW!
- Sick Boy
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros
Streetcore
Hellcat Records
It is sad to think how many people we have
lost within the last couple of years, but let’s
not dwell on their passing and more on what
they have done for our lives. I think that I was
fortunate to have had listened to this solo
album before any of the others. I was very hesitant to listen to the solo albums, because…
well frankly a lot of solo albums don’t hold up
compared to the original band. Well, this
album just happened to fall in my lap and it
didn’t disappoint in the least.
Maturity and age can bring a person to certain
enlightenment that most of us young people
try to achieve on an every day basis. Joe
Strummer has reached that level on a spiritual
and musical level. His voice has the harmony
of the angels above. Some of the notes he hits
on this album are just amazing. Another element about this album is that it has so many
different styles-from Acid-Jazz, Folk, Punk,
Blues, and just plain Rock ‘N’ Roll. This album
did not get boring all the way through.
Although the song “Acid Test” was a little
annoying, but other than that, good stuff my
friend. So remember the ones who gave us so
much and listen to the words they sing.
- Casper
Johnny Cash
American lV: The Man Comes Around
American
Sometimes we never really realize someone’s
talent or influence they have on our own personal lives until they die. In the case of Johnny
Cash, I identify with the latter. I have listened
to country for years but didn’t get older country until I listened to Meryle Haggard. Johnny
Cash had come through Folsom prison, played
a concert to the inmates and inspired a troubled hopeful man to play country music. You
guessed it. Meryle Haggard was one of those
inmates. If someone could influence Meryle,
then they had my respect. I had heard many
songs by Cash, my favorite being “Boy Named
Sue.”
Even so, I didn’t get Johnny Cash as much
until I saw a video on CMT a month or so ago.
It displayed older Cash sitting on a master’s
chair and in front of him laid an array of fruit,
wine, and other items that a king would lavish
on a dinner table. The scenes go back and
forth from that to footage of Cash when he
was younger. The music goes right along with
the visual. It brought a tear to my eye, dude.
And to come to find out that this was a cover
of NIN’s “Hurt” only made me respect him
even more. Someone who could put so much
feeling into a song that he didn’t even write
said so much. It was as if that song was meant
for him.
Needless to say, the next day I was out on the
hunt for this CD. I came upon a copy that had
the song “hurt” on DVD for only 2 dollars
more. Along with this song on the album Cash
covers “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” by
Simon and Garfunkle, “Personal Jesus” by
Depeche Mode and a few others. Johnny lays
down some of his own tracks and they are well
done. “You could have it all, my empire of dirt.”
- Casper
The Low Budgets
Go For Broke
Akhenation Music / Schuylkill Records
What we have here is bunch of Philadelphia
fellows trying hard to raise their musical bar
past punk. With the addition of keys, adjustment of tempo and a bit more melody to their
sound, the Low Budgets have succeeded in
doing so. Unfortunately, it seems they did not
step up the vocals
to match the
music. Not to say
that they are terrible, but they do
tend to drag the
music down a
notch both in content and execution.
For example, lyrics
such as, "Life can
be so brutal, so
you gotta use your
noodle" sung a bit off time (and key) just doesn’t cut it like it must have back in the day. Still,
the music is fun and could be very interesting
if they took themselves a bit more seriously. Sgt. Scrapes
MAJHAS
Stepping into Character
Hawthorne Street Records
Never heard of these guys. Hard, heavy,
screaming, New Style Hardcore. The lyrics are
pretty decent. I, of course, put them up next to
Fall Silent and they pale in comparison. I dislike new hardcore. Saying that, this is a good
release. They show diversity and style. I would
like it a lot more if the singer wasn't screaming
every lyric. Not bad, not great. - Sick Boy
Mondo Generator
A drug problem that never existed
RekordsRekords/Ipecac Records
This is Mondo’s follow up to Cocaine Rodeo
and it’s pretty much the same blur of blistering
drug crazed songs. If you’re a Kyuss freak and
follow all the crazy side projects then you’ll
probably recognize some staple Desert
Sessions songs being changed from rocking
to acoustic or vice versa. The acoustic version
of “Day That I Die” is amazing and makes the
song totally brand new for me. The original
tracks are great too. How can you go wrong
with the line-up of heavies involved here. By far
the most ass-shaking track would have to be
“Fuck You I’m free”, it’s just classic Nick
Oliveri, pissed off and spitting in your face.
