When Lakai make adverts, they usually go balls out. On this occasion Guy Mariano and a cello do the hard work in Venice and end up in the drink. Great work by Federico Vitetta as ever.
In related rad Lakai news, make sure if you are in London that you are aware of the Go Skateboarding Day cruise tomorrow from 4pm with pro’s from their shoe team and Parlour skate shop. Details here.
LAKAI: VENICE TO VENICE WITH GUY MARIANO from LAKAI LIMITED FOOTWEAR on Vimeo.
Nick Jensen talks about how skateboarders and art have more in common than people give them credit for in the fight to Save Southbank from relocation.
French’s Stag Do consisted of 28 drunken skateboarders hitting concrete parks around the city of Munich in Germany. Fun times and concrete slaying were recorded from the debauched mission of Witchcraft’s finest and friends. Congrats.
Munchen This! from Pixels on Vimeo.
This is going to be one of the best edits you will see this week. Stereo’s Tony Karr once again lays down a huge bag of tricks on a variety of spots. From Boneless rail variations, dope boardslides, frontside flips onto rocks, to big gaps and tech steez for miles, Karr brings so much style throughout all of it.
This is Tony’s part remixed by Ira Ingram from the ‘I Heart Skateboarding‘ video that premiered last week in the US. Look out for it.
Have a look into Brewce Martin’s Skatopia ranch in Rutland, Ohio with Victor Pellegrin, Bastien Duverdier, Joseph Biais, Samuel Partaix who travelled across the USA. They cruised through there, skated naked, shot some shit and pulled in board-breaking tricks. It looks like a ghost town. Anyone know if Brewce recovered from that tyre explosion injury yet?
We’ve reached that turning point in the calendar, so with six months of 2013 now behind us we thought it’s time to share some of the best tracks that have graced the Crossfire stereo so far. Here are 20 of our faves compiled by Dave Palmer and Zac. You can add yours in the comments right at the bottom if you wish. Enjoy.
#20 – Wu Tang Clan – ‘Execution in Autumn’
Brand new tunes are buzzing around the interweb and the A Better Tomorrow album is being mixed down ready for launch later this year. Overall the Wu Tang are on the hustle and raring to go in the lead up to their 20th Anniversary. Our inner Killer Bees are buzzing on this, yours should be too.
#19 METZ – ‘Get Off’
The compression levels that this band push their shit too is immense. Add the fact that they can blow a venue up in one song and you are half way to understanding the mesmerizing thump of METZ. This video is so fresh as we press the live button on this feature that the animation ink is still drying.
#18 Fidlar – ‘Wait For The Man’
This track is a poor man’s Black Lips, there’s no doubt about that, but what it does so well is draw you into the chorus and make you sing it in the shower every morning making it legit. The album has been on the stereo a fair bit in here.
#17 King Khan & The Shrines – ‘Born To Die’
If there was a feel good for the summer track for this month it’s definitely coming from King Khan’s camp. ‘Born To Die’ is the first lick from the new album ‘Idle No More’ coming in September and shakes a groove like nothing else.
#16 QOTSA – ‘My God Is The Sun’
These desert stoners are back this month with a new album and have delivered another great dose of cactus pierced rock and roll. This tune has been on repeat.
#16 Savages – ‘City’s Full’
London via France girl gang Savages won critics with their May debut ‘Silence Yourself’, highlights of which come in the form of ‘City’s Full’, a vicious post-punk anthem that howls.
#15 Milk Music – ‘No, Nothing, My Shelter’
From their debut LP, ‘Cruise Your Illusion’, this track is arguably the best on the record. A pounding bass guitar drives frontman Alex Coxen’s from the heart vocal to progress into a touching cry. It feels like homage to Hendrix, the lyrics laced with emotion.
#14 Wax Idols – Sound of a Void
If this track does not make it onto a skateboard video this year we will be surprised. Taking influence from the 80s scene, ‘Sound of a Void’ chugs along doused in a production to die for. Download it for free and look out for their ‘Discipline & Desire’ album out on Slumberland this month.
#13 – Deathfix – ‘Dali’s House’
Any band that has a Fugazi member in their line up needs to be on the stereo. Deathfix here have released a long player that oozes pop sensibility that is doused in Washington DC’s famous punk roots.
#12 Baby Sitter – ‘Holiday’
This three piece from Victoria, Canada may not be on your radar yet, but once you enter their world of fuzzed out shouty garage punk, you will not be turning back. They can rage like a blunderbuss and they can also bring the tempo right down and make you feel all gooey. Dial yourself into their album ‘Eye’, you will not regret it.
#11 Forest – ‘The Great Greens’
If there’s one UK band to keep an eye on this year it’s Cambridge based Forest who have a dynamic blend of DIY scuzz that drips shoegaze and slacker steez on every track. If the strength of their debut self produced ‘Sweetcure EP’ is anything to go by, this lot will be the talk of the town in 2014. Download ‘The Great Greens’ here for free.
#10 Destruction Unit – ‘Sonic Pearl’
‘Sonic Pearl’ is colossal from start to finish, a stampede of thrashing drums accelerate in the wake of an infectiously catchy guitar line that screams in your face, making this A side blood-boil exciting. Not to mention a faint, Bowie-like warble hiding in front man Ryan Rousseau’s vocal style.
