Remember Aiden Campbell‘s Small Wheels welcome clip back in September last year? If so then you will know what’s coming. This kid from Orange County has a huge bag of goodness proved again in Mike Manzoori’s latest video excursion. Wonderful stuff yet again by etnies.
This week’s featured video has the lot. From the Dukes of Hazzard inspired narration to the various individuals who bring great skateboarding, James Tupper and his crew from North Carolina have delivered 30 minutes of fun across all terrain. There are no sponsors involved here, just straight-up scene documentation and shredding, just as it should be, so get the teas on, sit back, and take in a gem.
Mogwai
Royal Festival Hall, London
24th January 2014
Mogwai have just claimed a top 10 album in the UK for the first time in their 19 year career with their eight studio album Rave Tapes. Despite a generally sombre mood which you come to expect from the Scottish post-rock heroes, the band are clearly enjoying themselves and extremely thankful to be playing to such a huge audience at the prestigious Royal Festival Hall.
Rattling through a mammoth 18 song set with just the odd “thank you very much” in between songs, the band took the audience on a true sonic journey – the crunchy ‘Rano Pano’ taken from 2011’s Hardcore Never Dies see’s the audience commit to a light coordinated headbang, while ‘Take Me Somewhere Nice’ and the soaring The Hawk Is Howling opener ‘I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead’ provide truly spine-tingling moments.
Very often with bands so deep into their career, audiences favour certain albums and tracks, however there was no visible consensus among the crowd tonight, with newer material like ‘How To Be A Werewolf’ raising as much of a cheer as Come On Die Young’s ‘Christmas Steps’. There were some omissions from the set which I’m sure would have been appreciated by a good proportion – no songs from the band’s debut full length getting an airing tonight – though this is forgivable given the amount of tracks the band have at their disposal.
The heavy emphasis on electronics from their more recent work was often in stark contrast to the heavy distortion of the more guitar led tracks which at times made the set feel slightly disjointed. However, this has become a trademark calling card for the band who have never released an album with a similar tone to the last. Where other post-rock bands have been happy to go through album after album, creating quiet/loud, quiet/loud tracks, Mogwai pretty much perfected this (see ‘Christmas Steps’) and moved on to completely different soundscapes.
Despite their clear modesty, there’s still so much about Mogwai to get excited about.
Joe Parry
Photos by Victoria Roper and Robin Christian (B&W)
Contemporary shoegazers Cheatahs have made a debut album (review here) that has graced our stereo in here for the last couple of months. Self-produced and sounding fresh despite a nod to 90s bands such as Swervedriver, this four-piece are not shy of whipping up an incredible soundscape. Dave Palmer spoke to them ahead of release to find out how this long player made it onto vinyl.
Tell us how Cheatahs began?
We all moved to London for different reasons initially but ended up meeting and starting this band because we were friends. Nathan is from Edmonton, Dean from San Diego, Marc from Dresden and James is from Leicester.
Before you all united and formed Cheatahs what were your past musical ventures?
James and I were briefly in a band when we first met but didn’t really get to connect over music again until a few years ago. I’ve played guitar in a few bands as has James and Dean but never in something like this where from the beginning it has been us four. From first show to first album.
Wichita have put out some amazing bands, signing with them must have been a huge inspiration. Have you dealt with labels much in the past or have you kept it all DIY ‘till now?
Signing to Wichita was pretty fun actually. We’d met them and got drunk and talked about our favorite bands, a lot of those bands they had put records out for back in the Creation days. We’d previously put out an EP on Marshall Teller Records and a few 7″s on friends labels.
You’ve always worked without the influence of a producer and called all the shots in the studio yourselves. Were you not tempted to team with a producer for your debut?
We were tempted with getting someone in to do the mixing but a “producer” was never something we talked about. We work in a pretty self-critical way that can sometimes be pretty brutal so a producer would have just gotten in the way, or may have talked us into putting something out we weren’t happy with. At least this time around.
You guys have a gargantuan guitar sound. Who are your guitar heroes and main musical influences?
Link Ray, J Mascis, Kevin Shields, Neil Young.
SXSW, Primavera, a US tour with Wavves and Fidlar, and you also toured with Metz. Are you looking forward to having some time off touring?
Touring is a really great, strange and unique experience. Especially the way we’ve had to tour this year. In a mini van, all in the same hotel room/friends floor. It takes a lot out of you and the whole thing is designed to set you up for 30-45 minutes of fun once a day. Luckily, those 30-45 minutes are usually worth it.
Amongst all your gigs last year, how did you cram in the time to craft your debut? How did you find the trip to the countryside, and why Cornwall?