Another standout is “Detroit, purely on it’s
musical merit it is just a great well-written
song. OK, I’m done swinging from this records
nuts, it’s good, whatever, go buy it or go steal
it, I could care less. It is good though. – Lee
tening to this record everyday for the last
month driving around Chicago, and the “fully
realized project” sounds to me like the soundtrack to a bleak, cold winter. To each his own,
perhaps. I’m reminded of Arnold Schoenberg’s
remark that there’s something in good music
that best “ought perhaps to remain incomprehensible” to the listener. Talking about it only
makes it banal. This is good music, so let’s
stop talking about it and keep it that way. Fair
enough: mix Kyuss, mid-period Led Zeppelin,
and Neurosis, take out all the vocals, and just
dig it. – Mickey
Naked Aggression
The Gut Wringing Machine
Rodent Popsicle Records
The Postal Service
Give Up
Kirsten Patches is the lead singer of NA. She
is small in size. She teaches to kids in South
Central LA, yet she still is able to spew out
such angst-driven lyrics. Although this album
doesn’t have the same energy as earlier NA
album’s, it still keeps up, letting it be known
that they are still here. If you don’t know who
Naked Aggression is then let me leave you
with some of Kirsten’s lyrics (all together in the
loudest female screaming voice you can do)
“What ya want me to do, stick a coat hanger
up my cunt!?” - Casper
Nik Frietas
Heavy Mellow
Future Farmer Recordings
Recorded after midnight in Visalia, Heavy
Mellow, Nik Frietas’ 2nd release, must be my
standout listen for this issue. Nik Frietas is a
skateboard photographer whose photographs
have graced the pages of Thrasher and
Consolidated ads for years. But it looks, or
rather, sounds like Nik’s skills don’t stop
behind the lens. As
the title suggests,
Heavy Mellow is
both that: heavy
and mellow. Some
tracks start out on
the acoustic guitar,
almost sounding
like an earlier
Radiohead, others
sound like a distorted but slowed
down Bob Dylan or some grunged out emo
Elton John piano song, while other songs
sound like Modest Mouse if they had remembered to take their Prozac. The originality scale
is tipping the scales, while at the same time
fondling many different styles of music. Some
tracks have a rocking punk drum style, with
Pavement / Sebadoh styled vocals and rhythm
while others sing along like the Beatles before
they took their LSD. But comparing Nik Freitas
to a bunch of radically different bands doesn’t
give this the justice it deserves. Listen to it
yourself and you may come up with something
completely different. The lyrics range from transcendently deep, to heartfelt sentimentality. For
anyone who isn’t afraid of both their angry and
sensitive sides, Heavy Mellow should be part
of your music collection. For the rest of you
macho macho men, go rock out to some
Pantera. – J. Hay
Outkast
The Love Below/Speaker Boxx
Arista
I wrote a review for this album before it got the
attention it did at the awards. I was fortunate
to have heard the song “Hey Ya” before the
album came out. I hadn’t anticipated a hip-hop
album since Humpty. I even tried to get the
punkest of punk’s, Sick Boy, to give these
guys respects. He said they were doing something by they way they were dressing. That
was a start. Anyway this album isn’t even hiphop dude. This album has broken so many barriers and the way Outkast present themselves
through the exterior just solidifies that they are
different from any other “hip-hop” artist out
there. If you have not yet heard this album, buy
it, eat it, suck it, do what ever you may, just
please don’t call it hip-hop. Wait could it be…
yes I do like Hip Hop… no this is not Hip
Hop… man whatever you call this music, it is
good artistic music. “I’m leaning out the window/caressin’ indo feels body/ where’s the