#9 Wolf Alice – ‘Fluffy’
Tipped at the top of all ‘ones to watch’ lists at the beginning of the year, Wolf Alice come good with ‘Fluffy’, a soft vocal sits on top of jangly guitars that bite at grungey bass lines, creating something politely reminiscent of ‘Last Splash’.
#8 Big Deal – ‘Dream Machines’
Taken from Big Deal’s second and aptly named LP ‘June Gloom’, this track has a typically Big Deal, brooding boy/girl vocal harmony. However this time around it’s matched with a deep dark bass line and compact drums. Now a four piece, they’ve taken the leap into rock band territory, a step that was dying to be made ever since 2011’s ‘Lights Out’ to enhance their already gigantic guitar sound.
#7 Parquet Courts – ‘Borrowed Time’
Crossfire favourites Parquet Courts stopped everyone in their tracks back in January with the re-issue of their 2012 LP, ‘Light Up Gold’ through What’s Your Rupture? Reaching a deservedly wider audience this second time around, their fifteen tracks of D.I.Y Americana punk sting. ‘Borrowed Time’ will have you tangled in their linear riffs.
#6 Weed – ‘Set Me Back’
‘Set Me Back’ seeps into your system and takes over, a duo of guitars create a powerful wall of sound coupled with a distant vocal chant that switches up to a powerful roar in an instant. They’ve got two key ingredients to a simple recipe; loads of distortion and heavy on the crash. It all blends together into a perfect smokescreen of noise, Canada’s Weed will make you feel great.
#5 Spring King – ‘V-V-V-Vampire’
Manchester based punks Spring King bring a filthy, upbeat garage punk sound to this list. This is brand new, it spits reverb into your face, it’s jagged, out of control, dirty and raw. Just how we like it. Look them up, they ain’t no one-trick punk rock pony.
#4 The Men – ‘I See No One’
Blistering live, The Men deliver hard, fast, melodic punk. This said, their fourth album ‘New Moon’ hosts a more gentle collection of songs that build track by track back towards the noise they make best, from the harmonies and acoustic guitar steez of tracks like ‘The Seeds’ to the electric genius levels of ‘I See No One.’ This is like Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth on steroids and is one of the best tracks of 2013 by far.
#3 Fist City – ‘Boring Kids’
Canadian surf punks Fist City bring a superior blend of garage and indie in their second album “It’s 1983, Grow Up”. ‘Boring Kids’ here is just one of the mammoth tracks on display across the 27 minutes of perfection on this collection of tracks. The church once called them out as being “Satan worshipping reptilian hermaphrodites” and that alone should be enough to want to know more. Get on this.
#2 Cheatahs – ‘The Swan’
This gang need no comparisons to bands of yesteryear; (*cough* apart from Swervedriver- Z-Ed) they are standalone awesome. Fast and heavy beats laced with finger blistering riffs and a cool, sedated vocal. We cannot wait for an album.
#1 – Pissed Jeans – Teenage Adult
There’s not another band out there right now that can churn out the riot filled carnage like Pissed Jeans. This rips harder than your fucking trousers as you bend over your car bonnet begging for mercy. New album ‘Honeys’ could well be the album of the year in these parts. Let’s hope you never break down.
Yep, this is like that ‘You’ve Been Framed’ cack but better, so sit back and wait to cringe at other people’s misfortune and think yourself lucky you had your shit together this week.
3. Dom Podmore warms this up with a drunken hill bomb. If I were him, I would have made up some story that the lamp post actually wiped off his beard and left him looking well dodgy.
2. Jordan Fyodor‘s face gets slammed into the floor on this failed ollie onto ply. Just take the stairs next time mate.
1. Nick Tryand loses his battle by doing the best impression of a radgdoll down this rail on one of Nigel Alexander’s many shooting missions across the pond. Breakdance, the movie would be proud of this one.
Send in your own slams to us and we will run them.
Heroin have announced their London video premiere for VIDEO NASTY today. The Total Refreshment Centre at Farleigh Place in Stoke Newington over East is the designated venue. Chuck N16 7SX into maps to find it.
It’s near to Kingsland road, 10 minutes walk from Dalston Kingsland Station and kick off is at 8.30pm, it can only hold 250 people, so get there early.
The first thing you notice as you slip Jim Greco’s ‘Hammer’ shoes out of the box is just how damn light they are.
I must admit, although instant comfort surrounded my feet from the toes to my heel, the thought of skating with clouds on my feet wasn’t what I had in mind from a pro who is known for slaying it…until they broke in that is. It didn’t take long either, and the weight of these are truly magnificent. So much so, that other shoes feel heavy in comparison now these have worn out over the last couple of months.
The vulcanized sole married my griptape to perfection, (as any decent skate shoe should) the heel was supportive via their foam cushioning and they look fucking ace. As we all know, suede does not last forever when rubbing against griptape so I suggest that if you are going to buy a pair of these, get two, because they are one of those Supra models that may not be available again in the future and you will be kicking yourself.
Zack Wallin explains his life via the DVS vimeo this week discussing growing up in San Jose, living in Barcelona, wood working, blood clots and more.
Matix presents Who Is Zack Wallin? from Matix Clothing on Vimeo.