Tweak Bird
‘Undercover Crops’
Mini album / Volcom Entertainment www.tweakbird.com
Back in 2010, the Crossfire office was buzzing on the debut Tweak Bird album. The crunching riffs of doom layered with catchy vocals played openly on this stereo here for months, but where the fuck have this band been since?
As we live in a society where the earth seems to spin at a million miles an hour faster than back in the 90’s due to this stupid thing that was invented called the interweb, we expect far too much from bands these days, but with Tweak Bird, they probably stuck up their middle fingers and said, “fuck it, we will drop our shit when we are ready”. And here it is, seven new tracks that will rip your ears a new beat with a plethora of new, filthy riffs and a cool arse vibe only associated with the Brother’s Bird.
Testing the psyche with a drug induced, robotic chant of ‘EVERYONE IS PARANOID’, Tweak Bird launch Undercover Crops with every stoner’s nightmare. A bong-full of repetitive words that you will never probably forget followed by what they are known best for, driving beats, crunching riffs and sing-a-long vocals that make up the track ‘People’, available for free download on this page.
Next track Phychorain will be engrained in your conscience for years once you hear it. They take this dream scape with aplomb, spreading imaginary rainbows across and underlay of haunting samples and baritone guitar riffs that would appease any Sabbath fan. The Weight only furthers the storm with an extension to Psychorain. These could easily be played back to back live and may have even been written in the same session. Who knows, but a breather is offered for the laid back vibes of Pigeons which sees the brothers come down a level, in a similar way to how Janes Addiction do so well. Once they’ve managed to completely pull back from dense riffs, Bunch O’ Brains brings the new material to a boil once again with slamming, repetitive slabs of stoner bliss and catchy vocal melodies. Seriously amazing stuff.
The mini-album ends on familiar riffs with Know It All and paves way for next year’s UK tour and full album that is said to be in the works. Overall, this 17 minute drug-fueled aural delight is yet another splendid offering from the two stoners that know best. Get Tweaking.
There are so many skate jams all over the world celebrating Halloween these days that we decided to bring a selection to you on one plate so you can get the teas on, hit the sofa and indulge in the delights that others have spent hours tirelessly working on. There will be more to surface over the next few days, so once you have taken in the gore from this lot, expect a few more to be added as they drop.
If you have photos or footage to send in from your Halloween experiences, do it.
HALLOWEEN IN THE TRANSWORLD SKATEPARK!
The Transworld park was treated to a private hell sesh. See who turned up for the ride here:
KILL CITY SKATEBOARDS vs CRV WKD vs GOON TV
The Kill City team Carve Wicked in this amazing new clip from Lee Dainton and Richard P Walton featuring the Horror that has been unleashed from the Welsh skate scene for this Halloween. Explosive stuff from Goon TV.
HELLFEST 2 AT PRIME SKATEPARK
Members of Witchcraft, Real and many more get stuck into Plymouth’s Prime park for Hellfest 2.
Missed this? How, it’s all over our site?! No real explanation needed, just click play for the outcome of our very own Halloween Massacre Jam at the BaySixty6 park this week. More goodness from this can be found here.
HALLOWEEN HELLRIDE AT THE DIAMOND MINE
Total annihilation from Russo, Tershy, Jaws and many more!
MAJER HALLOWEEN JAM – BROWNSVILLE
Unlike the Saffron Walden locals, the Majer Crew actually all dressed up for their local skate park jam and that’s why they are featured here instead.
BUCKY LASEK’S BACKYARD HALLOWEEN BOWL JAM
When Bucky Lasek throws a Halloween Jam in his backyard bowl, you either go, or watch the footage. Check this session out. Ridiculous skateboarding, amazing outfits, fun times.
BURNSIDE SKATEPARK HALLOWEEN JAM – PORTLAND, OREGON.
Fueled by the Dead Kennedy’s classic tunes, Portland’s skate scene get amongst the crete for a session celebrating the park’s 22nd Birthday. 9 minutes of gnar right here.