party.” OK has come along way. - Casper
Pelican
Australasia
Hydra Head
On their website, Pelican says that this album
is a “fully realized project. It has a beginning
and an end, a theme and a structure.” They
elaborate no further, and there’s no vocals in
any of the songs. I’m puzzled about the concept. Little about this album suggests
Australia to me, nor do pictures of Asia come
to mind. The cover art does look like some
kind of tropical sunset. I guess that might be
relevant, I don’t know. I do know I’ve been lis-
from the Spindrift crew to date. I look forward
to viewing the yet unreleased film to see just
how the individual pieces work themselves into
the story line. – Sgt. Scrapes
http://www.drophit.net/spindrift/
The Staggers
One Heartbeat Away From Heaven
Haunted Town Records
The end result is an album that is creeping its
way into radio play due to its sheer brilliance. I
don't quite get the magic of DCFC, but The
Postal Service definitely hits home as one of
my favorite albums of 2003.
- Cody McClintock
I own the first Staggers release and like it
immensely. So when this new one showed up, I
had high hopes. I wasn't let down. These guys
have their sound down. It's very eclectic - a
solid blend of Oi, Psychobilly, Country, and
Punk. Their first album was a great release. I
love that album. This album is pretty good. It's
just that they didn't build on their sound. I
believe you get better as you go, so even
though the sound is very similar to the first
album, it still doesn't have the progress I expected. The highlights for me are the two covers
and the hidden tracks. However, I must speak of
the song "Abducted by Nazi's in Hollywood."
The opening lyric goes like this, "Theaters or
Gas chambers? It all seems the same, Make
believe in their stories, Studio gestapo, It's how
they tame." I believe they are calling the jewish
media, nazi's. Huh, interesting. They cover Hank
Williams (The original) song "I Saw the Light"
and The Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy vs. The
Red Baron." Both songs are fantastic. Now the
hidden tracks are my favorite. It's just Joe Blow
(rhythm guitar and lead vocals), a guitar, a tape
recorder, a four track and beer. I really like these
four or five songs. He should do a solo album all
drunk and low fi. This is a good album in the
sense that it's decent music. I can't recommend
this album to anyone who doesn't own the first
album. I know I'm kinda crazy, but it's my opinion
and it stinks. Killer label !!!! - Sick Boy
Spark of Life
The Strokes
If you grew up loving the upbeat electronic
sounds of the eighties and own the music of
'Kings of Convenience' or Erlende Oye then
'Give Up' will fit nicely into the sound track of
your life. The Postal Service started as a side
project between 'Death Cab for Cutie' front
man Ben Gibbard and 'Dntel' architect Jimmy
Tamborello. The two met through a mutual
friend and the collaboration began with a
swapping of tracks via snail mail. Gibbard is
based in Seattle and Tamborello in Los
Angeles, hence the band name I presume. To
simplify, Jimmy builds the structure and Ben
lays down his smooth vocal tracks. The beat
structures are ambient at times yet creative
and motivating while the lyrics seem very
observant, personal, calm, and collected.
Probot
S/T
Southern Lord Records
By the time you are reading this, the new Probot album
has been out for like two months and if you do not own it
yet, kill yourself now. This could potentially be the album
of the year, I can’t imagine another album even getting
close to touching this metal masterpiece. If you don’t
own this album, then you don’t know the significance, so
I’ll break it down for you. Dave Grohl put together 11
tracks and sent them to 11 of metals most elite vocalists.
