Concussion 16 by Davoud Kermaninejad

On the Cover: This is the second time we’ve done two covers with one being a pool shot and one being an art cover. Depending on which copy you picked up, you’re either getting a sick Sam Hitz b/s smith grind over the death box and light, taken by Charlie Middleton, or you’re getting the Slasher-inspired art cover done special for us by Mike Giant.

Concussion Staf f Senior Editors Davoud Kermaninejad Jonathan Hay Senior Art F ag Le e Charron Photographers Jason Murray Charlie Middleton Bruce Rodela P atrick T refz T erry Roland Contributing Photographers Bryce Kanights Mik e Y accarino Jai T anju Rhino Death W easel Chris Carnel Joe Hammek e Ken Goto Anthony Donez Nate L awrence T ony F armer Daniel V aron Chris W ellhausen Richard W alch Brendan Nakahara V ideo Editor Dave Amell W riters Ari Evan Gold Scotty Greathouse John Ste ele P aul Winger Holly Anderson Karma Tsochef f Jeremy Fish Sonny Mayugba Shane Scaf fone Sick Boy Artists Mik e Giant Alex P arde e “Interns” Sarah Drexler Christine Hughes CONCUSSION MAGAZINE IS COPYRIGHT © 2002 BY CONCUSSION PRODUCTIONS. NOTHING FROM THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE USED IN WHOLE OR PART WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHERS OR COPYRIGHT OWNERS. CONCUSSION AND THE CONCUSSION SKULL LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF CONCUSSION MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTED BY DESERT MOON PERIODICALS, SANTA FE, NM. - WWW.DESERTMOON.COM

CONCUSSION WEBSITE: WWW.CONCUSSION.ORG SEND ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO: PO BOX 1024 SANTA CRUZ CA 95061-1024 OR EMAIL CONCUSSION@CONCUSSION.ORG. DOMESTIC SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE $20 PER YEAR UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED CANADIAN AND MEXICAN SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE $30 ALL OTHER INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE $35. SINGLE ISSUES CAN BE ORDERED THROUGH THE MAIL FOR $5 IN THE CONTINENTAL U.S. OR $10 ELSEWHERE. FOR ADVERTISING RATES, PLEASE CALL 510-236-3922 OR 831-471-0501 OR VISIT OUR WEB PAGE AT WWW.CONCUSSION.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION. ANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN FICTITIOUS PERSONS MENTIONED IN THIS MAGAZINE AND REAL PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. Concussion is Made on Macintosh. Concussion Magazine PO Box 1024 Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1024

art this page: alex pardee

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Left to Right. “One for Jai” - I painted this one for my compadre Jai Tanju. I’m so lazy that it hasn’t gotten to him yet. It now has a plaque affixes to it that reads “That man is a success”.....which proceeds to describe the type of person that Jai is - a beautiful one. BMC4LIFE. “Crow Caws”- Israel hed riddem this board for a day and it broke. The face of the fish had slide marks through it, same with the tail- so I had to redraw’em to give you the whole picture. Once it’s redone it’s going back to Israel. “Scribble Scrawl”- This was Dusten’s board. It broke in a day. He was bummed. For this particular deck was perfect- dusten’s been through plenty of boards and knows exactly what he’s lookin’ for- I could tell this board was appealing to him. So, instead of junkin’ it, I revamped it. Soon to be back in Dusten’s arms. Spraypaint and Sharpie on natural wood. “Schwanna’s refurbish”- This was Jason Strubing’s board (A Jason Adams punk point, with Justin Bell’s leopard/Cadillac graphic). Jason rode it and retired it. I stole it from him, drew on it, and gave it back to him. Streaker and paint pen. “Grief relief” - This board is a reminder that alcohol is not a solution. When you can see it color, it reads “empty to sorrow”, and also, “empty tomorrow”. The whole idea came about when my friend got hit by a drunk driver. It sucked. Spraypaint with paint pen. “The broken one”- My own rendition of pictures I saw in an animal encyclopedia. I got the broken piece from Consolidated and the animal book at Goodwill (95 cents). Paint pen and Sharpie. “Misc.” I just like configuring shapes sometimes . Paint pen and Marks-a-lot. - Scotty

W e V i e r t C U d Pro

Lee, MagnaSlider

If you are interested in having your product reviewed and/or ridiculed by us, email concussion@concussion.org to find out how.

Magnatron Skateboard “You’ve got to have mag-nitude for the Magnatron” – Lee, gearing up for the Magnatron. “Get that thing away from me.” – Joel Chavez, upon seeing the Magnaboard . “I don’t want anything to do with that.” – Sam Cunningham, when asked to help demo the Mangatron board. “They should make these things for rollerbladers .” — Somebody “Do a Bacon-to-Backside 180!” – Somebody else This has got to be one of the single stupidest skateboard related inventions ever. Remember when you used to take a bike inner tube and wrap it around your board so your feet were strapped in, allowing you to jump and spin 360s with ease, or tweak those method airs off your jump ramp? Well this is pretty

much the same idea, only with magnets. And it costs a hell of a lot more than an inner tube too. In a move worthy of Big Brother, Concussion recently got a hold of a Magnatron Skateboard for review. In case you’re lucky enough to have not encountered them before, Magnatron boards magnetically stick to the special magnet shoes they come with. We first encountered the Magnatron when Magnatron Pro, Steve Bacon showed up at the Crib Ramp, jumping around and grabbing his board. We thought it would be funny to jump around like Steve, so we were down to review it. We made a mistake, though. Those things are dangerous, and you should stay far away from them. We took the Magnatron board to the local street spot, thinking we could ride it like a snowboard but that didn’t really work. The magnets were too weak to do method airs, or 360’s, or any other snow-bro tricks, and they were too strong to be able to kick the board

away from you. So, all the magnets seemed to do was make us slam, which we all did, over and over again. But really, that’s what we deserve for thinking we’re funny. These things aren’t even good for a joke – they’re the same as rollerblades; and not funny. http://www.magnatronskate.com/

Jonathan, no handed backside sweeper. Sick, dude!

eW V i e r t C U d Pro Oust Bearings So this guy Carl calls me up one day and starts talking about these bearings he’s making. He’s going on and on about technical bearing specifications, torsional loads, and a bunch of other shit that means relatively nothing to me, so I step in and say, “That’s all great, but let me explain our view of bearings. We pretty much use Bones Swiss as the standard that all other bearings are measured by, so I am only interested in whether your bearings are better or worse than Swiss.” He confidently replies that they are indeed better, and resumes his monologue about spin tests that beat out Swiss, etc. So finally the bearings arrive, and I get two sets, a blue set which are supposedly designed for street (more resistant to torsional loads) and a red set, which are just plain fast. I gave the blue set to Joel Chavez, and he promptly lost them. Hesitantly, I swapped out the Swiss I was riding and put the red set in my wheels. Well I’ve been riding these things for several weeks now and haven’t noticed any difference between the Oust bearings and Swiss. Which is a good thing, because for the most part, every other bearing is inferior to Swiss. But these things are fast. When I bail and my board lands upside down, all four wheels continue to spin until I stop them from spinning. The only other consideration I would have is how long these things last, and time will be the determining factor there. Hopefully I can ride them up in Aumsville in a month or so, and that will be the real test of speed. Carl says they last even longer if you put the special bearing spray in them they have, but he didn’t send me any of that stuff, so I cannot attest one way or the other. All I know is these bearings are pretty damn good. This guy also told me that he has Rune Glifberg riding them, as well as a couple downhill dude including Steve Olson and Duane Peters, so they must have something going. Now if they can only enter the market at a lower price point than Bones Swiss, they’ll be set. S-One Wrist Guard Now we at Concussion with our ‘fuck pads’ stickers are not one to embrace safety gear, but there are two things I will wear on occasion, an ankle brace and a wrist brace, but only if my wrist is really, really hurt. I hate wearing those things and hate wearing any extra gear unless it is absolutely necessary, like if you’re at a park and have to wear a helmet or whatever. S-One makes helmets and wrist guards, and they have a whole fancy line of pro-endorsed products, including this Salman Agah signature wrist guard. Now I could care less whose name is on a wrist guard, the one I usually use I stole from an office I used to work at. It is soft and made of neoprene (like a knee brace) and has a Velcro strap and one plastic plate on the bottom. The SOne wrist guard claims to be orthopedic and has 8 other bullet points on the package, but I only care about how it feels. And it is comfortable.

The reason most wrist guards are not, is because they have a plastic piece on the top, where my wrist is usually swollen. This wrist guard has some breathable mesh stuff and 3 velcro straps on the top. The velcro is way too long, so maybe you have to cut them to fit or something. Like I said, I hate wearing wrist guards, but next time I have to because my wrist is so tweaked, I’ll have a good wrist guard ready to go. http://www.s-one.com/ Deathbox Skateboards Deathbox is a new pool skating related company distributed by Tum Yeto, and I think that Dave Hackett and some other old dogs are involved with it, but I lost my press release so we can’t be sure. Anyhow, the boards are a cool flat black with white and red screens, with art reminiscent of the Jim Phillips 80’s Santa Cruz style. The tails are semi-square so you can do tail blocks and still get away with your other tricks, if you have any other tricks that is. The square tail looks really funny on the mini board they sent, but what the hell. Anyway, check ‘em out, and go grind some deathboxes or do tail taps on curbs like Corey O’Brien circa 1987.

Aggroklchr Skateboards I must say I was seriously impressed when I received a couple of these boards to test out. They are pretty much works of art on their own, with a unique artsy varnish color process and burned-in etching on the top and bottom of the board, you can tell these things are made one at a time and are indeed one of a kind. And not only do they look nice, but they have a good concave which is not too gnarly but not too flat. I didn’t even want to ride one of the boards they sent because it was so rad, but I was all over the other one and it rode like a champ first day. I don’t know if these guys are working on a team or not, but pretty much these boards hold their own regardless. In a world where skateboard companies are a dime a dozen and any asshole can buy some blank decks and screen their stupid logo on there, Aggroklchr decks have definitely found their own niche. Check one out or keep riding that Flame Boy deck, I don’t think these guys give a fuck either way. Not sure where you can get a hold of these decks, but I’d bet that if you gave Brandon at Mandatory Grind in Modesto a call at 209.575.5837 he can tell you.

1984 Jeans Vans - Cardiel 2 Have you seen the 1984 video yet? It’s sick, pretty much they have a 90% drunken scum bag team that kills all terrain, with a few street dogs thrown in to round things out. Anyway 1984 makes jeans and other scum bag essentials like foam hats and 80’s rocker t shirts with the black sleeves. The jeans are the flagship product in their line though, and I like ‘em because they already look all dirty and grimy even though they’re not. So you can look like a shit bag right out of the box, no need to go get your ass kicked or fall off your skateboard 63 times to break these babies in. The jeans are also comfortable and rugged, so when you do fall off your skateboard 63 times, they won’t split or tear in the seams. You can also wear these jeans to your blue collar job and fit right in with the rest of the carpenters, day laborers, and pigeon shit cleaner-uppers on the crew. No matter how you look at it, 1984 jeans are a win-win situation. http://www.skate1984.com

For some reason I thought the new John Cardiel shoe model would be low-tech, sort of like the Geoff Rowley shoes, which is what I usually skate in. Instead, these shoes are really hi-tech, maybe too much so for me, but then again, I don’t do giant 360 bowl transfers like Cardiel. Wait, maybe with these shoes I will be able to do 360 bowl transfers. In fact, I’m going to the skatepark right now to try one. Ok, I’m back from the skatepark, and I didn’t even come close to landing a 360. I only managed to spin 90 degrees, and then I slammed on my back and twisted my ankle. What a scam, these shoes didn’t improve my skating at all. On the other hand, they are comfortable to limp around in, and they do have a cool Anti-hero eagle logo on the tongue. http://www.vans.com

DAF I’m not sure what DAF stands for. Acronyms are crazy because you can make them stand for whatever you want like, “Doodoo And Feces” or “Dude Andy Farted”. I think it stands for “Drunk As Fuck”, but feel free to make up your own meaning. DAF gave us a deck, t-shirt, a hat and beanie. All the stuff was good and the deck was ideal for street schralping, good shape and strong wood. I don’t think I was drunk enough to test these goods. I’m sure that these products reach peak performance only if you are thoroughly intoxicated.

