Super Wild Horses are back with a new video for their track “Fifteen” this week. It was directed and edited by Melbourne gal Mel Baldwinon a cheap digital camera on a scorching hot day around the back streets of Northcote and North Melbourne.
Check out the album Fifteen on Aarght! Records if you are looking for something new.
Punk rock rulers RED DONS have announced 3 UK dates starting at the end of April this year as part of their European tour.
The 4-piece whose album Fake Meets Failure was voted as one of the top 10 ten records of 2010 here at Crossfire will be coming armed with a new 7″ tp pick up too. Click here to read a full interview with the band and get hyped on the dates.
Friday 29th April – London @ Garage (Neat Neat Neat)
Saturday 30th April – London @ Lexington w/ Forgetters
Sunday 1st May – Brighton @ Hydrant w/ Forgetters
The Welsh Kill City machine is marching forward at pace this month with two new edits that went live to the web last night and abunch of future plans.
Flow riders Sam Pulley and Jake Collins who both smashed our Xmas Jam back in December feature in a new edit from an event hosted at The Boardroom in Leicester and also have some of their best tricks that were from the Xmas Jam itself, watch them below.
Team slayer Lee Dainton is currently working on filming for a new video called Rookies that is scheduled to come out this summer and hopefully there will be some new footage of Caradog Emanuel. The dog has spent the last 3 months tagged up from the rozzers as a result of being involved in a drunken punch up and has had to sit out an 8.30pm curfew so it’s good to hear that the shackles are finally off.
Tour wise, the Kill City team are planning a mini UK tour this year with friends at Witchcraft Skateboards and are set to hook up with the Euro’s for a Hobo Code trip. Watch these fresh edits below and look out for their Spray series decks in your local skater owned shop.
Beach Boys fans will be stoked to know that the original version of Smile will finally be released this summer. This majority of the tracks on this record have been released on other albums, most notably the Smiley Smile album that was re-recorded in 1967 and and their 1993 boxset, Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys that was available in 1993 and Brian Wilson‘s 2004 version where he tackled re-recording the record alone.
Earmarked as the record to follow the popular Pet Sounds, Smile was left on the curtting room floor due to a dispute between the band and label Capital Records and has been in big demand from fans since.
Look out for it when the sun comes up this year as it could well be your sound of the summer.
Thanks to the Tweaker blog we have managed to wake up to this little beauty today, a documentary on skateboarding shot back in 1966 aptly titled The Devils Toy. It was shot in Montreal, Canada by film maker Claude Jutra in a time where it was very much frowned upon to be rolling the streets on clay wheels, throwing rocks at the cops and generally having the best time ever. The cops hated skateboarders who rolled in trench coats and turtle neck tops and confiscated their decks only to be given back to kids at the local ice rink where skateboarding was allowed.
Doused in a sincere narrative to accompany classic black and white footage The Devil’s Toy may well have set the tone for skateboarding being a punk choice in life from the off and most certainly would have been the first ever Canadian skateboard video ever made. Watch it here and look out for some seriously funny B-movie sounding quotes such as: “Beware, the youth of the world is on the move and their aim is to take over!.”
Vincent Alvarez, Raven Tershy and Daniel Espinoza all feature in this latest edit from Lakai HQ, all 3 of them bring more than a 4-pack to the party.
Enjoy this and note that their Spring 2011 footwear collection can be found on their site. Follow your nose.
There are skateboarders who rip and those who shred, there those who can make a statement and leave a legacy at a specific street spot or park and there are those who write history. Australian skater Shane O’Neill seems to be ticking all of those boxes so far and seems to push his technical ability to the very highest level.
This week a video compilation of footage was posted on his youtube channel featuring Shane skating from when he was 14 up to when he turned 20 including some unseen and unused footage filmed mainly by Chris Middlebrook.
Watch the good work of Melbourne’s finest here.