You name ’em, they’re on there: Cronos from Venom,
Lemmy from Motorhead, fucking King Diamond, Tom G.
of Celtic Frost. They are all on there. I couldn’t find a
weak track if I wanted to. It’s just as hard for me to pull
my favorite track from the album because they are all
amazing. The entire album celebrates every facet of
metal and they couldn’t have pulled it off better. Have
you ever just lost faith in the music industry, like everything just blows ass? I was that way for a little bit but
now I am breathing a sigh of relief because now I know,
no matter how bad it gets, that there will always be an
album like this just around the corner. – Lee
www.probotmusic.com
Promises Made. Promises Kept
Loreli Records
Room on Fire
Rough Trade
I choose to classify Spark of Life under the
loose hardcore-emo-pop punk category.
Screams of discontent about society ring
soundly with long drawn out distorted reverb
on the guitars. A band that would most certainly reap the benefits of a live show, the
energetic passion shows strong in their music
and vocals. Fans of At the Drive-In should be
on the lookout for Promises Made. Promises
Kept. Spark of Life start a fire needed in this
drab apathetic world of carbon copied radio
friendly formula rock. The fire is burning for
these guys, maybe someone will notice them
before it burns itself out. – J. Hay
The Strokes have been the soundtrack for
many fantastic experiences in my life; however,
it wasn’t always that way. The Strokes first
came into my life through a commercial on TV
that was advertising their first CD, Is This It?, I
thought I would never support a band that so
literally commercialized their own music, and
who have too near mastered the indie/retro
look. Forgive me, it’s hard to write a music
review about The Strokes without mentioning
their influence in fashion. Anyway, back to the
music. The second album, Room of Fire,
shows no signs of experimentation from these
guys. It’s one hundred percent Strokes, folks.
In fact, I’m not sure if they should really give
this album any other name but Is This It? Vol.
2. But then, if the music remains equally
enjoyable from first to second album, then the
title and cover just become clothes over the
body. With that having been said, The Strokes
have not lost their shape; in fact, they’re even
better naked. - Christyle
Spindrift
The Legend of God’s Gun
Drophit Records
For quite some time, Kevin Thomas has been
at the helm of the space-rock outfit Spindrift.
Many members have come and gone throughout the years, but he has always remained the
constant force behind the band. After spending many years honing their sly-fi sound on the
East coast, the current lineup has gone West
(both physically as well as sonically). God’s
Gun is a soundtrack executed in the style of
the legendary composer Ennio Morricone. The
Italian Westerns scored by Morricone went on
to become some of the most popular genre
films in history. While Spindrift’s effort is largely in the vein of the great composer’s work, it
serves more as a modern tribute than an imitation. Overall, this is by far my favorite album
Rancid
Indestructible
Hellcat/Warner dist.
I had previously given this album a bad review.
Why did I give this album a bad review?
Because it is Rancid and they have gained
more popularity than SUV’s in the suburbs.
Instead of listening to the album and giving it a
chance I went in with the preconceived notion
that it was going to suck because it was on
Warner. Well two things for the people who
89
thought the same. Warner is only distributing
the album so they don’t have any influence on
the outcome of the album. Second, this album
is good. Let me say great! The fact of the matter is that Tim Armstrong is all about the
music. Whether it is up to your standards or
not it seems to me that he is giving it all when
it comes to writing music. “Arrested in
Shanghai” is one of the greatest reggae, folk,
punk songs I have ever heard. This album had
me hating Broady from the Distillers at the end
of it. The only thing about this album is that
Rancid’ s classic bass solos are not really contributed from Matt Freeman, which sucks, but
everything else about this album is right on!
Sometimes you just have to listen with an
open mind… I guess. - Casper
The Resistoleros
Rock n Roll Napalm
Steel Cage Records
I was dying for some more Fang songs to
come out, then I heard about this band. It has
Sammytown from Fang and members from The
Cheapskates, The Cliftons, and The Boneless
Ones. It is somewhat of a raw ass supergroup.