Send us more free shit to review and consider for this page. Email concussion@concussion.org to find out how.

ws sk a t ePa rk r ev i E Disclaimer: Opinions are like assholes, everyone’s got one and they all stink. That being said, here are our park reviews for the issue. As always, if you don’t like ‘em, go check these parks out and form your own opinion, asshole.

named The Dirty Hessians from local SLC. A good all around open free park. Plus there are other fun parks in surrounding areas. Millbrae/Peninsula YMCA Skatepark, CA

Portland, TX

Portland, Texas In the armpit of America, known as the Gulf of Mexico, a new skatepark is born. Portland Texas, the small town ten minutes outside of Corpus Christi has a fun new cement park. With an 8’ figure eight bowl and 7’ wall with vert being the biggest obstacles there. There are a lot of trannies with a good overall layout and variation. This park has lots of fun lines but no flat banks.

(This issue’s winner of the “What the Fuck Were They Thinking” Award)

This park looks like they ran out of money half-way through building it, because one side of the park is all cement, and the other side is ramptech funboxes. The result is that lines are few and far between and everything is way too small. There is a good hip and a few other things that might be kind of fun -- if you could skate them without killing yourself on one of the thousands of tiny, rockhard acorns that litter the skatepark. That’s right, some genius decided to build the skatepark under dozens of oak trees, so every time the wind blows more acorns fall on the skatepark. Think of the scene

Adam Morgan, Ceres stinker

Ceres

Be careful fellow derelicts, they are Pad Nazis over there. Day use is $4.00 (with pad rentals available) and they are open till 9pm with lights. If you can stand the heat, there is usually no one there during the day (not even the monitors). I was told the cops are supposed to show up and ticket those not wearing pads and or wristbands. (Hint: go to Staples or Costco and purchase a $5 box of pink wrist bands and then you’ll never have to pay for this park!) Warning: Careful boys, in Texas, they are not as friendly with account of the green, so tread lightly. A three day trip can turn into 2-5. So quit bitchin about pads, cost, or the heat, and fucking skate! Enjoy America, go see the Lone Star state. Park City, Utah Who ever deemed Texas as being “a whole different country”, had never visited Utah. This Park City skatepark has a great down hill set up so you connect lines throughout the park. There is a 10ft bowl section with pool coping. No Pads are required!!! Bmxs’ and razors are allowed though. With spines,a bowl section, hips and flatbanks, there are definitely lots of sick lines. You might even run into some friends

from Thrashin, when the Daggers throw jacks into the pool and you’re getting the idea. To top it off, you have to pay $5 an hour and it’s run by the YMCA, which means full pads, although you can threaten the park employees, and they’ll leave you alone. One skull, two if they figure out how to keep the place acorn-free. Ceres, CA Ceres is located near Modesto, and is the antithesis of the Ripon skatepark. Supposedly all of the Modesto area kids that used to get in the way at Ripon now have their mommies drop them off at Ceres, because that park is a full on street park. Complete with a variety of flat bars, ledges, stair set ups, and other street style-obstacles, Ceres is sick if your name is Mike York or Kenny Reed. If you’re looking for tranny you’d be much better served going to Ripon, as the two hips the little the park affords are not very good. In a way it’s a great thing that they built this skatepark, because it satisfies children’s need for a dumb little park, but I am not of the opinion that one should not street skate at a skatepark. Skateparks are for vert bowls, and street skating is for the streets.

SB 994: The Drama Continues… For those of you who don’t know, the current “skatepark” statute automatically expires this year. There is legislation, (SB 994), designed to replace the expiring law. This legislation is currently pending and would enact the old statute indefinitely. The legislation has gotten a big push from the skate industry and almost all the skate companies have articles on their websites urging you to send a letter or an email to your local congressman, so that the legislation passes. The whole industry is in a tizzy, with companies describing the situation as desperate, and some industry types even claiming that if the bill doesn’t pass, all the skateparks in California will close. As usual, the reality of the situation is lost amongst the hysteria. The statute defines skateboarding as a hazardous recreational activity, and so limits a city’s liability for skateboard injuries. If this was all it did, it would be unobjectionable. But it also forces city’s with skateparks to adopt ordinances making it a finable offense for anyone to skate in a skatepark without a helmet, kneepads and elbow pads. As Dave Amell’s article in issue #13 argues, the law is legally unnecessary as the judiciary is likely to consider skateboarding a hazardous recreational activity even without this law. The law is also probably practically unnecessary, because according to the Judicial Council Report on skateboarding injuries, no claims or lawsuits have been filed against cities since the original skatepark legislation was enacted. IASC president Jim Fitzpatrick claims that the law is politically necessary in order to convince city council types to build skateparks, and maybe it was in 1996, but we’re a long way from those days. Anyway, I’m sure the bill will pass, because according to the legislative report, it doesn’t have any opposition. Still, if you don’t like to wear full pads in a skatepark, don’t email your local legislator to support this law, regardless of what is emailed to you or what you read on skate websites. Even better yet: While the industry is in hysterics over SB 994, the California Legislature is enacting SB 1994, which “requires that persons under 18 years of age wear a helmet while operating in-line or roller skates, a non-motorized scooter, or skateboard.” This means that underage street skaters are going to get tickets for not wearing helmets, and the rest of us are going to be sweated by cops as we skate home from the bar. The congressman who is enacting this bill “indicates that the student council from an elementary school in his district suggested this bill in response to an serious injury suffered by one of the students while riding a scooter.” Unreal.

Hey, it’s Mike V. doing frontside pivot, he should write a poem about it, or a song, or make a video where he talks about it. How many outlets does this guy need? Seriously.

“Greater Vancouver is a vacation destination alive with excitement and energy. Set amidst the breathtaking natural beauty of spectacular mountains and pristine ocean scenery, Vancouver’s alluring charm is a perfect balance of cosmopolitan flavour and outdoor adventure that will bring you back again and again.” That’s what the vacation guide said, what they failed to mention is the hookers that work in 30 degree weather in mini skirts, the huge heroin problem and the blatant use of the word ‘wicked’. I journeyed to Vancouver for Slam City Jam, the annual contest with no real intentions, I mean, sure, I had to write an article for Concussion but it didn’t matter what I wrote because nobody reads this shit anyway. I did stumble onto some remarkable attractions in Vancouver though, like Renee Renee, the fluorescent enigma. I met Renee Renee at the Hastings Bowls, located right next to the contest. First off, let me say that Hastings park is...uh..how do you say? Off the hook. Well-poured concrete, pad-free and plenty of lines to be had. On the day that I went the notorious Renee Renee was handing out cash for ‘hot tricks’. I’m not talking, “here’s ten bucks for that sweeper”, I’m talking “I got a hundred bucks for a backside tailslide revert in the big bowl”. There was some serious shit going down. The session was small but packed with heavy hitters like, Jimmy the Greek, Omar Hassan, Brian Patch and Sluggo just to name a few. I also happened to run into Bobcat from Sleestak.net, he eased my parched throat with a cool Budweiser in a sweet Sleestak.net ‘coozee’ (see photo and look for Concussion ‘coozees’ coming soon). Renee Renee was still handing out god knows how much cash when I decided to check out the contest. About the best thing at the contest was the all-you-can-eat breakfast and lunch buffet that the generous folks at Slam City offered to people with VIP wristbands. To be honest that almost balanced out all the awful shit that you had to deal with to get in, what with the never ending bag searches and constant wristband checking, it was like my own little nightmare. Also, this year they decided to corral the VIP’s into the one small caged area, so, in turn the photo opportunities were minimal. Don’t even get me started on the street course, wait, I take that back the street course wasn’t horrible, but I was disappointed in the lack of transition. Oh well, Vancouver had plenty to offer besides this crappy contest, at least that’s what I hoped. I journeyed into downtown Vancouver to find some marijuana, I had heard that getting weed here was like Amsterdam, I shoulda known that was bunch of bullshit. Don’t get me wrong there are bars there that you can smoke grass in, but you can’t buy it there. Long story short I cruised all over when out of the blue this guy tried to sell me some Tommy Hilfiger sunglasses and I told him No thanks, what I really needed was weed. We proceeded to do the deal, 70 bucks in Canadian for an eighth (like $35 american), not bad. Thing were looking up and they continued to look up for the rest of my stay. I would like to get into more detail about the rest of the trip but it’s all sort of a blur. What I do remember is some stripper offering a hit of ecstasy and said she’d make out with me for my VIP bracelet to the contest. Beyond that....I don’t know. - LZA

Sure, you ca n see Heath er make ou Brother bu t with girls t in Concus in Big sion make out w ith her your you can imagine what it’s like to self.

How many times can you find Gold on his cell phone in this article? Find them all and win a bag of feces. Thanks to Sleestak.net for the Hastings overview

the heart of the e in the ll r a a , s ty b p lu m c st strip ay, it’s e s the be there on Sund e m ti e Som ’t go g. Just don ghetto. t home ...prayin a e r a ls gir

started a fight he got super wasted, This guy was classic, d this photo, ppe sna I ore bef nts and got worked. Mome es. tim od Go on blood. he was choking on his

Wave of the future, action polaroids. No body’s doin’ that shit. You saw it here first. The Greek frontside air in the big bowl.

Thanks for the brew Bobcat. All you kids, get with it, sleestak.net, the most comprehensi ve northwest skatesite ever.

Renee Renee showing off all his dolla dolla bills y’all.

Canada’s ra d no hassles you can drink beer .T at the skat ep how cool hat means you can you are an show your ark, d puke th friends ere too

can’t hat you ough. W out with n e s s le harm aking asted, m t the bar, runk. Carnie a at Gary, super w a sloppy ass d c is y is r h a G is . see table der the Kosik un

For subscription order form, go to our merchandise page on p. 88 ps - just kidding about mailing out subscribers last

words and photos by davoud 42

When I told a few of my non-skating friends that I was going to Arizona, the first thing they said was, “I hope you’re not going to Phoenix.” Normally this would be a daunting comment as I prepare for a road trip to someplace I have never been before, but as non-skaters, they don’t understand that cultural wastelands also often double as skateboard meccas in disguise. And as one of the most prominent cultural wastelands in the American west, Phoenix is no exception to this rule. On the contrary, for every hick with a mullet there is a drained pool somewhere, and for every neon strip mall there is an impressive skatepark. Ok, well maybe there aren’t that many skateparks, or maybe it’s just not possible to equal the number of strip malls in the Phoenix area (or mullets for that matter), but in any case you get the point. So early on a Monday morning in March, Dave and myself loaded up his trusty Saturn with all of our gear, coolers, photography equipment, skateboards, etc., and hit the road. After a late start we found ourselves

Davoud, Lemoore

not be bringing any hookers back to the cruising down the seemingly endless, boring Highway 5. A

room. It was only after paying our $30 and

few hours into the drive we took a little pit stop to check

scoping out our dingy room that we bothered

out a supposedly “perfect” pool that Farmer gave me direc-

to check the pool, and were pleasantly sur-

tions to. Farmer will pretty much skate any piece of shit

prised to find a drained shit roman in the

pool and not complain about it, so I knew when he was

back. It wasn’t anywhere nearly as good as

saying how perfect this pool was that it was going to be a

the pool we skated earlier in the day, but

good one. And he was right. Fucking perfect. About 10’

whatever. I got some grinds on the facewall

deep kidney, hip and steps on the left, death box on the

the next morning at 6:45 as we left to go to

right, shallow end steps tucked away nicely and perfect cop-

the Salton Sea.

ing. We could have ridden that pool all day - it was soooo good - but we knew that if we did we wouldn’t get too far

Talk about wastelands, the Salton Sea is the

out of California, and that wasn’t really the plan. So after

number one wasteland in California. I

an hour and a few beers we dutifully got back in the car and

don’t know why anyone would choose to

continued down the 5.

live there unless they were such gnarly tweakers that the place no longer seemed

Since we lagged too hard leaving the Bay Area, probably

oppressive and barren. Lucky for us the

skated the pool too long, and most definitely got stuck in too

temperature was only in the low 80’s and

much shitty LA traffic, we got into Palm Springs after dark

we were not subjected to the stinking rot of

and there was obviously no chance of getting to skate the

dead fish cooking in the Salton Sea sun.