FRANKY VILLANI’S HALLOWEEN SECTION
Costa Mesa skater Franky Villani chose Halloween as a date to unleash this beast of an edit that he has been working on for a while. If you are tired of watching bowl shredding, here’s one from the streets.
LOWCARD HQ MINI RAMP SESH!
There’s nothing like a Ween filled mini ramp sesh, especially from the lifers at Lowcard who put in some serious work. This looked like it was a blast! Push play for Jerry Gurney, Jack Given, Toad, Zak G, Manbaby, and Adrian Mallory.
The Devil rolls the only way he can, and that means that he is mostly alone. Volcom’s park in Costa Mesa takes some from Tyler Mumma’s roasting hot attire.
Insane skateboarding went down at Saturday’s Massacre jam at BaySixty6. This session will not be forgotten due to the amount of NBD’s that were on show during the day. It was ridiculous stuff! Here’s a recap of what went down.
The day kicked off with a rail and stair session on the lower right Bay set with Adam Moss (who should take notable props) and many others getting stuck in. As the seconds counted down to zero, it was Alex DeCunha who stole the reddies at the final honk, with a tailslide shuv and then a tailslide flip-out on the rail amongst more during the sesh.
Luke Jarvis was one of the first to discover that a frontside boneless off the wall hole was actually possible. There’s not much space between coping and the Westway, so this jam session steadily brought the new wall to the ground. Death Skateboards’ Rob Smith made sure he was the first person ever to heel block the steel and nose block the wood in legendary style. His signature classic was followed with dog pisser’s, a blunt fakie pulled in off the nose and a fastplant fakie attempt that most would have passed on. Savageness from the Dogger was unleashed.
Some of the Carve Wicked crew were present today, led by Director General Sam Pulley, whose fs smith bash to fakie attempts on the coping were the catalyst for Lee Blackwell to pull in a handplant, Ewan Bower to fully tweak a sick extended fakie rock, a fakie one-foot dogpisser. Whilst others rocked the coping and fell to the flat, Salar Kooshki took a tre flip fakie, Jake Snelling dipped his nose in off the coping, Alex DeCuhna had an airwalk fakie and Tom Steele ended the proceedings with a perfect blunt fakie right on 0.01 on the clock. Other stuff went down, names evade us. It was ‘kin ridiculous!
NBD time. Rob Smith blocks out his nose on the wall hole.
By this stage of the day, the bowl was roasting hot and an hour of intense skating followed. The new bowl, lauded by many who rode it today, was the sterling work of Croyde Mirandon and Michael Groenewegen, who had flown in from Holland to touch up the park in prepapration for today’s sesh. Sadly, they were not present at the opening jam after their hard graft on the new park, so it was an honour to have them present today.
Adam Moss brought crooks to the party early doors.
As you can imagine, the fight to get into the bowl sesh was pretty fierce – two at a time, head to head. It’s pretty amazing that we didn’t have any serious injuries considering the speed most were hucking tricks at. Heroin’s Craig Questions dropped one of the very best lines of the day with back to back tricks that had every tail smacking the frozen coping as he crawled out of the woodwork after a somersault! Amazing handwork, footwork and 80s steez work to match. Talking of steez, Sox rocked the bowl on the day, but the footage was frozen on the tape and too glitched to run. Kill City have an am on their team who has unique flair on a deck and a smile for miles when he is popping cheeky one-foots, tail blocks, alley-oop shit and fun-filled runs that have Blender appeal. Both Sox and Craig Questions’ Scott are pure entertainment on urethane and a joy to watch.
Jesus (aka Matt Dinnadge) assisted every NBD with his special powers. This fs smith was laid down for his followers.
The ‘asleep at the wheel’ skills of Dannie Carlsen graced this session today. Riding for Alis and coming in from Copenhagen, the Dane took the overall ‘Ripper of the Day’ award with some absolutely insane skateboarding. It was one of those sessions where every time he dropped in, you just wondered what else was about to drop, due to the stupendous amount of tricks in his bag! Blunt tre flips, flip fakie’s – I could go on and on. Watch the footage, it ws non-stop.
