Author: Crossfire

Categories
Buzz Chart

SSS

Yeah, it’s a re-release. What the fuck you gonna do about it? If you missed ‘SSS‘ first time around, then your 2006 would have been somewhat musically lacking; so be thankful to those good folks at Earache Records, because they’re doing most of you one hell of a favour.

SSS stands for Short Sharp Shock, and frankly, this Liverpool quartet couldn’t have picked a more appropriate name. They like their old-school thrash. They like their old-school hardcore. They like to fuse the two into razor-sharp, warp-speed slices of brutality like ‘Damaged Goods‘ and ‘Monster’, and then top it all off with a brilliantly obnoxious, fuck-you attitude (which I think is starting to rub off on me). Get listening if you know what’s good for you, you pricks – you can check out ‘The Beast‘ if you click the box that says play track.

The band have several dates lined up for the summer, including a brief jaunt with their labelmates and kindred spirits, Municipal Waste. Get those circle-pittin’ skills up to scratch for:

AUGUST:

Sun 5th – Southampton, Joiners (with Municipal Waste) Mon 6th – Newcastle, The Cluny (with Municipal Waste) Tue 7th – Liverpool, The Barfly (with Municipal Waste) Wed 8th – Glasgow, King Tuts (with Municipal Waste) Thu 9th – Sheffield, DnR Bar (with Municipal Waste) Fri 10th – London, Underworld (with Municipal Waste) Sat 25th – Bradford, 1 in 12 Club (with Municipal Waste)

Categories
Skateboarding Product Reviews

Crailtap Socks

Right, I’m not sure where to start really. I’ve never read a sock review before so don’t really know what to write about. Well here goes.

The first thing you notice about these Crailtap socks is probably how hideous they are. Argyle never suits, or has ever suited anyone, even golfers. I suppose at least these are made of some of the less offensive argyle out there.

I’ve got to say, they are damn comfy. Never thought I’d say that about a pair of socks, but as soon as I pulled them on over my gnarled-up skate feet I was walking around in a world of soft. One gripe I have with them is the lack of friction between the socks and the inner soles of my skate shoes, so I feel a little like I’m walking around on highly polished wooden floors. A few more tests and it seems to happen with most of my other shoes, so think about your sock/shoe combos carefully before going out. Safety first kids.

As with everything associated with the Crailtap family, there is a small Crail logo on the ankle. In pink silk stitching, just to add to how ludicrously ugly these socks are. If the argyle pattern doesn’t stop your girlfriend from talking to you, the pink logo will.

What I loved about these socks was the slogan printed on the sole of them, that no-one will see unless you are giving them a swift kick to the face, which won’t even hurt anyway because you’re wearing socks. The saving grace of having the words ‘Putting the sole in asshole’ made me piss myself laughing when I saw it. The girlfriend was only mildly amused and kept saying how worried she was that I was this excited about a pair of socks, and that I should probably sleep on the sofa tonight.

We all know that Crailtap don’t take themselves too seriously, which is why they have created such a hideous pair of footgloves. Argyle, pink logos, the word ‘asshole’: these all add up to a stupid pair of socks that give you at least 5 minutes of entertainment before one of them disappears into the void where socks hang out and fuck each other.

Moose

8/10


www.crailtap.com

Categories
Film Reviews

Transformers

Dreamworks & Paramount Pictures
Out Now

I’m a big Transformers fan; it was the comic, programme and toy of choice when I was a kid, who didn’t find joy in cars that you could turn into robots and blow up Lego houses?
Anyway this summers big, loud, Hollywood blockbuster seems to have taken the form of Transformers, which (as expected) is a frenzied adrenaline rush, and totally entertaining.

The film begins in the middle east somewhere, where an American military base has just been hacked and destroyed by mutant robots (The Decepticons obviously) and only a couple of American soldiers manage to escape. Meanwhile in Washington some unlikely computer experts are deciphering the sound waves, which a Decepticon robot left.

Coincidentally as this all unfolds, Californian teenager Sam, has just got his first car, oblivious to the fact the car has some sort of super power and fondness for him, comically using radio station songs and adverts to communicate with him. The car even helps Sam pursue the obligatory school hottie, making it clear the car is a good robot (an Autobot) assigned to protect him from the Decepticons (bad robots).