Salton Sea pool that evening. So we called it a night and set-

Unlucky for us, the somewhat famous pool

tled for the shittiest motel in Indio we could find. “No guests”

I had been waiting years to skate was one

the female Indian motel-keeper said to me sternly, eyeing me

third full of mud, muck, water and cement

with disdain and doubt as I tried to assure her that we would

chunks, and we did not have any buckets or shovels with us. So we didn’t get

Indio roman. Shit pool is better than no pool.

to skate it. Boo hoo. Whatever, half of the experience with the Salton Sea is just checking out the fucked up landscape, and we certainly did that. We skated the pool in the other abandoned motel across the street for a few minutes, but its shallow end was full of sand and the pool was a piece of shit anyway. So it was finally off to Arizona, down the 10 and over the border into the land of rattlesnakes, scorpions, and cacti. I was hoping to see some native Arizona wildlife, but all we saw was miles and miles of shrub and cactus peppering the rocky landscape. Occasionally, makeshift RV towns would pop up on the side of the road randomly. That’s the kind of place Arizona is apparently, in some places it’s so flat and barren you can just offroad your RV and create a new town. I wonder if that’s how Phoenix started.

Anyway, as we finally got into the greater Phoenix area, which also includes the suburbs of Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Mesa, we decided we should get right to the point and head to the Chandler skatepark, since our plans to stay with some of Dave’s friends had fallen through and we didn’t have anything else to do. Well the Chandler park was probably everything I expected it to be. It was in this parks and recreation complex behind fifteen lighted baseball fields and a bunch of other stuff. I had heard it was a good skatepark and it was true; there was a giant, wide-open street course as well as two bowls, one in the 6’ range and one a little bigger with some vert and a spine. We skated the park all afternoon and into the early evening, taking breaks to sell decks to the rich little Chandler kids or drink beers in the car. Without a place to stay, we headed for the cheapest, shittiest looking part of town to find a motel, which ended up being Main St. in Mesa. Surprisingly, it was even more vile than our motel the night before in Indio, and instead of being told that we could not have hookers, the hookers came knocking on our door, lookBen Dixon barging the Chandler blunt

ing for “John”. Talk about nasty,

Jimmy Moore his street style getting on

Salton Sea

after Dave told the hooker to beat it, I couldn’t stop imagining all of the crack smoking and sketchy shit that usually goes on in that room. Like many others on that strip of Main St. that we scoped out, their pool had been filled in with dirt and cemented over, but at least they had cable. The next morning we tried to go skate the park in Gilbert, which is another rich suburb adjacent to Chandler. Unfortunately, it was the first Wednesday of the month and the park repair crue was out patching cracks and whatnot and the park was closed. Plan B took us to the skatepark across town in Paradise Valley. This park was in a slightly less affluent yet still very middle class park, next to the swim center, high school, and

at Jimmy Moore, f/s 50-50l the halfway house poo

parks and rec center. This park was pretty fun, although it didn’t actually have any vert in it. There was a long bowl with a few hips and a small spine into another bowl, as well as a kidney bowl which appeared similar to the one up in Donald. Unfortunately not only did this pool not have any tiles or pool coping, it also did not have any vert. So it wasn’t really like a pool at all, although I think that’s what they should have made there, that would have been killer. The street course was pretty ok too, and had a big gap to ollie as well as some whoop me nots and rolley thing a ma dooers. Eventually we tired of the park scene and hooked up with the infamous Jimmy Moore to go skate some Phoenix area pools, which

was really what we wanted to do. New parks are cool and all, but a park is still a park and they’re always full of bladders and mullet kids with bad tattoos smoking cigarettes. Jimmy is quite a character and had all kinds of funny stories to tell. Some of my favorites included the time Jimmy took Jim Greco out to eat with his parents, which was only rivaled by the time that Jimmy was skating his tweaker neighbor’s pool without permission and then he passed out with a cigarette in his hand and set their house on fire.

After a few beers and a handful of phone calls, Jimmy ended up taking us to a little 6’ pool in a halfway house that was being renovated. I know what you’re thinking, a 6’ pool is no fun and is more like skating a mini ramp. Wrong! This thing was rad, had the same exact trannies as a larger capsule of the same proportion, only shrunk down. 5’ tranny, 6’ pool or something? I dunno, but it was fun and extremely challenging, but the coping was buttery and I was rewarded with some shallow end grinds. Jimmy was trying stalefishes in the thing, fucking two feet out. Sick. We skated that pool until dark, and then after going back to Jimmy’s house for more beers, we drove back down the street to the Chandler park for a session with Wez Lundry and some of Wez and Jimmy’s other friends. Chandler is a fun park, and the bowl is good except for the stupid, kinked pump bump at the bottom of the spine. The session we had that evening was much nicer, as all of the kids had gone home and it was just the big kids. Jimmy, Wez and Ben were all killing the street course, skating it how it should be skated. Jimmy eventually beat himself down on a backside lipslide around one of the bowled corners on the street course. Ol’ Wez even blindsided Dave and straight up took his ass out - welcome to Arizona dude! Ha ha.

Sucks for Dave, but I’m glad it wasn’t me that got taken out for once. So Dave’s skate trip was pretty much over after that, he had a lump on his head, a swellbow, and a number of other bumps and bruises. Despite protests from his girlfriend, Jimmy let us stay at his house and so we headed there to wind the evening down with more beers. Jimmy took off for work early the next morning, and the plan was to hook up around noon to go skate another pool, but we were all so burnt that nobody really felt like skating. Me and Dave went back to the Gilbert park to get some rides, but we were too worked to take advantage of its fine bowls and spines. We pointed out the lines that Eric J or Wade would do, since there was no way we’d be doing them, even if we weren’t burnt and hurt. Some stupid kid showed up in his raised truck and a

Don’t know what it is about AZ and 6’ pools, but here’s Jimmy Moore in another one. BS Smith. Photo by Rhino

remote control car and played with it in the bowls, that was pretty lame, but typical AZ I would assume. So then we pretty much barged it back to the Bay Area in 12 hours, only stopping in in the wonderful town of Quartzsite to scope the tourist trinkets and get our Whopper Combo Meal on. Arizona is pretty rad and I want to go back, I even hear that Flagstaff isn’t a shithole/wasteland like the rest of the state, but that probably means there’s fewer pools to skate. - dk

middleton

huge tailgrab at the paradise valley park near phoenix. photo by jai.

Pete: So Sam, your voice has been described by people like a Ford truck warming up on a cold winters day, ah, are you in a band? Sam: Yes. Pete: What’s the name of the band? Sam: It’s called Shed. And I look up to Lemmy’s voice, so I abuse my throat and vocal chords with smoke and booze. Pete: I talked to members of the band and I’ve heard complaints about you destroying the instruments in the band. Any comment on that? Sam: It has to be done, because musically we suck, but there’s a lot of energy there. We just like to shred so much that I get carried away and sometimes it happens. Pete: Ok, we want to know what you sing about in the band. Sam: The only thing we sing about and the only thing we’ll ever sing about is killing roller bladers, attacking roller bladers, maiming roller bladders, burying roller bladers, and just hating roller bladers. Pete: So we can expect to see you at a skate, thrash house party? Sam: Only - you will never see us at some cool guy frat party or something. We are against trendy social crap. You’ll see us in HELL. Pete: Alright enough about the band. Explain what a larb is? Sam: It’s a mutant breed of human gone obese and obscene from too much partying, and leaves a slime trail wherever it goes. It consumes everything and sucks up all your weed and beer. Female larbs can be the worst because they can do a lot more consuming and the odors can be gnarlier. They’re bad together.

tanju

Pete: On to the skateboard thing, I know you used to be into the two-dimensional type skating, you know, up the ramp, down the ramp. When did you realize that the three-dimensional skateboard action was your style?

Sam: I’ve always been into the third dimension, but one day I was on the damn ramp and all I seen was yellow shirts and yellow helmets, and I thought I was having a flashback, because all these colors were flying around me. I felt weird and strange, so I had to run down the ramp and crawl into a hole. Pete: A three-dimensional hole that is. So how is your Hackett

middleton

below: Shed. Sequence: backside ollie into the loveseat. gnarly.

Right: sam barges through a lipslide in fresno. photo by jai tanju. below sequence: classic Slide and roll on some gritty coping in a ghetto pool.. sequence by middleton. Bottom sequence: look kids, sam can even â&#x20AC;&#x153;skate streetâ&#x20AC;? or street park, or whatever the fuck it is. im sure sam would rather be riding a backyard pool than doing nosegrind transfers at the ob park. sequence by middleton.

top sequence: think its hard frontside grinding over a deathbox? try frontside grind to revert over it, biatch. sequence by middleton. Left: with the wavy paint job on that pool, one can only assume that it was painted by lincoln and his crew, and therefore is a tailslide in fresno. photo by jai tanju.

if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think this sequence is sick then youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re clueless. sam muscles through a layback five0 off of the punk wall at burnside. now that burnside is redone, they call this wall the emo wall. haha. photos by mike hunt.

slash, you been working on it?

see it in the mags again and go searching for it with 20 people and one bucket. No respect. But it seems everything is so played out, photographers are burnt on dealing with children, stairs, steps, and security guards. Some of them are more interested in stealthing out with some adults and checking the progression of modern pool skating!

Sam: The mop overpowered me. I’m afraid of barbers. It’s natural, I’m just trying to keep our hesh tradition alive.

Sam: What’s up with that?

Pete: Alright! Is that original peach fuzz, or have you ever shaved?

Pete: Does that mean you’re going to have to jump out of the pools and get on those 20 stair rails?

Sam: Ahh, that’s not original peach fuzz. I don’t fuck with a razor though. It’s just face dirt.

Sam: Yeah, it’s a natural deformity, what happened was, I was born with this red caterpillar thing on my face, and my mom was going to let me rock it, but she found out it was gonna grow over my eye, so they hacked it out, and left me with a railroad track. Thanks for noticing.

Sam: Holy shit, nah, I don’t think so. But, yeah, it’s trendy for these novice fuckers that all of a sudden

Pete: And what’s up with the mop on your head?

Sam: Ah, yeah, sure....deep to shallow as long as the vertebrae holds out. You can’t compare it to Hackett’s though. Pete: Skating pools seems to be getting trendy these days.

Pete: I’ve always wondered about the railroad scar on your face next to your eyeball, do you have a story for that?