We stayed in last summer! And it was a decent summer in London as well! After being able to play a lot of the songs live for the first time on the Wavves tour we came back and locked ourselves into Dean’s windowless studio and finished it. The trip to Cornwall seems like years ago. It was a totally different experience than recording the record. That is when we wrote it so our heads were in such a different place than when you are trying to realize it. Next time we are definitely doing it in a studio with windows. Or at least not over the summer time. Conrwall was where we found someone nice enough to let us rent their thatched cottage and make noise all day long. It was in a valley so was fairly secluded. We’d recommend it.
So did the songs on your debut materialize while out in the sticks? Or have you had them down for a while?
A couple of the songs were written in the studio this summer but most of them were the ones we demoed in Cornwall last autumn and tweaked after the USA tour.
Of all the great new bands you’ve shared the stage with over the year do you have any personal favourites? Who do you think is going to make the biggest noise in 2014?
We’ve been really fortunate to play with really nice people this year! Metz are seriously the nicest guys ever and are one of the best punk bands in the world right now. Really looking forward to hearing what FIDLAR come out with next, who are also great guys. Our friends Primitive Parts are getting material ready for a record so we are pretty excited to hear that, and to play with them at our release show at Birthdays in February.
So what’s next for you guys after your debut lands? Where do you want to sail this ship to?
Most probably playing as many shows as we can. Let’s sail to Jamaica, heard it’s nice this time of year!
Cheatahs’ debut album is out on the wonderful Wichita record label on 10th February. Head to their site to order one, find them on Facebook and find them on tour at the following shows.
If you think back to 26 years ago when Mike Vallely caveman’d into his first video part in Powell Peralta’s Public Domain, it’s likely that you would never have laid down £50 on him one day being the vocalist in Black Flag. Fast forward to today and the announcement that Vallely is the official singer of said hardcore legends is a firm reality.
The difference is though that Black Flag shot themselves in the foot during 2013 so badly that this news is no longer being regarded as cool. Luke warm in actual fact, as Greg Ginn’s stubborness has removed Black Flag as we know it from being top of the punk rock league. With Ron Reyes bailing out to the reformed project last year due to embarressment from Ginn’s own narcissism and the much publicised ongoing war with splinter group ‘Flag’ headed up by their first vocalist Keith Morris, Black Flag’s own implosion has left many wondering why we should bother with any of it at all. Speaking exclusively to Rolling Stone today Vallely says:
“We feel that, generally, the band fell short in 2013 because of a difference in the philosophies of Ron and Greg – it just led to dysfunction. It could have been better. Black Flag can be a stronger, more cohesive, tighter band. We want to prove that.”
With Reyes now gone and Ginn and Vallely reunited once again in a different project (following their ‘Good for You‘ band) Vallely seems stoked on his new position: “He (Ginn) told me he made a mistake by working with Ron and trying to pander to a sort of old-school thing.” added Vallely. “He just thought that I was the guy for the job. . . I’m not gonna say no to that.”
So, here we are in 2014. The skateboard scene is filling its pockets and has opened its core door to corporations just like it did back in the 80s, and Vallely said yes to a marriage with Ginn (after managing him for a while too don’t forget) and now finds himself at the helm of Black Flag. He is still skating and runs his own brand, probably still wrestling, still doing what he wants in life and not having to flip burgers for a living. On one hand you have to commend him as he is most likely living a dream, on the other though, that dream may well become his worst nightmare filling boots that are forever going to be covered in more shit than the floor of a GG Allin show. Only time will tell.
The City of Atlanta gets the tourist treatment from Justin Brock who alongside Sam Buxton, Ryan “Zeke” Clark and Dan Plunkett skate spots and talk history.
Neen Williams lays down 15 tricks on the 15 stair of hell at the House of Hammers. That backside tailslide will take some beating.
In a world where competition to impress is rife, fueled by multi-million dollar companies who throw their ca$h about to buy out the weak, a break from the norm is needed for clarity reasons. In this case, The Worble are here to take us all back to the beginning to remember that skateboarding is all about…fun.
In their own words: “Western culture has destroyed enough in its commodification of the more-than-human world. Perhaps skateboarding can do more than turn the logic of consumption and destruction back upon the culture that unleashed it. Perhaps skating can do more than grind away the American Dream.”
Skate Edit of the Week comes from Vermont, a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States from a crew who look like they have the best fun in the world and go skating whenever they want, not when they are told to. Get motivated, ‘Like Leaves‘ and choose skateboarding.
Bonus edit…
Amazing European footage of Dustin Dollin, Tom Karangelov, Shawn Hale, and Chris Pfanner has dropped on the Ride Channel today. Watch Karangelov on that big fat tube that Greco killed , it makes you realise just how sick it was.
Wallies, no complies and straight out of the box fast feet and cheeky skateboarding is what Sneep serves up in this bonus clip from his footage in the Bombaklats video. Loving this today.