Transformers is basically a love story between a boy and his first car, and as a fan I would consider it to be quite faithful to the comics; the robots personas and characteristics etc.
This has to be one of the most spectacular looking CGI action films I’ve ever seen, the robots were so slick it was impossible to believe they weren’t real.

Despite the plot and dialogue being totally basic, there is some intensity in the actual robots; they are essentially automated life forms that think and feel for themselves, they should have been given a lot more time, instead of the US army who were really quite unnecessary. Sam is a brilliant character, funny, quick witted and very easy to watch, as are his parents and the robots, however the rest of the cast are so predictable and stale, watching them becomes old.. Fast.

The robots are all so perfectly adapted from the comics and cartoons; Bumblebee (Sam’s new car) is as charming and loving as a robotic car can be, and Optimus Prime (the leader) is perfectly executed; powerful, moral and brave, everything you expect him to be.


Michael Bay (director) is consistent throughout, maintaining a skillful technical eye, with the most up-to-date, brilliant special effects, carefully intertwined with the real life – live action. I don’t understand how this film can get a bad review, it does exactly what you expect, really really well, and even if its too loud and aggressive for some people, that is most likely to be exactly what everyone else will love it for.

Emily Paget


www.transformersmovie.com

Categories
Skateboarding News

New etnies skateboard team manager

etnies would like to welcome new Skateboard Team Manager, Heath Brinkley, to the company.

Heath’s been in the skateboarding industry since 1997, and before coming on board at etnies, was the Team Manager at DC Shoes for three years. Heath also started Logic video magazine, filmed full-time for City Stars and has filmed parts for countless skate videos over the years.

More importantly, Heath’s ability to recognize, assemble and nurture up-and-coming talent is what sets him apart from the rest. Names like Paul Rodriguez, Mikey Taylor, Sean Malto and Devine Calloway should ring a bell. Know that Heath played an important role in helping them get to where they are today, and worked with them to build some very respectable and influential skate squads. That being said, Heath is a modest man and his actions speak louder than his words, so expect new and exciting things from Heath and etnies in the near future.

Welcome to etnies, Heath!

Categories
Skateboarding News

VANS UK Tour update pt 1

4.36pm Monday 30th July

Nick Powley, Vans Team Manager reporting live from Prissick Plaza Car Park.

“It’s day 3 of the tour and I’m sitting in the bus watching Rogie bust his balls in the monstrous bowl e are just having a little time in the sunshine before heading to R-Kade Skatepark in Redcar for tonight’s demo. So far the tour has gone well, very relaxed rather than hordes of screaming kids asking for stickers and the kids have just been stoked and into skating with us.

After a visit to Slam City Skates on Saturday we headed over to Bay 66 where everyone really enjoyed the new course. Once everyone was exhausted we drove to Leeds that in our slow Bus took forever as boredom set in we decided a little redecoration was in order. We now have some lovely porn walls which also feature a pic of Bill Bailey and the Terminator. We soon got bored of decorating and turned our talents to making various accessories including a tennis net and bat inside the bus, was just like Wimbledon really but without the rain!

On Sunday we popped into Exit and had some breakfast in the corn exchange followed a gentle led stretch up at Hyde Park and then the demo at The Works that was another fun affair with the local kids getting stuck in and skating to. The afternoon ended with a really good pool session, Howard Cooke claimed undoubtedly the longest FS 5-0 ever done in it, but the boy who won over the fans was newbie Ben Norberg who got supertech on the rail with fs feebs to fakie amongst his bag of tricks on show.

Everyone is looking forward to a free day tomorrow where we will try and skate the newer parks at Dundee and Dunblaine rather than the traditional romp at Livi, see you in Scotland!

Winners so far of the FREE VANS bonanza are:

Saturday

Ryan Swain from North Yorkshire
Adam Collingburn from Retford

Sunday

Paul Tibbins from Stonebridge
Warren Greatrex from Essex

Monday

Steve Purser from Leicester
Ben Cope from Leeds

Enter via the competition pages daily to win….

Categories
Skateboarding News

Stevie Williams and Reebok UK Tour dates

DGK and RBK are bringing you a true legend this summer. Stevie Williams, along with the rest of the DGK team are touring Europe this summer with demos, signings and free skate lessons at loads of parks around Europe.