It all started when I got a call from Jason, alerting me of a pool situation that he had found. It was in a row of five houses, which was near his office building, hidden in a sea of condominiums. He said all of the houses were abandoned and were getting ‘dozed in the near future, so that they could build more condos. Out of the five houses, there were three pools. One was a shit square, one was round and was full of water so it’s trannies were hidden, and one was an amoeba with a loveseat and a pocket. After sharing this news with me, we quickly decided that we should get a crew together to go drain it, since there was a considerable amount of water in the bowl. So one weekday, Jason, Farmer, Dave, Joel Chavez, and myself went out to the pool with the intention of draining and hopefully skating the pool. We get there and it did seem that yes, the houses were abandoned, and yes, there were three pools. Since the amoeba was by far the best of the three, we got to work on that. Interestingly enough, the house with the amoeba had two pumps in the backyard, and the power was still on. Shocked and surprised, we immediately plugged the pumps in and got to work draining the thing, piping the water over to the square pool next door. We’re also bucketing water out to increase the speed at which we drained the pool, and we were there for several hours. We even went to Taco Bell and came back, and continued to bucket the pool. At some point in those hours, the owner of the house had come home (or was home the whole time) and discovered a strange car parked in his driveway, and called the cops. Farmer ran into the homeowner out front, and said, “Oh sorry, we’ve got the wrong house.” Being in Walnut

Creek, we couldn’t even get the hoses rolled up and get to the car before two squad cars pulled up. “What are you guys doing here,” the irritated female cop asked us. “We’ve got the wrong house, we were supposed to be next door.” Farmer replied again, trying to smooth things over. Farmer’s a real smooth talker, but even he couldn’t wiggle his way out of this situation, and upon further questioning it was learned that we were there to skateboard in the pool. The cops were ready to take us to jail, but for some reason the homeowner did not want to press charges against us, so we all got ran for warrants and our names written down in their little book, and released. “I don’t know how they do things in San Francisco,” the female cop sneered, “but here in Walnut Creek we’ve got nothing better to do than arrest you guys. Why don’t you go the skatepark?” It was classic. So apparently Jason’s recon had been unreliable, and the house with the amoeba was still occupied. D’oh! Should’ve known that from the moment we discovered the power was still on, but like addicts, we ignored these obvious warnings and blindly continued our task. After the cops left, Farmer got up the nerve to go talk to the homeowner and apologize for what we did. He was also going to see if there was any chance of us still skating the thing. The homeowner acted nervous and scared at first, but he eventually warmed up and told Tony that he’d be moving out at the end of the month, and that they arrested some dude next door for squatting. He was cool, but he wasn’t going to let us ride his pool.

Fast forward a month and the homeowner has indeed moved out. Farmer, being the pool skating addict he is, goes to the amoeba one day and buckets all of the water out of the bowl by himself in three hours. He and Jason got the first rides in the virgin amoeba, but it’s walls were soon visited by Royce Nelson and myself. They had been observing the 15 minute rule (supposedly), but this particular Sunday we hung around all day and foolishly kept pushing the time limits. Royce and Tony were destroying it, Farmer had these lines where he’d do a grind on every wall he hit, including the shallow end. Royce was blasting huge backside airs, going over the loveseat both ways, and doing backside airs and crailslides in the pocket. It was fuckin’ sick, dude. Anyway, we rode it with just a few people for a little while, but once the backhoe was actually in use and they started demolishing the houses, the blowout was on. It’s amazing how quickly word spreads of a new pool, and before long there were sessions with 10-15 people going on an almost daily basis. On an especially ruckus afternoon, the cops finally showed up again, but thankfully they weren’t the same two cops from before. It was some young guy, he was surprisingly open minded, and even turned a blind eye to the beers strewn about. Once he found out what we were doing, he said “Well if all you’re doing is skating in here, let me make a couple calls and see what I can do.” Compared to our last encounter with the Walnut Creek Police Department, this situation was unbelievable. The cop comes back and says yes, we can stay and skate until dark, but we shouldn’t come back. It

was pretty funny, and we were all stoked that not only we were not going to jail, but we could stay and skate! All in all, hella people skated the amoeba including a bunch of pros and sponsored types, but the people that killed that pool the hardest were without a doubt Royce and Farmer. Royce had this one run that started out backside carve over the shallow end steps, pump the hip, and huge frontside air from the deathbox to the light. He also crailslid the loveseat, which was probably the sickest thing to go down in that pool. Farmer had the best runs by far, that dude gets wound up and goes so fast, he was trying a supercarve over the light and the loveseat, but never made it. Mike Yaccarino did a frontside rock in the pocket and has an unmatched style when he skates. Jacob Tillman showed up one day and did frontside ollies over the loveseat. The blowouts continued and got really out of hand by the Sunday of the Berkely demo. We had heard from the workers (who were cool and saved the pool for last on the demo list) that this was going to be the last day for the pool like three times, every time we’d show up and try and skate as hard as possible because it was last rides. We skated it the Tuesday after the demo, and there were all these little kids from the neighborhood that were ripping, going over the light and hitting tiles. That pool was a first for many local Walnut Creek groms. That Tuesday was the last session, and it finally got dozed the next day. That amoeba was a good find, at least for Nor Cal standards. See you at the next one.

Clockwise from below: Would it make any difference to you if we told you this photo of Royce’s huge backside air was a bail? Didn’t think so. Farmer with his patented frontside slash. Photos by Davoud. Bryce contributed a few sick shots to this article, including this one of James Kotter on a backside smith over the box. Normally one could assume that was a bail, but since it’s James I would assume it’s a make. Nice composition, Bryce. Sexy shots of the pool’s curves, mmmmm. The man responsible for finding this pool, Jason Diogardi, tuckin’ a frontside in the deep end. Photo by Davoud. Sickest trick I saw in this pool was Royce’s crailslide over the loveseat. Insane. Photo by Mike Yaccarino.

When I called Jacob Tillman up and gave him directions to this pool, I said, “But if you go, you have to ollie the loveseat.” Jacob enthusiastically replied, “Ok, I’ll do it.......but I haven’t seen it.” He made it with little effort. Photo by Bryce Kanights

Preston Maigetter, backside D by Rhino

Chet Childress, backside D by Rhino

Tony Miorana ripping it up with a 50-50 transfer on one of those plastic jersey barriers. Photos by Yaccarino

Two gnarly dudes, on is a pro skater, the other is a fireman. One lives in LA the other in the Bay Area. They both love Death Metal and pool skating. Neil Heddings and James Kotter. Photos by Anthony Donez and Mike Yaccarino.

Box k-grind. Photo by Charron

Possibly the first photo of the Gonz to appear in Concussion. F/S rock at Jimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Photo by Yaccarino.

Punker Pat surf/skate bomb drop. Photos by Death Weasel

John Rosencrants, tailslide by Blair Alley. Jeff Reeves, b/s noseblunt at the super secret mini mini, Photo by Yaron.

Kickflip by Yaccarino

Nosepick on the edge of the channel is pretty sick, Adam Morgan. Photo Hay

Sean Renos getting his fat fuckin ollie on in SF. Photo by Ken Goto

Dueling smith grinds, one in Spain the other in Oregon. Palo Saez in Algorta and Chet Childress at Brookings. Photos by Rhino

Fuck dude, gettin crazy at the Fun Spot. Axle stall 270 revert on the sketchy vert extension. Photos by Terry Roland

Wade Speyer, AFA.

Matt Pike of High on Fire, 2002.

Photo by Davoud

Photo by Charron

This photo is so good, it’s probably worthy of a “real” magazine.. Photo by Patrick Trefz

Roche, fs rock. Photo by Middleton

Joel Chavez and his new pump, 2002. Photo by Davoud

Louie Barletta is coming out of nowhere on this back lip. Photo by Jai Tanju

Mike Yaccarino grinds all the way through both corners in the middle small bowl at Ripon, a feat which you will not see very often. Photos by Davoud

Sean Stockton has got the mad pop. Photo by Davoud

Jesse Van Vleck. Photo by Nakahara

Pauly from Spain, 360 flip. Photo by T. Roland

Grind me. Photo by Yaccarino

Bruce said he was going to write something but he just gave me a CD with photos on it and took off to Ashland, so I am forced to take his place. He was talking about underrated dudes who rip, or some shit. I do know that the right page is a sequence and medium format still of Joel Jutiger doing a nollie back lip. This is probably the second or third time we’ve had something other than 35mm on our pages, since we’re so damn broke we can’t afford to scan medium format stuff. But doesn’t it look cool? And what’s going on below? Is that a bangin’ nollie kickflip that Eric Brokman is doing or what? So yeah, there you go. Underrated dudes who are way better than you are, and probably some pros too. And Bruce just called and wants to give a big “fuck off” to everyone in the skate industry. That means you!

Tony Farmer probably skates more pools than anyone I know. Joel Chavez recently called him an addict, saying that he can’t stop his compulsion to find and drain backyard pools. It’s true - he is a full-on fiend, scoping out sketchy directions to supposed pool locations like a junkie wandering the streets looking for someone to hook them up with a fix. He can’t stop, and some day his compulsion is going to land him in jail, and then his wife is going to have a little talk with him. Anyway, the point being is that Tony Farmer skates a lot of pools, and sees a lot of stuff that never makes it into a magazine or a video because there is no photo kook or video goon lurking for the footage, it’s only him and Matt Howe or Rawlings, maybe Fresno Matt. And they could care less about photos or magazines, all they want is another empty pool and a six-pack of Tecate. But Tony always has one of those shitty, disposable point and shoot cameras, and likes to take photos of empty pools and cigarette signs out front of liquor stores. It’s like an extra fetish to his addiction, he’s got these dirty little scrapbooks at home, and you can get them out and drool over all the sick shit Tony and his friends have skated over the years. Some spots, such as big secret pipes are classified as top secret and cannot be mentioned or their locations disclosed, but most of the stuff is just pool after pool after pool after pool. Tony went through his book of scraps and picked out some photos he took of his fellow addicts skating backyard pools. Even though these photos are all taken with a point and shoot, they are still amazing photos, and in a way are more true to life because it’s not a media blowout or photo shoot for an ad. This stuff is the real deal as those who know will attest to. And if you find yourself fiending for more photos like this, get your geek ass in front of your computer and log on to tilefetish.com. Captions, counter-clockwise from top left: Rube and the crew, Woodside. White Pools plaque. McKinney sliding around the water in the Robin Egg. Rawlings is a LA Dodgers fan - huge backside air. No caption for this shot but that pool looks sick. Upson paying his respects. Curtis, Gay Pride 1999. Another cool pool plaque. Tillman, about to pay some dues. Royce blasting over the rebar at Barney Rubble. Neeley in Nevada. Check that back truck. Kale flairs one over the slide at the Koontz's kidney. (below) Dipshits in the deep end, or actually, the shallow end.