The music is tough and hard. Straight up rock
n roll very similar to what Electric Frankenstein
started out doing. Although I'll always have a
deep affinity for Fang, these guys are great. I
can see their next album making some waves.
Sammytown is part of the tiny percentage of
parolee's that complete parole. I happen to be
another. We are few and far between. Seek to
own this. It has thirteen ass stompin' tracks.
Steel Cage Records can do no wrong. Evil.
Bless The Resistoleros. – Sick Boy
Ripp Winkler
Pork and Loathing in Osh Vegas
Self- Released
The intro to this album sucks balls. From the
sounds of it, the band is in their car (recording
themselves all the while) talking about how
they are going to get in a fight with some guy
that was tail-gaiting them. That’s it. Then the
first song comes on and it sounds like something along the lines of a band on TKO
records mixed with some reggae/ska flava in
there. Well I pretty much liked everything else
that I reviewed… wait… this song is starting to
90
rock. What the hell… I am confused. They
suck…then… good rawking…Oh, my bad I fell
asleep and was dreaming that I was listening
to Zeke, bitch!!! - Casper
Sk8 or Die is GO!
The Ruminants 7"
Route 44 Records
I was skating in San Diego by the beach with
Casper, who writes for this here rag, and I
broke my board. So I went to the local skate
shop, which had a ramp outside of it. There I
purchased my current SCUM board. I had 'em
set it up and I took a couple stabs at their
ramp. I had fun, but I was way out of my element. New board, strange ramp, worried about
rulin' over Casper so hard I broke my board.
I'm not sure, but I was thrown through a loop. I
bailed a little too hard for my tastes and I quit.
We were skatin' with one other dude. He
came up to us and asked about Concussion.
Casper has a sticker on his car, AS ALL
GOOD READERS SHOULD HAVE! So we
told him we review music. He said he had a
kickass skaterock band and he wanted me to
review it. He didn't ask Casper 'cause he's a
dork. So here it is. I've got a ‘45 on clear
green vinyl. Very cool. I really like the SK8 or
Die side, which was the band Brandan, whom
we were skatin' with, was in. There are two
songs on here from SK8 or Die and three from
the Ruminants. I love the SK8 or Die side.
They play the original style of skaterock. Snide,
belligerent, dominating SK8 songs. There
should be more bands out there like this.
Unfortunately, everybody is all toned down
nowadays. At least I'll still cause a ruckus.
Great band. Now, The Ruminants are a bit too
lawdy-da pop crap. There is way too much of
this sound out there. Drop the pop, kill the hiphop, rap is crap, country is coming back, along
with the original hardcore attack. What I mean
to say is, "Go hard and fast or don't leave your
house." – Sick Boy
Texas Terri
Your Lips… My Ass!
TKO Records
Texas Terri gave me this sampler to her upcoming album when I did an interview for her
a while ago for Destroy All Magazine (RIP). I
was stoked to have been able to do this
interview. Texas Terri is one fine work of art.
Like a daisy in a battlefield full of mangled
bodies TxT is lying in the waits. It has been
awhile since she has been out with an album
and it might still be awhile until this album
actually hits the street. Famous producer
Jack Douglas lends his ear to this album,
which is a good thing. TxT still has the energy and angst she
had before. Raw
rock n roll in your
face. The songs
that are included
are “Brain
Explosion”, “One
Hit Wonder”,
“Dirty Action”
(which is a song
that is on a split
with Anti-Seen on
TKO records), and “Raunch City.” TxT
explodes my heart, damn it! - Casper
V/A: Punk Rock is Your Friend
Kung Fu Records
I was having a hard time with this compilation, on account that I really disliked it. Then I
brought my son in to view the videos on it
and listen to it. He's 8 years old and he
knows music probably better than most of
you posers out there. He really liked the
Tsunami Bomb video and songs. I'd have to
agree. I can't knock punkchick singers or
musicians. So my boy likes it. He thinks it's
cool. The Vandals are funny to him. I used to
feel the same. Oh well, my point is this comp.
is trying to befriend a younger generation.