Rob Smith hand assists a blunt fakie on the all new vert wall. First one ever.
Superdead’s Dennis Lynn flew in to show us that his technical lines at mach 10 deserve some serious praise. His fs smith grinds are not to be messed with pushed everything for the longest grind. Again, sorry Denis, but the deep freeze mangled your footage!. Creature’s Carl ‘Potter’ Wilson and Witchcraft’s Mikey Joyce both threw stalefish, frontside airs, boneless moves and smith’s into the pot. Ewan Bower treated us to his incredible pop and admirational style with fakie hip action and much more, Camden upcomer Salar Kooshki was pushing his weight up amongst the big boys as were the Waterton Brothers, Keiran (age 10) and Callum (12) who both had tail cracks from the entire platform for their consummate performances. Both have no fear and can provide back d’s, smiths, handplants and airs on request. Abrook brothers revisited? Time will certainly tell.
Ewen Bower sports more style than grey hair. Fully extended fakie rock into space.
Lovenskate’s team are made up by some killer skaters at the moment. ‘Chav Dan’ Hill took his speed demons out on the bowl. He took home some dough in the Longest Grind comp with a frontside 5050 that took the shallow end apart with over 25ft of coping destruction. This frenzied session aided by the sound of trucks gnashing included Lynn, Smith, Potter, Salar and more. Brendan Ryall is said to the be the only other person who has fs 5050’d the shallow end to date (only last week) so props to the Chav Dan for holding it down when it counted the most.
You will not find a more laid back slayer than Dannie Carlsen.
What a day. Thanks so much if you came down and big ups if you dressed up for a day of Halloween hammers. Massive thanks to Ben Larthe (photographer), Sirus F Gahan and Al Hodgson (filmers), all BaySixty6 staff, and of course, all of the guest riders from Witchcraft, Creature (UK), Lovenskate, Kill City, Heroin,Death Skateboards and Stand Up skate shop.
Zac
Potter takes a stale in the bowl.
The next skate event at the Bay will be on Saturday 15th Decemberfor the 10th Anniversary Crossfire Xmas Jam. Put that in your dairy as one not to miss and expect a huge day out for all.
Pulley hucks one in for Kill City.
Denis Lynn praises ‘Chav’ Dan Hill who took longest grind with a lengthy fs 5050.
CRV WKD.
Mitch Wheeler slings a backslide heel flip down the lower set.
Creature’s Salar Kooshki warms up over the hip frontside, before doors.
Matt Ransom places BaySixty6 on terrorist alert.
Potter finds himself feeble in the hole.
Louis Antoine tail slides the abyss.
Trojan Skateboards’ Jonathan Shepperd rocked the wall jam.
Ewen pops another for the hell of it.
Alex Pasquini and Adam Moss on the lookout for a Miracle.
Talk of the Devil…here’s Jesus!
Yes Dan!
A fast plant fakie in motion by Rob Smith.
Mr Knight back smith’s the Bay rail during the day.
Sox killed it. Get well soon Jake, we missed you ripping the park today.
Free stuff!
No apologies for the outfit kids but thanks for slaying it all day.
Exciting folk/punk prospect Crowns have unveiled a new video for forthcoming single ‘Parting In The Porch’which is out 29th October 2012. Vocalist / guitarist Bill Jefferson comments on the track:
“It’s a nostalgic letter to my younger self, remembering parties on the beach, chasing the girls. Really it’s about the realisation that you never actually lose that dangerous innocence.”
The single is taken from debut album ‘Stitches In The Flag’set for release 5th November 2012. The 11 track record was recorded with Tim Goalen (Mark Ronson, Crowns EP) and Richard Woodcraft (The Vaccines, Arctic Monkeys). It’s set to highlight an already promising year for the Cornish band who racked up live performances at Reading & Leeds Festival, Bestival and a support slot with Blink 182 over the summer.