Awww, Mr. Roland, the man, the myth. I couldn’t say for sure if Terry’s got a real job, I would assume that he doesn’t because it seems like all the guy ever does is skate or take pictures of people skating. As you’ve probably noticed by the contents of this page he also has a healthy collection of naked lady shots too. Is it pornography? Is it art? Knowing Terry I would say it’s a little of both. He’s a self-proclaimed dirtbag, who loves cheap beer, a good mini ramp session and photos by Terry Richardson. All the other skateboard magazines, who shall remain nameless, love Terry because he gets the job done and does it well. Terry is good people, he works hard doin’ what he likes to do and that in itself is admirable. So, vote Terry Roland dirtbag photographer of the year. -Don Frenchy

Matt Contreras blasts astronaut-style off the hip at Hollister. 75

Transcendentalist Documentarian By Sonny Mayugba Chris Carnel’s photos are amazing. He can capture action in any environmental circumstance. And it is his portrayal of snowboarding and skateboarding’s idols and unsung heroes that earned him not only respect among professionals and industry clones alike, but also a living. However, in my opinion, his depiction of sports is not his best talent. Chris Carnel is a master at capturing

dental spirit connects him to that ineffable force the results of which are unparalleled images? The answer is yes. I am Chris Carnel’s friend and sometimes his biggest critic. We’ve started a publishing business together and had yard sales together; we’ve snowboarded mountains in Italy together and skateboarded the Great Wall of China together. He let me vomit out the window of his Subaru on highway 395. He sleeps on my couch and I trust him. True trust. True friendship. I feel lucky to have Chris as my friend.

the essence of soul and nature. His portraits and landscapes can rarely be matched. His snapshots of both once-in-a-lifetime events and random daily moments are

Chris Carnel sells original prints, exhibits work at galleries, and does freelance photography. Feel free to contact him at

timeless and classic. Could it be that Carnel’s transcen-

caurnij@earthlink.net sorry for the edit Sonny- the editors

Page 1: Clockwise from top left corner: Kevin McGuire tailslide transfer. Trailer home with toy camera. Temple Cummins in heaven. Spencer Benevides sunset ditch ollie. Mark Hubbard tailblock. First snow. Page 2: Clockwise from top left corner: Tim â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beansâ&#x20AC;? Brauch R.I.P. frontside ollie. Classic Alva. Dirt goes big, roof ollie. Scott Waters kickflip, Reno-side. Mark Hubbard water drop. Casey Lindstrom long ass crooked grind. Toad, Chris and Aniken Senn whooping it up. Jibasaurus Robbie Sell bashes electric box.

Josh Mulcoy

Brian Shelton

ERM Nate Lawrence grew up in Santa Cruz, surfing and skating with all the groms that have now become some of the big names you’d see in “the mags” . He earned his place to shoot photo s at some of the gnarlier breaks in Cruz, where one wrong move could Santa cause you to get piled into an underw ater pillar, get a fin through the skull, a fist in the face from getting in the or way of an angry local. Nate was in these waves at the right time to capture the decisive moment; that one split second that determines the perfec t situation in that given time and place. When Nate’s not positioning himse lf in the face of the barrel or below the lip, he can be found working at Photo Store or skating at the 6 foot the mini ramp by the Wharf. When I first met Nate Lawrence I thought he was just a dude who shot photos of surfing and skating, and didn’t really do them that much. But when he put down his camera and started skating he taught me a lesson or two, flowing through some sick high speed ollies asters. Nate wasn’t around for me and disto ask him anything too personal, because he took off to Indonesia for right after he gave me his photos. 6 weeks Be looking for some more images from Nate’s capturing eye in future issues of Concussion. - j hay

Frankie D'andrea

Adam Repogle

Crooked Grind. Ph. T. Roland 80

Kickflip at Hollister Ph T. Roland 81

What, where, how do I start....Matty’s a dirty little road biscuit with skills to the ceiling. This kid is a ripper. If you’ve seen him skate (in person) you know what I’m speaking about. His smoothness is simply any extension of...1)the speed he brings on, 2) the confidence he puts forth, and 3) the style that uncontrollably flows from head to sole. Matty’s got love for outta state plates and thoroughbred women (not to say that he dunn’t like the skinny ones, he just likes a little more to ‘em). At times I feel like callin’ him “Mr. Contreres” due to his open-mindedness, calm/suave dapper approach, and extravagant of what once was and what’s soon to be. Matty is who he is and no one else- that’s why we love him. Skateworks, Santa Cruz, DAF, Krux, and GFC approved. Homies for life. -Scotty Greathouse

Backside feeble Ph. Terry R. 82

Tailgrab at the fun spot Ph. Terry R. 83

Curtis Woodman is the only kid I know who is lactose intolerant, but eats a pint of ice cream and barfs it up anyhow. Dirty Curti is the first to take off his rancid, stinky ass snowboard boots in the middle of a room full of people and leave them there for all to inhale. He also has the worst gas. I swear something crawled up his ass and died. Sixteen-year-old Curtis is from Garden Valley, CA. His father, Duane, started taking him to Boreal for weekend sessions when he was an eight-year old grom. Now, in the heat of Sacramento summers, when he isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t snowboarding or skateboarding, Curtis crawls around in dusty attics with his Dad installing whole house fans for his side job. At an age when most kids are worried about getting stuffed in their lockers or what slut to ask to the prom, Curtis is off snowboarding world class resorts, filming with the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top heads, and having sluts ask HIM to the prom. In fact, despite his rap for being a dirty rat head, his wallet is filled with pictures of all his cute girlfriends, including a shot of Miss Pre-Teen California, one of his previous conquests. He rides for Santa Cruz, DC Boots, Poorboy wax, Elias Clothing, Vonzipper, B-N-M Boardshop. -Holly Anderson

Big ass set of stairs. Ph. Chris Carnel 84

Backside 5 Ph. Richard Walch 85

The Zach Richesin Story.... When I was asked to write about Zach Richesin I was stoked, but then my mind was bombarded with so many memories I was overwhelmed. So here it goes... I first met Zach in 90-91, he was a scrappy little shit who would always spy on me and my friends. He would run up on Matt Karleen’s deck and yell, “Rock And Roll”, then flip us off and run away. We would run after him, throw rocks, he would cry and tell us he would get his big brother Rocky to fuck us up. Anyway, that went on for a while until he realized we were all skaters. He tried to impress us with a piece of shit skate, “Look at my skate, look at my skate!!” he said. I was like, “Cool grom”, then I stole it and threw it in the creek next to his house. After years and years of abuse, from me and my friends, Zach turned out to be one of the baddest skaters I know, and one of my best friends. He is the ultimate survivor, and one of the coolest kids around. So if you see him, say what’s up and give him something to eat because he is always hungry. RIP RIDER FOR LIFE -Shane Scoffone

Nollie at Ceres. Ph. J. Hay 86

Backside Air at Ripon Ph. J. Hay 87

AK LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN

From the first step off the plane into the crisp evening air, it was apparent to us that this voyage would be a rewarding and very memorable experience. Accompanying me on my journey was my good friend Strider. Seeing someone experience this incredible wilderness for the first time is always a rewarding experience. You could lay down miles of text and thousands of images and only begin to paint the picture of Alaska’s sprawling landscape. To truly appreciate the awe of this magical place, you must witness it’s magnitude first-hand. If you like to ride light deep powder (who doesn’t?) and challenge yourself with diverse and dangerous terrain, this is the place to be. The mountains of Alaska are without a doubt, the mecca of snowboarding.

When you depart Anchorage for the Chugach Range, you feel as though you are entering another world of vast dimensions and broad blue skies. The turbulent waters of the Cook Inlet drain 35 ft. with the boor tides of late March, leaving behind plains of rich dark mud and treacherous quicksand. A timber blanket of Sitka, Spruce, and Birch fill in the gaps between the icy water and the tree-line. Above the forest is field upon field of powder in every direction. We were staying with my brother Tom, his wife Cathy and their 7 year-old son Nicholas. During the winter, they live in the quiet and beautiful town of Girdwood, an hours drive outside of Anchorage. It was to be an ideal command post for our daily excursions to the resort and the back-country.

DESIGN HELP: LEARN FGS.

There are many names to the beautiful world on top of the globe most commonly referred to as Alaska. It has been called AK, The Great Land, The Last Frontier and The Land of the Midnight Sun, just to name a few. Call it what you will, no name could ever do it justice. Simply put, it’s one of the world’s most impressive reservoirs of beauty and wildness. 586,412 square miles of pure, untainted raw creation. If visualization is not your strong point, it’s roughly four times the size of California, four hundred and eighty-eight times the size of Rhode Island or 1/5 the size of the entire “lower-48”. That’s how the residents refer to the rest of the United States. I have a feeling they are referring to more than longitude. Actually, I know they are.

The total population of AK is about 600,000 or about 2/3 as populated as the city of San Jose. More than half the people live in or within commuting distance to Anchorage meaning that the other 50% have a whole lot of room to split amongst themselves. The vast, open space results in a positive and friendly attitude. Along the way, each new face we encountered greeted us with warmth and generosity. Alaskans rely on one another more than most people do down in this neck of the woods. If your car is stuck in the snow, there’s always someone to help you back on the road again. When the cold winter nights drain your battery, a friendly charge is always nearby. The communities down here could definitely learn a thing or two about helping out thy neighbor.

Outdoor living is a way of life in AK. In one day, you could snowboard the best mountains in the world, fish the best rivers, go for a hike, do a little hunting and still make it home in time for dinner. No matter what time of year it is, you can still find plenty of things to do. My brother Tom has been in Alaska for over ten years, most of which have been spent on the river. He’s a fishing guide on the Upper Kenai, quite possibly the best rainbow trout and salmon river in the northern hemisphere. If there’s a fish in those glacial waters, he’ll find it. He helped us land a few that would have been a record in any other state in the union. If you are lucky, you’ll witness other wildlife such as moose, Bald Eagles, Dall sheep and the occasional Black or Grizzly Bear.

The seasons can be dramatic, calm, violent, unpredictable, but most of all, spectacular. Summertime is short but bright. Depending on your location, the sun may be blazing in circles around the sky for months on end. Going out for a midnight stroll takes on a new definition when it’s sunny out. Conversely, the winters can be dark, long and depressing. Imagine how you’d feel if you didn’t see the sun for 4 months. However, there are certain benefits to the long nights: Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights to name one. Purple and green bands of color shift across the sky in one of nature’s truly amazing phenomenons. In higher elevations, snow can fall anytime in August and remain on the ground through May giving new meaning to the term spring skiing.

The phrase, “Back-country”, doesn’t really mean anything when everything is back country. The mountains of the Turnagain Arm march from the inland, across glaciers and right up to the waters’ edge. You can be on the summit with deep powder all around you only to look across the valley and see the North Pacific eating away at the rugged shoreline. It’s as steep as you dare to go but only as dangerous as you are stupid. Take a ride with Chugach Powder Guides (CPG) and they will bring you to the best snow on the planet. Yeah, it’s pricey but well worth the sacrifice of saving some of your beer money. If you can’t sacrifice your liquor or other vices to save some cash, hitch a ride on the back of a snow machine for a fraction of the price and still have at it.

The resort of Alyeska could be one of the best resorts in the world. High speed quads, a tram, and a variety of other lifts serve up better conditions than if you were to cut ropes at your favorite resort. Plus, it’s close proximity to the airport makes for easy access. With only 2,500 vertical feet, it’s really not the size that matters. The mountain rises straight out of the sea and up into the clouds. With an average of over 750 inches of snow a year, finding powder, with or without the aid of machinery, is an easy task. If you’re there on a day with new snow, lay some fresh tracks in the Christmas Chute or hit up the North Face for some of the best in bounds riding this side of the Mississippi. Remember, a bad year in AK beats everywhere else’s best year, hands down.

C. I know that you are from New Mexico, So what brought you to California? MG. To work for Think, that’s pretty much it. C. Were you psyched? MG. Yah, totally, I was just going to college and I didn’t really know what I was gonna do after school, you know, and then they offered me the job and I was like I guess I’ll do that.

C. I think it’s interesting that you have this architectural background because I notice that everything you do is real precise, it’s all first try, one line type stuff. MG. Hmm, that’s the stuff that you see, but I still sketch everything, not everything...some stuff. C. The stuff that used to blow me away was I would dig through the drawers at Think and i would find these board graphics that were just straight up Sharpie drawings, it looked like a one shot deal.