They've done it and I must say it's still better
than most mainstream Top 40 these days.
The kids will love this. – Sick Boy
V/A: Punk Seven Inch CD
Volume One 1988-1989
Lookout Records
This is a killer idea. I also, see it as an
attempt to put validity back in a dead label.
These bands and the ones absent are what
made Lookout a great label in the late eighties, early nineties. The first notable band on
this disc is Corrupted Morals. These guys
rocked hard and solid. This is what East Bay
Punx were all about. There’s 5 songs from
them. It's just not enough. Since the band is
gone, it'll have to do. Next up, Isocracy,
again, definitive East Bay Punk. Al Sobrante
played drums. He played drums for lots of
classic East Bay bands. 11 songs on here.
Some just seconds long. Plaid Retina are
next, the band closest to old DRI. They
sound very close to the first DRI EP. Fuck
Yeah! This is so fuckin' good. 12 songs present. Then there’s Yeastie Girlz. Fuckin' funny
shit! Kinda like the Beasties, but way more
sexual and raw. It's three ladies with three
mic's. That's it.....and it's pretty damn entertaining. A lost gem. 10 songs from these
gals. Other bands on this comp include
Surrogate Brains (crazy good madness).
There’s a funny rearrangement of a
Skrewdriver song or as they labeled it,
Skruejiva. Great sounds somewhere between
ALL and the Descendents......ha. 6 songs to
enjoy; Kamala and The Karnivores (girl band).
That's how you describe these ladies. They
remind me of The Breeders, Veruca Salt, a
bit of Debbie Harry, and a touch of the GOGO's. Good stuff. My wife has me enjoying
this genre. Don't worry, I'm still a tough violent man. So the bands missing are
Operation Ivy, which everything they did is on
Energy, except for one song; Crimpshrine,
whom put everything they did on the CD,
The Sound of a New World Being Born on
Lookout; Sewer Trout, who has disappeared
altogether, good luck finding any recordings.
What was missing is Neurosis. I have no
idea why they didn't put these guys on here.
Maybe volume two will have 'em. Great CD.
Brilliant marketing scheme or tribute to the
good old days? You decide. Highly recommended. – Sick Boy
Lee Charron >> Lee
Jonathan Hay >> J. Hay
Christine Hughes >> Christyle
Paul Morrison >> Sick Boy
Davoud Kermaninejad >> DK
Rob Krautheim >> Sgt. Scrapes
Cody McClintock >> himself
Mickey Stamm >> Mickey
Chris Tobias >> Casper
Right: Hopefully this won’t be the last we see of
Neil Heddings. Photo: Greenwood. Below: It’s
kinda dark, but it’s a sequence of Rob Slob slamming and hitting his head at Washington St. He’s
got a bad habit of doing that. Bottom: Mad Mike
was going for the most impossible loveseat attack
and just piling. We didn’t think he was going to
make it but he finally sucked a couple up and
stuck the landing. Still, the slams were the best,
Mad Mike loves to mop up the flatbottom.
Two angles of Luke Sawyer’s broken femur. You
can see the break in the lower photo, but the
upper photo shows a better view of the gnarly
pin that’s in his leg now.
92
Sequence: Here we have Mad Mike, again.
This time he hits one of the many kinks in
this pool during his setup carve and slaps
the flat bottom belly first. Below: Patrick
Jilbert sent us his first attempt at color slide
photography, and it wasn’t a bad start. A
little blurry but excellent subject matter. In
this case the subject is Sid Enck’s hand.
Right: Assface had a nasty infection going
on, and after he slammed one time too
many it popped.
93
You must consume. You must buy stuff from us. Now that you
bought the Damaged VHS, you have to buy the Damaged DVD, and
while you’re at it you might as well get a shirt and a hat to
wear while you watch the video. That would be cool, huh, dork.
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96
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