Of course, its a bit much to ask you to travel to Europe to see them, so lucky for you they’ll be leaving their mark on the wood and concrete of loads of UK spots and parks.

You can catch Stevie and the team on these dates, in these places:

20th Aug Shop Visit Slam City Skates London
21st Aug Tutorial & Demo Bay 66 London
22nd Aug Shop Visit Casino Leicester
Demo The Boardroom Leicester
23rd Aug Tutorial & Demo Creation Birmingham
24th Aug Shop Visit 50:50 Bristol
25th Aug Tutorial & Demo Lloyds Bristol
27th Aug Shop Visit Projekts Manchester
28th Aug Tutorial & Demo Projekts Manchester
29th Aug Shop Visit Exit Leeds
Tutorial & Demo The Works Leeds

Get these dates in your diary.

Categories
Music News

Ween are back with Europop!

Ween are back with a brand new 5 track CD called ‘The Friends EP‘ and it’s nothing short of hilarious!

Dean and Gene Ween have added EuroPop to their multi-genre record releases and hooked up with Reinhard Raith, the man behind the Crazy Frog song! Yeah! Think about it?! The result is a cheese fest the size of a German sausage festival with 4 other tracks in tow for your aural pleasure that cover squelchy dub, latino and a love song. The EP is available as a limited edition picture disc 180 gram LP and as a digi pack CD with a special full colour yellow CD inside and is out now.

This EP fuels the release of the new Ween full length album “La Cucaracha“. Here is Dean Ween’s take on it: “The album kicks ass, I’m not really sure what else to say about it other than I really can’t wait for it’s release. There’s not a wasted minute of music on there. We wrote and recorded a ton of material before we whittled it down to it’s present state. We recorded the album to two inch 24 track tape and it sounds amazing. As always, it was produced and mixed by Andrew Weiss.”

Expect this record to bug you. Out soon on Schnitzel Records.

Categories
Music News

The King Blues tour!

The King Blues will be playing the following dates:

August:

6th – Camden Purple Turtle, London
9th – Ripcurl Boardmasters Festival, Newquay
11th – Rebellion Festival, Blackpool
15th – Barfly, Birmingham
24th – Festival, Reading
25th – Festival, Leeds

www.myspace.com/thekingblues

Categories
Skateboarding News

Win 2 pairs of Vans a Day for 2 weeks!

To celebrate the Vans UK Tour that kicks off this Saturday 28th June Crossfire will be giving away a pair of AV Era and a pair of Half Cabs exclusive to this site only EVERY DAY.

We will also bring you news from the tour via PowleyVision, (a new uniquely bald and chaotic way to travel on the road) to fill you in on the teams’ whereabouts.

Go to the competitions page to enter daily. The winners names will be released daily and the shoes will arrive to your door 3 weeks after the tour finishes. Please note colours are subject to availability and may not be the same as you see on this page..

VANS UK TOUR DATES:

28th Jul – Shop Visit Slam City Skates, London / Bay Sixty6, London. (2pm)
29th Jul – Shop Visit Exit, Leeds / The Works, Leeds.
30th Jul – Shop Visit Mischief, Stockton / R-Kade Skatepark, Redcar
1st Aug – Shop Visit Focus, Glasgow / Kelvingrove Skatepark, Glasgow
2nd Aug – Ramp City, Blackpool
3rd Aug – Shop Visit Dazed / Stoke Plaza
4th Aug – Shop Visit 50:50, Bristol / DLH Funday – Dean Lane Skatepark, Bristol
5th Aug – Mt Hawke Skatepark, Mt Hawke, Cornwall
6th Aug – Shop Visit Flavour, Newquay & Vans Summer Sessions till 12th Aug

Categories
Music News

Never Mind The Bollocks…

… Here’s The Sex Pistols, again.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the classic Sex Pistols album, Never Mind The Bollocks, it will be re-released as a series of special vinyl pressings.

Re-creating all the original artwork from the first editions’ front, back and onbody, and finished in heavy-weight paper sleeves, Virgin Records will be issuing the band’s four classic singles – “Anarchy In The UK”, “God Save The Queen”, “Pretty Vacant” and “Holidays In The Sun” through out October on a weekly basis.

The series will finish with the release of the album in heavy weight vinyl with a seven-inch insert of the track “Submission” and poster – just as the album was originally released on October 28th 1977.