C. What were you going to college for? MG. Architecture, and I’ll probably go back to architecture stuff someday, maybe..I don’t know. But I knew that I wanted to be in California, so it was like the perfect opportunity and I had really no reason to stay in New Mexico at all.

MG. Well, alot of times too is there was a certain amount of inking that was freestyle but at the same time alot of those were sketches that I would put on a light table and put another clean piece of paper over that and ink it like that, I still do that, but, you know, I still had some roughs.

MG. No, I just left.

C. That used to drive me insane, the Think guys would be like “nope he’d just come in here, sit down, sharpie marker, piece of paper and that’s it” and I would just sit and stare at those drawings and be like “Oh my god, that’s insane.”

C. You got offered the job and you were just like “I’m outta here”?

MG. There was for sure a first sketch.

MG. Yah, pretty much and it wasn’t even that the job was that great, it definitely seemed to make sense to me more than going to school and I knew it was definitely going to be the start of something, you know, I didn’t know what but...

C. That makes me feel alot better.

C. Did you finish school before you came out here?

Excerpts from Pagina Vilot and Flood Bart, a couple of zines that Mike makes. These drawings are 100% sharpie, no sketches first, they are straight up amazing.

MG. It was just they never saw it, because I would sketch it rather quickly and then ink it rather quickly and when they came back that’s all they saw.

C. I always thought it amazing that you were pretty versatile, using alot of different materials in everything that you do whether it’s Sharpie markers or spray paint or tattoo guns. What’s your most comfortable thing that you enjoy the most. MG. Sharpies, they are just so simple, it’s a brainless medium for me, it’s what I do to relax. Tattooing has gotten really difficult. C. Because it’s sort of newer for you? MG. I don’t know, it’s trippy, you know, skin acts nothing like paper, it’s permanent, it’s on somebody... C. It’s more pressure. MG. Oh my god, it’s way more pressure. That’s the backbone of my stress, you know, satisfying people, it’s way more than a drawing that I do for myself, there’s way more of an effort trying satisfy the client, because sometimes what they want is just not gonna work. C. I always thought the hardest part about tattooing was people that aren’t really visually able to describe what they want and I think half the time they don’t even know what they want. MG. Yah, you know at least I had experience with that skateboard graphics and just graphic design in general, people asking for stuff that’s just different styles, like, japanese on mechanical, two things that just don’t go together and you’re like “What are you talking about”. It’s just that they don’t know the right words or they can’t draw at all or they don’t think to reference something. They’re horrible. Stuff ends up coming out of repeated mistakes, like how many times have I had to do floral/tribal. Which is a total clash to me but to them they’ve seen it and it looked good to them so they’re expecting me to give then a really nice version of what I consider a mistake from the start. I can try and satisfy them but you know in the end it’s my job. You gotta do your job the best you can, you get through it and at the end of the day you go home, and you think about it and you just try to get your head out. C. What kind of background do you have in skateboarding? MG. I made my first trip to California in ‘84, and I saw kids skateboarding in San Diego at the beach and I was like “this is it, this looks like fun” it looked like something that I could do, because I did organized sports, like little league and volleyball for years. I was a teenager, it was time to do something on my own, hook up with the bad kids. I started then, I still skated alot maybe a year or two after I moved here but since I got a full time regular job and getting involved in other stuff too, I’ve definitely slacked off. I still skate to work sometimes and I occasionally skate parks with my buddies. Now, I wouldn’t consider

myself a skateboarder. I mean at this point I’m defininitely more into my bicycles. C. What were your favorite graphics when you younger? MG. All the Santa Cruz stuff. C. Jim Phillips. MG. Oh ya. To this day the illustration, the level of technique involved in those graphics was really amazing. I think he has hand cutting ruby’s and making patterns with opaquing pens which, actually, is really complicated, you know. I love that stuff. C. What’s the next step for you? MG. Well, there are certainly other mediums I would like to get into, printmaking,film, music, all kinds of stuff. But I think just sort of looking at how my work has evolved, it all happened pretty naturally, like someone asks “would you be down to try this?” and I say yes or no and that sets something in motion. Whereas if I say “ OK, I’m gonna try this, now.” and it usually doesn’t work just because I’m too busy with other stuff. I mean I think it will continue that way, naturally progressing. At some point I will befriend somebody that will show me the ropes of making music and I will have time to do it. As for right now, I am up to my neck in work, there just isn’t time left in the day to try new mediums. At the same time, the mediums I use right now I don’t feel like I’ve fully developed yet. It just seems there’s always room for improvement. On a certain level it’s like, great, I can get into all these different mediums but in the end what’s gonna be the thing you are remembered by. You know, it seems like things are working out fine right now and you know what they say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. C. Thanks Mike.

10. By law, the bars in Portland have to serve food. You can eat dinner and then get shitfaced everywhere. 9. By law, the strip clubs in Portland have to serve food. You can eat lunch, watch naked ladies dance and then get shitfaced. 8. The coffee seems better there, maybe it’s the rain. 7. Newburg is only a half hour away. 6. No sales tax. 5. Sure, you could ride all of the insane skateparks, but there’s tons of good street skating too and it’s hassle free. I skated in front of the post office (sweet marble ledges) for almost 2 hours, nobody said a word. 4. The big bowl at the Department of Skateboarding. 3. Paul Fugita at Cal skates. Paul is a huge part of the Portland skateboarding community, he showed me the plans for the new concrete park, h-o-l-y s-h-i-t. 2. Full service gas. 1. Burnside.

Farewell to Queens Bianca Halstead 1965-2001 By Jon Steele

Darren Nix, frontside kickurn @ 9:30

I don’t feel like I am the one to sum up someone’s life much less how the world perceived them. I do feel sad because the loss of a close friend. In true rock-n-roll fashion, another great has recently been plucked from the wingless city of angels, known as Hollywood. Music industry and friends alike bow their heads and reflect on times together with Bianca Halstead before her wreck after a show, which ended her life. Bianca a.k.a. “Bianca Butthole”, lead vocalist and bass player for Betty Blowtorch, always knew she was born to rock, and rock she did! Those who know her music from early Butt Trumpet and Humble Gods, thank her for being apart of our lives and contributing to the wonderful world of music. Thanks for rocking our world and showing us how to treat “real” women.

Full Pipe RIP - David Moss holder (Aqua Dave Duke) Sunday, June the 12th was David Mossholder’s memorial service held in Benecia, CA. He was a good friend of mine, and many others in the greater Bay Area. He was known for his talent on his skateboard, as well as his tendency for hi-jinx and unforgettable laugh. He died too soon, but his life held a “seize the day” type of attitude that made him rarely miss a session. I needed to pay my respects for my fallen comrade, and party hard and skate the Benecia Amphitheater in his memory. When I was crossing the Benecia/Martinez Bridge I noticed some metal full pipes appearing to be roughly 15 feet in diameter off the side of the freeway. They needed to be skated for they were set to be buried. So, after many a beer, tons of good food, that Humboldt concha, and some tears, Darren and I set out to hit these pipes. We scaled this crumbling train hill only to come upon two shitty pipes, and one that was skatable. We cleaned them out, got the photo, then took off to the amphitheater. Live your life like every moment is your last. “Davey Dukes” certainly did. PG

Ws e v I E Ws Vi V i D E o R ev New Deal 7 Year Glitch

Stuntwood Junkies Turning Point Productions

So the New Deal video is out. I don’t think I’ve paid much attention to the Deal since the early 90’s right before I stopped reading Thrasher. But whatever, it’s all irrelevant. Overall, this video is good, but I could pretty much tell who I wanted to see skate by the names on the box. Dudes I was interested in included Ricky Oyola, Lincoln Ueda, Chad Bartie, and Ryan Johnson. The dudes I could care less about were Chad Tim Tim, Fabrizio Santos, Rob Gonzalez, and Kenny Reed. After watching the video my opinions of the riders were pretty much the same, some of those street dudes were ok, and I did like watching them skate sculptures and embankments, but I could really care less about the ledge, gap and rail shit. Ryan Johnson, however, fucking killed it. That dude has the street skills and kills tranny and pools as well. His acid drop into the Vagabond was rad, and he destroys the Peach Pit and other Fresno pools at will. Chad Bartie was also rad to watch, as he is very versatile and also can skate more than just street, which is not the case with Lincoln Ueda, although he goes so fucking high on a vert ramp that it doesn’t even matter if he’s a vert jock or not. At the end of each person’s part were a few “hammers” which I dunno, were supposed to make me get extra stoked on some of these dudes. Good thing they showed them again in slo-mo, otherwise I wouldn’t have known that some of those tricks were “hammers”, but that’s just me. I’m lame and old, and I’m sure this video got a better response at the premiere or from the 510 guys than it did at my house. Something else I don’t care about seeing is a company’s attempt to show that their team is tight and hangs out and shit, when you know they really don’t. I did like the slam section, which was pretty good, although I don’t like to wait until the secret part at the end to see em. Rob G got served. Fuck that guy, he seems like a kook. So in summary, the New Deal video was pretty good, not the best or the worst video I’ve seen lately, and some of the shit got me stoked, while some of it did not. It is also notable to mention that New Deal has supposedly “gone out of business” so I don’t know whether this video will be on sale for a whole lot longer or not, but it definitely deserves to be viewed so go look for it. I’m sure half of these guys will end up on Black Label and the others surely can find a new place to chill and listen to hip hop or Modest Mouse or whatever shit they’re into. - dk

Recipe For Disaster REAL Skateboards I could swear I wrote a review for this video already and I just can’t find it. So even though I may be writing this for the first time, it feels like a rewrite. Anyway: The new REAL video is good. I have not always liked the Deluxe tour videos, but this quick and dirty video following the REAL am’s winter 2002 trip to Arizona and the midwest pulls it off. The skating is good, it is well edited, the music doesn’t suck, and the dudes kill the spots. It’s easy for me to get bummed out watching an all street skating video because usually it ends up being super monotonous, but that is not the case at all with Recipe For Disaster. JT Aultz is way good, and it’s funny to watch him hit on (and get dissed by) chicks at the demos they do. Pretty much all of the team is good - they all skate fast and have big bags of solid tricks, but I liked JT Aultz and Dennis Buseneitz the best. Would have liked to see more footage of Phares and the assault rifle, as I am an avid fire enthusiast. The REAL pros also have short cameos as well in the form of some random clips and a short trip to Japan section. Watch out for Nate Jones, that guy is good. There are also some entertaining ads after the credits, including a hilarious ‘making of’ the REAL ad with Nate Jones as the Gonz’s stunt double. Mic-E with the megaphone is classic. Anyway, this video is good, easily on the same level as the New Deal video, except these dudes are all ams.

