The Young Veins were born out of the big Panic At The Disco exodus that happened last year which involved main songwriter Ryan Ross and kindred spirit Jon Walker leaving the band as they didn’t like the way it was going or the way they were controlled.
Ross and Walker then went on to form The Young Veins, a band rather far removed from Panic’s roots and firmly based in a love of 60s music and that whole retro musical movement. ‘Change’ is a great way for the album to open and it really sets the tone for the whole record.
It’s hard to relate The Young Veins back to Panic really although there were definitely some signs of the 60s influence on that band’s last album ‘Pretty. Odd.’ ‘Change’ is a track infused with summery goodness and its jangling guitars and lilting vocals, though clearly imbibed with that retro feel, also have a modern twist. Main songwriter Ross is barely out of his teens after all. There’s nothing pretentious about this music; ‘Change’ is just a straight-up feel good song which shows some serious skills on the writing front.
Winegums.
A new, and long overdue skater-owned-shop in Leeds will be opening on July 10th. 
Skate documentaries are – sadly – regularly overshadowed by the films that treat skateboarders as though they couldn’t begin to comprehend something as bold as a narrative. I’ve always been encouraging of skate flicks to have a little more talking and some more creative substance; despite the medium being able to stay afloat without them (I know when I was younger I was the sort to pick up magazines and just look at the pictures, I’m sure I wasn’t alone). Because when this is pulled off right (see Hot Chocolate or Under Wraps) they can reign among the best videos you’ve ever seen. Patrik Wallner’s visual journal of his trans-Siberian trip into some of the world’s most unique spots skated by some of the world’s most unique skaters not only achieves this, but its one of the best.
Bad Intentions is back with another huge line-up on Friday July 2nd.
This book is a rare gem that I happened to discover by chance inside an over-flowing basket left outside a bookstore in Jinbōchō, the bustling labyrinth of literature located in the centre of Tokyo. At this point in my trip – due to my very simple and limited grasp on the Japanese language – I hadn’t had a real conversation with another human in days. At least nothing that covered topics beyond whether my coffee was to stay or to go or whether it was illegal to take a picture here or not. When this book stumbled into my staggered sleep-deprived path, it stirred up some much needed conversation about a particular culture that transcends the language barriers I was currently tripping over – the short, sharp culture shock of skateboarding.
This is a competition for all those hip hop fans who really want to see a rapper rock a show.