VICE Records
OFF! are led by Keith Morris, original vocalist of Black Flag, and since he quit that gig in ’79, fronting the Circle Jerks. Whilst many of Keith’s contemporaries are happy to just rehash the hits, or offer a decaffeinated version of their former selves, OFF! are a damn near return to the pissed off and adrenalized Hardcore fury that came busting out of Hermosa Beach like a bottle rocket. Dammit they sound GREAT! The band also numbers bassist (and latter day producer) Steven McDonald, of those original South-Bay teen punk brats Red Kross, guitarist Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides) and Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt/Hot Snakes) beating the skins.
Following up a debut seven inch, Vice Records have now released this swanky 4 x 7″s collection, with sixteen fast ‘n furious songs (the title being a play on Black Flag’s ‘First 4 Years’ album) and, in a further hark back to their roots, all the artwork is by Raymond Pettibon whose striking images adorned ‘Flag’s record sleeves. And of course Raymond is the brother of the bands founder founder/guitarist Greg Ginn. Keep up at the back!
Keith doesn’t have a University Education, a professional career… or trust funds to prop him up, but his trademark snotty fuck-you vocals have somehow kept this Southern Californian Punk drop-out alive thru the years, and only the most cynical of listeners will fail to appreciate these ripping jams, ‘cos the music is absolutely smoking, timeless Hardcore shred from the source… tune in, turn on, get OFF!
Pete Craven
Enjoy this video of OFF! playing live on a mini ramp in the US.
Heaven, London
02.02.11
Words and Photo: Alex Penge
Influential, imitated and important. A couple of words that are usually thrown around when describing Marxist post-punk heroes Gang of Four. The seminal 1979 debut ‘Entertainment!’ introduced a style of minimalist scatter, often leaning towards the unprecedented funk side of punk rock. Jon King’s clamouring excerpts into Situationism partnered with lead guitarist Andy Gill’s monotone acknowledgements, ultimately challenged the view of structural consistency for guitar based pop. Gang of Four were surely the sound of a generation, but funnily enough the sound of the next generation with renewed homage from bands such as Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party since the turn of the Millennium. Can the quartet live up to their legendary status tonight?
Emblazed in bright amber lighting, Gill greets the crowd with distorted chimes of punk rock guitar. “They think you’re a winner!” roars King as the crowd is given a taste of new material from the band’s newest album in sixteen years. You’ll Never Pay for the Farm is thunderous yet poignant, clarifying why many people have fallen in love with the group’s brand of punk-funk. Despite the absence of original bassist Dave Allen, ‘Ether’ continues to sound fresh and vibrant. New bass player Thomas McNeice certainly has adapted well without drastically altering the complexion of the four-piece.
King continues throughout to explore the stage in animalistic fashion and is at his philosophical best with ‘Paralysed’ and new track A Fruitfly in the Beehive. Both songs are met with appreciative applause, undoubtedly a true testament to the insightful outlook on topics such as hyper-consumerism. Anthrax presents the crowd with its first sign of punk anarchy as King and Gill play a game of catch with a guitar tossed around harmlessly on stage. ‘I must check my life insurance payments are up to date’ mutters Gill.
If instruments were not enough, the next victim is a microwave oven for the controversial 1982 single I Love a Man in a Uniform. For the next four to five minutes the London venue is now punk’s answer to the avant-garde. Unusual percussion is added to the song through King’s smashing of the microwave with a large metal rod. Surely symbolic embodiment of the band’s critical view towards consumerism and the perceived intrusion of capitalism on society. Powerful stuff!
Not a bad way then to lead to the anthemic Damaged Goods, which unsurprisingly attracts the loudest cheers of the evening and is religiously echoed word by word by the audience. Comebacks can often be a damp affair in the music world, as the smell of the green stuff can always be too enticing to turn down. Gang of Four however are a pleasant exception to the rule of the comeback and their consciousness is still as relevant and vital as ever.
Element’s Mark Appleyard features in Volcom’s Stone-Age video clip archive this week. Click below to watch it.