I was kind of excited to see this video since it was made by the guy who did Plorida Fools, but unfortunately Stuntwood Junkies did not stoke me out the way I had hoped. Stuntwood Junkies has many of the problems that Plorida Fools did, poor editing and cheesy use of video/after effects, and it has none of the positives, which would be lots and lots of pool skating. There is some pool skating featured in here, but it is only here and there; most of the footage comes from demos, trade shows, Tampa contests, and Vans park footage. Now I don’t know about you, but the footage I look forward to seeing least is more footage of another Vans opening. It seems like they build the same park over and over, with the same vert ramp and street courses, and the same pros show up to do the demo. Or whatever, I’m just not into it. There is also a healthy amount of Tampa Am / Pro footage in here, which is understandable since these dudes are from Florida. It probably would have been better if there weren’t 8 other videos out that have the same footage. There is also sprinklings of the Florida street scene here, but the quality of the footage is pretty ghetto and most of the dudes appear to be shirtless jocks sporting gold chains. I dunno, I didn’t mean to all-out bag on this video, but it’s just turning out that way. Let me focus on some of the positives: Mike Peterson, Buck Smith, Kona footage, some backyard pool skating, and a few good slams. You can get info about this video and Plorida Fools from truckstopmagazine.com - dk

Daze in the Life B Productions The first few minutes of the video show this dude, who I assume is probably the main filmer guy, skating around his neighborhood and finally returning home, grabbing a beer and turning on the VCR. The video begins with Kale Sandridge backside ollieng over the loveseat in a pool. Daze in the Life is full of all kinds of skateboarding stunts performed on the streets, trade shows, and an assortment of ramps and pools around the country. High and Lo Lites include: Weeman holding a skateboard up and having all these little kids run and try and steel it from him, random skateparks, psychedelic effects, pools, handplants, road trips, Donny Barley, more psychadliec 90’s video effects, Karma, wooden bowls, rails, & 5 minutes of a guy getting a tattoo. Kale Sandridge’s part is the highest point of this video. He eats shit doing the opening sequence of the video and then proceeds to rip apart the pool, busting all kinds of evil kenevil styled maneuvers. This video could have cut out some of the footage if they wanted to tighten it up a little, but I think the whole feel of this video is loose and rough, not so concerned with perfection as it is with portraying skating as it really is, or is it portraying skating as it is really portrayed to be?– JH

EZ Pass Vacation 5boro EZ Pass Vacation is a roadtrip/tour type video coming from good ol’ NYC. There are some pretty talented skateboarders from 5boro, and they shred this one well. Mini-DV along with 16mm footage consists of indoor parks, some street shit, a little transition, and more parks. A quick jaunt to Europe is also included. I liked the video well enough, but a spider distracted me while I was watching it. This could be because repetition of some tricks, or the fact that I don’t like skate park footage unless it’s from Oregon. There’s definitely good shit though. Tall cement ledge with kink gets done after some slams, cool cement, mini somewhere in Europe, and a nicely done editing job with New York streets spots toward the end of the tape. Seems like this video was done out of fun and not to try and win an Oscar. I wouldn’t buy it, but that’s because I’m a cheap skate and I never buy anything. Overall, good skating, cool video, but not going in my collection box. - PW

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1. Which stoner rock band from Palm Springs did we interview who incidentally broke up only weeks after the interview? (Issue #1) 2. This issue memoralized Matt ________ with a photo from the Black Bottom Pool in The Oakland Hills circa 1991. (Issue #9) 3. Which original “pop-punks” let us interview them after we bribed them with a pound of coffee? (Issue #2) 4. Artist who drew the cover of issue #11 that was also used as a Hammerhead poster? 5. Cover of issue #7 airing into Thrasher Park? 6. Where would you be if you felt like you were doing something wrong if you didn’t drink a Tecate while driving? (Issue #12) 7. What country are the kids from who live 4,000 miles apart and built almost identical skateboards by hand? (Issue #15) 8. Legendary East Bay skater featured skating Cancer Bowl. RIP. (Issue #3) 9. Never Forget. (Issue #6) 10. Punk rock skater who rides and plays music for Beer City? 12. Skateboard Artist. Johnny _____. (Issue #7) 13. The first Oregon park we hit up on the 1999 Skatepark & Brewery Tour? (Issue #8) 14. Godfather of “Low Brow” art? (Issue #5) 15. Perfect right hand point break found in South Africa? (Issue #14)

1. Which mountain resort were we one our way to when busted by Sherrif Nagel and served with a $540 fine for possession of Marijuana? (Issue #1) 2. Which self proclaimed “Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World” did we drive 12 hours in the rain to interview? (Issue #2) 3. The only farmer that skates pools? (Issue #13) 4. ______ Dan & Bailey took us on a pool tour through the suburban deserts oft Southern California in Issue #4. 5. Which “bad ass of the month” was pictured airing over the fence at now defunct Antioch Skate Park “The Dock”. (Issue #4) 6. Favorite smoke of pool and vert ripper Sean O’Loughlin? (Issue #9) 7. Destination where Trefz flew with a guns and ammo to surf the icy waters and ended up getting a BB stuck in his eye? (issue #12) 8. What term descirbes “delaying impending romantic activity between two individuals”? (Issue #8) 9. Which frightening beasts did we feature in our dangerous animals section in Issue #5? 10. Which ramp would you sleep like a baby after skating? 11. You need feline sanitary products and a raft to skate this full pipe? (Issue #6) 12. Which old school skater/surfer did we feature “Slashin’” the Raging Waters Shotgun pool? (Issue #5) 13. Last name of tattoo artist and skater known as the Loud One? (Issue #14) 14. Hawaiin Pool Shredder who appeared on the cover of Issue #11? 15. Consolidated skater who won best trick at the Strawberry Jam by pulling a b/s 50-50 to 270 revert. (Issue #14) 16. Centerfold of issue #14 dropping into a gnarly 13’ drainage ditch? 17. Timothy Brauch. (Issue #7)

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“I am John Wayne—- I ride the plain—- I ‘ll shoot your horse—— with no remorse...without no horse—- you cannot ride—- and from my gun—-you cannot hide.” “I am John Wayne—- I’ve gone insane—I’ll enter your brain—- through your TV You’ll watch reruns—-till the morning sun—-you cannot hide—-from my six-gun.” “I am Jooohhhhhn Waaaaayyyyyynnnnne—- I’ve gone insane.” Imagine what the musical wonder child of Johny Cash and The Dead Kennedys would sound like; a poolside powerslop of country deathmetal. The song “I AM JOHN WAYNE” conceptualizes this moralistic ala Jello Biafra anthem. Even the Bauhaus influenced new pledge of allegiance “GOT TO KILL BIN LADEN” is thick with political rhetoric. But, Johny peeps his head up in the classic “I’M A TRUCKER”. This beautiful ballad tells the tale of life on the road with “no daylight in sight”. “Driven all night,... with my little glass pipe,....I’m a truuuuuuukeeer” The trucker hats were given away as prizes at the first live (in a bar, not a party) show at Gallagers in H.B. Pure mayhem, Dave Reul fronting with his black leather jacket, crushed cowboy hat and one snakeskin cowboy boot complimented by one red old school checker Vans. Classic. The lone star state flag was hung proudly with the spray painted Skatanic Rednecks in blood red. This Monday night show ended up proudly at Reuler’s house and on his garage mini with the death laden tombstone. Ramped wrangling of this mini monster even culminated in masonite sheet drop ins and the session was on “till the mornin sun”. Vocals: Dave “the reuler” Reul Bass : Dave “Longhorn” Lorton Guitar : Michael “the bloodsucker trucker” Bradley Drums : Robert “the skatanic mechanic” Bradley Security: Darren “dogboy sasquwatch” Reul “Every story has a moral....... and the moral to the story—- is clear to see—-get up off of that couch.....unplug your teeeeee veeeee—- yeeehawwww!!!!”

words and photos by ari evan gold

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Record Reviews Think your band has got what it takes? Send CDs, tapes, etc. to: Concussion Reviews - PO Box 1024 Santa Cruz, CA 95061 Active Ingredients Everything Sucks Heard that these guys were pretty good skaterock by a fellow named Sickboy. And for the first time, he was right. Just kidding. Active Ingredients are a real skate rock band. Songs like "Average Girl" and "No recognition" are my fav! Hey skater daters, go get it! - JM Anomoanon Envoi Villon Galaxia records I am going to coin a brand new style of reviewing a record. I'm going to just start firing off words that come into my head as I listen to it. It will be fairly random but it will be like a pure thought. Just remember that you saw it here first, Concussion magazine, the most innovative black and white magazine ever. Here we go.....hangman pimps prostutes skulls soothing melodies interaction new song mingle the forrest dice gambling is fun bears lions lavish guitars with stiens beer bows and arrows mid-evil bob dylan. OK, that's all I got, I hope that you got something out of that, this is great album from top to bottom. Check it out, and also look out for my new reviewing style and tell me if anyone is using it. Thanks. - LC Apocalypse Babys Full Metal Racket F.U.G. Records As I listened to this, I was under the impression that these guys were from Florida. I really liked what I heard, but I felt it didn't sound like something from Florida. Then I read the insert page and I discovered they were from Derbyshire, England. The record label was from Florida. That made more sense. The first side has two songs on it. Both are very late seventies punk. The B-side is a bit more musically twisted. The voice changes and the instruments are played craftfully. It is a good 7". I would listen to more, but I wouldn't seek it out. SB Bad Religion Process of Belief Epitaph Records They're back on Epitaph, Brett is back in the band, and they just released one of the best albums of their history. I like B.R. for two main reasons. First are the lyrics. No one, and I mean no one, writes lyrics like Brett and Greg. Strangely enough they wrote the song that was left out of the liner notes on this C.D. Secondly, the music. These guys created a sound that, through the years, dozens of bands have borrowed from or totally ripped off (Pennywise), and made money from. I personally only like the original. From the first riff, this album takes off. The packaging is elaborate and a bit arty. I don't mind it that much. The songs are 100% solid. I listen to Greg Graffin with an inquisitive ear. He is, after all, one of the most intelligent people to come of the punk scene. He grew up through a lot of the things I, too, encountered as I grew up. He knows his shit, is what I'm saying. In the song "You don't belong" he gets nostalgic and tells the wannabe's that "we've been here along like a confederacy of the wrong". The song "Sorrow" begins with a light reggae intro and then explodes into hardcore, very similar to old Bad Brains. That's the one that I think they're playing on the radio. I could go on and on about this CD, but instead I would

rather you go buy it. It is sold everywhere. These musicians, people, punks are legends and peers. Support your punk heritage. - SB Jello Biafra The Big Ka-boom Alternative Tentacles Have you ever gotten one of those books on CD. I haven't, but I imagine that this is what it would be like. I have never just sat down to listen to a CD of someone talking, it's wierd, I found myself drifting off and not paying attention sometimes, I swear I have ADD or something. This CD is about the state of affairs right now, with the war and all. It's a lot of information to digest all at once, some of it fact, some of it just theory, but all of it is worth listening to. It's important to get informed, but I can't help thinking that I would like to make a CD of just me talking about... I don't know...whales or dolphins, or I don't know, something. That'd be rad, huh? Get this CD and get your head out of your ass. - LC The Black Hand War Monger Scorched Earth Policy This shit is fucking good. They had a 10" last year that was blistering hardcore with a strong metal sound to it. This continues in that style, but is more refined and just better. With artwork by the guy from Voi Vod, you know you want this. - SH Brant Bjork and the Operators S/T Duna Records I was very excited to receive this new Brant Bjork album, as he is one of the only dudes from Kyuss who has done anything worthwhile in his solo career. I mean well OK, Jon Garcia has been in a few good bands (Slowburn, Unida) but they always break up. And I'm really not into any of that Queens of the Stone Age deal, sorry. But Brant has always had good ideas and the Kyuss songs he wrote were really good, and his first solo album Jalamanta was excellent. He even got smart and quit Fu Manchu because not only were they posing, but they were suckin. This new album finds Brant on familiar ground, out in the desert with his buddy Mathias Schneeberger on keyboards, probably smoking shrooms, drinking mescaline and tripping out. The songs on this album are in a similar vein to the ones on Jalamanta, but I would have to say that the addition of keyboards is never a good idea. But Bjork's lyrics are as bizarre as ever and overall I'd probably say that this is one of the best new CDs I've received this time around. The Music Cartel has picked up a lot of the good bands that were previously on Man's Ruin so watch out for more good, heavy releases. - dk Betty Blowtorch Are You Man Enough? Food Chain Records If you're insecure about your skating or manhood, don't buy this album. If you like sex, beer and women in control prepare to be dominated. In this woman's view of sex, drugs and Rock-n-Roll, we are just pieces of meat to these hotties. They'll judge your size and how big you can really go. This grinding metal band wants whiskey, beer, good times, and booty calls. They are tough as nails as their music implies. Vanilla Ice even helps out with the album. The new album is about tits, ass and making you put up or shut up and fuck! At least you can feel like a man afterwards. - JS Boulder Reaped in Half Tee Pee Records This album has Act 1 and Act 2 which is pretty hessian, but their music sounds more like bad 80's metal with a bit of Stooges influence than anything else. These guys front and sound like they're tough, but the photo on the sleeve reveals