Following his footage in the new ‘Ordinary Madness’ DVD that is premiering around the UK this month, Mark ‘Radman’ Radden has unleashed 10 of his faves from Harlow’s concrete playground. Get on his skills right here.
Tom Penny‘s section in Skate Sauce’s ‘Hard Times but Good Times‘ video is now online. Watch it here featuring some great MACBA times and read the full review of this DVD if you want more of this here.
Birmingham’s Kris Vile woke up this morning £3000 richer after taking the hot spot in the UK Championships last night in Hemel’s XC Skatepark. Keith Walsh came in 2nd (£1800) followed by Superdead’s Chris Oliver (£1000) in 3rd. Watch Ryan Gray’s speedy coverage from the street finals and loook out for more dropping today from the Pool comp and Ladies comp.
To call this a masterpiece does not even justify Anberlin’s sixth studio album ‘Vital’.
It seems there is in fact much more to Anberlin than head-banging, mosh pit worthy breakdowns and rowdy screams based around the lyrics of heartbreak and growing up. The band make a stand for this with songs ‘Other Side’ and ‘Someone Anyone’. ‘Vital’ is more mature. It’s sophisticated. It channels their music into a different dimension. With frequent Innerpartysystem meet Nine Inch Nails synth effects pursuing ‘Vital’ down a path of more modern musical styles.
Vocalist Stephen Christian describes it as ‘youthful, energetic energy’ saying its their most aggressive record yet, which is agreeable when listening to the eleven track album. The piercing first song can safely represent ‘Vital’ as a journey of nostalgia and tension. Continuing this adventure with ‘Little Tyrants’, Stephen takes the opportunity to define his dynamic tone, from the fiercely monstrous aggression in the chorus straight through to the melodic, more delicate verses. Yet its not just vocal power, let’s not forget the overall great effort from the band who indulge in supreme guitar riffs and paramount beats in the flawless bridge.
The album is far from a bore, rattling the airwaves with ‘Intensions’. The exploding arrangement involves a crunchy guitar intro darting into an apocalyptic synth melody. Lyrics: ‘I want a love that I don’t deserve/I want the gold that I didn’t earn/I want a fire that will never burn’ are fundamentally catchy. What makes ‘Vital’ really glisten and flourish is their seventh track ‘Desires’. The veteran musicians craft this by exploring the unknown, experimenting with challenging rhythms and shaping a melody nothing less than extraordinary.
Only Anberlin could come up with this recipe. The essence of experts coming together to create something refreshing can be heard in ‘Type Three’. Unlike the rest of ‘Vital’ it’s almost a ballad, the instrumentation laying the foundations to a melody that tells a story. It’s evident they pushed the boundaries and every song emphasises their treasure like talent.
Anberlin maximise their music ability and as the album artwork suggests it does blow everything out of the water. Possibly saving the best until last is ‘God, Drugs & Sex’ captures the epic sound of Amberlin as a whole. This track also features guest vocals but this time from US singer songwriter Christine DuPree, who has previously appeared on the New Found Glory- ‘Coming Home’ album.
‘Vital’ is an essential album and will hopefully inspire change and further creativity in alternative music.
Back in 2010, the Crossfire office was buzzing on the debut Tweak Bird album. The crunching riffs of doom layered with catchy vocals played openly on this stereo here for months, but where the fuck have this band been since?
Photos: 
Exciting folk/punk prospect Crowns have unveiled a new video for forthcoming single ‘Parting In The Porch’ which is out 29th October 2012. Vocalist / guitarist Bill Jefferson comments on the track:
Zack Wallin joins DVS Shoes with a brand new edit filmed at a DIY spot with perfect blues this morning. Look out for Paul Shier in the mix!
Following his footage in the new ‘Ordinary Madness’ DVD that is premiering around the UK this month, Mark ‘Radman’ Radden has unleashed 10 of his faves from Harlow’s concrete playground. Get on his skills right here.
Tom Penny‘s section in Skate Sauce’s ‘Hard Times but Good Times‘ video is now online. Watch it here featuring some great MACBA times and read the full review of this DVD if you want more of this 
Anberlin