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PICK OF the litter Electric Wizard Let Us Pray Rise Above Records

In my opinion, this is the rawest Electric Wizard to date. I'm sure that the whole reason that you read record reviews is to steal the authors opinion of a record, so when you are hanging out with your friends, you can sound cool, like "Dude, you guys heard the new Electric Wizard, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the rawest CD to date". That's cool. Here's some other stuff you can say: " This album is like a piledriver of gritty guitars and fuzed out vocals." or " I like the song that has the piano part, it shows the Wizard has some tricks up their

some thirtysomething dudes who look like Huey Lewis except for the one guy who looks like a young Dan Bolton. This shit might sound better if it was played twice as fast. - dk Brassknuckle Boys/ Riotgun Split 7" Haunted Town Records Haunted Town Records are one of the best labels out there right now. They only release top notch punk and Oi. I swear to you that if you have a Haunted Town release then it kicks ass. This 7" is by coincidence. I guess the singers from each band had grown up together and then moved away from one another, only to find each still in the punk scene years later. So they did a split. Great idea! The Brassknuckle Boys side has a cover of the Pogues "Thousands are sailing", done with a bit more rock and umpf. The other song is off the 'American Bastard' CD. On the flipside you've got two really great songs by Riotgun, one of which is previously unreleased. Another winner. - SB Crumb Soundtrack Rykodisc It's Sunday. The sun is shining. You just made coffee. What are you going to listen to while you make the most of the day? Yep, this disc. Guaranteed to please those who enjoy moments of peace in their lives. Let's face it, the movie (about perverted artist Robert Crumb) was eerily compelling, but not for everyone. These tracks most certainly are. Culled from old 78's, these classic blues and ragtime songs are a piece of American history. Most of these songs are re-recordings of the originals, but only staunch purists would care. What you get is a 70 minute tour of rags, stomps and blues beautifully performed on piano and guitar. From the slow sway of "A Real Slow Drag" to the ghostly vocals on "Skinny Leg Blues", this disc is power packed with soul. A nice intro for anyone looking to branch out of their musical tree. - Sgt. Scrapes Concrete Waves Disaster Records Skate punk rock produced by skate punk Duane Peters. Three skate punk bands, JFA, The Worthless, and Blue Collar Special make up this triple split CD. Fun punk rock with lyrics about skating pools, hating lame people, and making excuses. Songs about the Nude Bowl, Simi Valley, left hand kidneys are about as specific as I've ever heard in skate rock. The funniest song is JFA's "Park Geek" about a dude who just lurks at the local skate park, hiding out from the backyard ramps and pools, hanging out at a place his mom could watch. I didn't like so much the misogynistic lyrics by

sleeves." or " The new Electric Wizard could quite possibly be the soundtrack for the apocalypse, when everything reverts to how it was in viking times." Jeez, I'm emotionally drained giving you guys all this material. It's always take, take, take with you. Get this CD for me, give a little for fuck's sake. - LC

The Worthless , "Toxic Shock and "Yeah Baby". I think the lyrics are just about rough sex but I don't know. That shit was a little sketchy. All criticisms aside, this triple split is jamming, old school skate punk. Concrete Waves is what you'd might be listening to on the way to skate a pool or maybe on the way back from the new Dogtown movie. -JH Defiance No Future No Hope Mind Control Records I honestly thought I would hate this band and planned on a bad review. I popped it in to the stereo and picked up the lyric sheet. Not but 3 minutes later I'm nodding my head to the sounds and I smile. Twisto changaroo, I'm saying that this is one of, if not the best, political punk band I've ever heard. I don't really care for P.C. or highly political music from kids who haven't seen the half of it. They don't know what they are talking about. They are still under their parent's roofs and they don't have the foggiest idea what life politics are. They know what they've been told, and in turn preach it right back out. These guys might be different. Although, I can tell by the picture they've spent a lot of money on spikes. The original reason I was going to give this a bad review is this. I go to these all ages shows. I see the kids that are wearing designer clothes with Crass patches sewn on them. I see all these political-punk patches on people that don't understand the politics. Most of these people are following an idea once believed by weird punks in england in the seventies. I'm talking about Crassholes. So with all that said this album is fantastic. I've listened to it twice back to back and several times in all. They do cuss a great deal, sometimes almost to the point of annoyance. The music has elements of Oi, Rock, and Punk. They express themselves very well in their lyrics. This is ONE that stands out from the crowd. So as I said earlier, this is great . Find it. - SB Down in Flames Sound advice The biggest point I want to make in this review is that "punk" music is a format that is best performed live. A CD or record can be great but if you see a band live and they sucked, that CD means very little anymore. I saw these guys play at the Aptos Club, they seriously took me back 10 years, fuck I'm old now. This is how I remembered "punk", alot of spitting and generally on fire for thier whole set. The CD is good too, full throttle rock'n'roll. You like that, "full throttle", yah, that's some car talk right there. People can really getting into descriptions like that, you know like "fuel injected". It's all sounding pretty gay to me now. Buy this CD, check out downinflames.net and quit being so gay...sheesh. - LC Duane Peters and the Hunns Ticket to Heaven Bomp/Alive I had a chance to check out Duane's side band at "Vinyl Solutions" in Orange County. I was buying the US Bombs War Birth and the owner asked me if I had heard the Hunns. "No" I replied. He put it in and I was impressed. The Hunns are more street punk than the Bombs and they do it well. - JM

The Faction New 4 Song CD How can you say anything bad about the Faction, They pretty much created skate rock. What better time for them to come back than when skateboardings early beginings are getting paid some long overdue attention. I couldn't be happier about the situation, mainly because I never got the chance to see them play live and now I can. This 4 song is pretty much the same formula you'd expect, smart riffs and strong lyrics from Gavin O. Go get Cokes and get this new 4 song CD at your finer independent music store. Song 4 is an awesome cover of "Who the hell you think you are." - LC Fall Silent Drunken Violence Revelation Records This is a local (Reno) band that I've never seen live. Though I am familiar with the musicians. This is their second release that I know of. Musically, they are a pretty solid band. The vocals are screamed which I'm not really into, but the drumming is kick-ass. As a matter of fact, I believe the drumming is what puts this band a cut above their peers. It's good solid metallic-hardcore with screamed vocals. My only problem with this particular disc is that it sounds like they are bordering on that horrible rap-metal shit. Now, the artwork on this disc is done by the same man that did Headgrenades' album cover. The artwork is done in paintings. The artist is Rob Roy Hiestand. Remember the name 'cause you'll be seeing more of his work through time. The original cover to this disc was denied by Revelation Records 'cause they believed it was too offensive. So they put it on the inside. So much for free speech in the punk scene. You don't want to offend anyone, you might lose money. I'll try to print the picture in question, so you can make up your own mind. Imagine that, freedom to live, to be. So if you like slayerish hardcore with screamed vocals then check 'em out. - SB Fall Silent Drunken Violence Revelation Records Wow. Fall Silent packs a punch. These guys from Reno like to scream about all kinds of shit. I like the heaviness of their music, although some of the lyrics make no fucking sense to me... "Flowers for whores?" They kind of remind me of Rage Against the Machine minus the entirely socially-conscious theme; however, that's not to say these guys don't have their own messages. I just don't get the message some of the time. I get amped when I listen to this - it's good for skateboard sessions. Fall Silent is powerful and fast, definitely good for satisfying those loud, angry, RARRRRRRR days. - SD The Flying Tigers S/T Atlantic Ooh, major label alternative rock? Cool name at least. These guys look like posers and sound like Smashing Pumpkins or Soundgarden or Alice in Chains or some of that cheesy shit early 90's shit. Maybe you kids haven't heard all of that stuff? Well if not, here's your chance. I'm sure this crap will be played on the radio if it's not already so this review is probably not necessary and you already love this band more than Slipknot. Guilty As Charged "Marooned" demo tape It's nice to see a real homemade demo tape in this sea of shitty looking 4 song cdr's with bad covers. This has a nice fold out cover with lyrics and artwork. When I pulled out the tape to put it on, it was a best of the grateful dead tape recorded over, with a sticker on one side with guilty as charged! written on it. I put it on and the grateful dead start coming out of my speakers, pretty funny. Well at least I can record something over this side. So I fast forward and flip it over and some hardcore comes blaring out of the speakers. This is pretty good stuff. Fast and pissed off with yelled and a bit snotty vocal attack. Good lyrics covering some different

subjects, mostly some historical and political stuff with a pirate theme throughout some of it. It reminds me of something but I can't think of it right now. Maybe something like the Accused meets Born Against. This is pretty good, you should call them and tell them to come and play in your friends basement, that's what I'm gonna do. - SH (guilty as charged: 191 E. Bartlett rd. Lynden WA 98264 360-398-0400 tedfred666@hotmail.com) The Hangmen We've Got Blood on the Toes of Our Boots Acetate Records The selling point of this CD is that Eddie Spagetti sings on a track. That was enough to get me to listen to this album, but not enough to get me to listen to it twice. Considering the somewhat mediocre rock the Supersuckers have been putting out lately, it really comes as no surprise that Eddie Spagetti is hanging around with other similar sounding, mid-tempo rock bands. It's a good quality live recording and I like the cover artwork, but the music has yet to grow on me. - dk

Harsh 9 song 7" Rat Town Records Skateboards, beer, and punk rock. For many of us this is our existence. These guys sing to and for us. It's on white vinyl and has some cool artwork in the middle. It's skatepunk done right. At times I hear old R.K.L. and Aggression. You've got 9 songs here that clock in at 11min. 24 sec. Although they are fast, you can still understand the singer and, the lyrics are decent. Great Skatepunk from a group of Skatepunks. Go buy it now and beer later. - SB John Hartford Steam Powered Aereo-Takes Bluegrass and Old Tyme is something new to me... something I'm not sure I like all the time. Being introduced to John Hartford's music changed things a bit, or at least opened some doors. There's always that one artists who has the ability to cross the gap and pull in music fans from all over. This is John Hartford. I enjoy him because he can reach across any musical differences in backgrounds and have you hooked on his simple, unique feel-good style, whether you thought you liked bluegrass or not. His personality shines in his lyrics and makes you instantly old friends who have been reunited again. He was able to engineer a sound in bluegrass music that few other peers and musicians in the time were able to innovate. Steam Powered Aereo-Takes is a release of older material recorded during sessions from early in his career when he had wild long hair, a big beard and probably was smoking weed at his all time peak. Maybe. These songs represent a wide range of the talent and diversity that Hartford and his group played. Also, for kicks try and find and listen to some later Hartford: "granny woncha smoke some marijuana"? - JAH Howlin' Wolf The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues MCA This album is a Blues classic. Howlin' Wolf breaks the generation barrier... my dad would love this! It makes me want to shake my ass or have a party in my backyard and bbq. Howlin' Wolf has a great voice with loads of soul. Listening to his songs are like listening to little life stories and personal experiences of his. Classic. -SD Kill Allen Wrench Full Metal Messiah Devil Vision Motion Picture Company Records How blessed am I? I personally, own two of the most important records in punk history; the last album by the Wrench cult, "My Bitch Is a Junky" and now this delightful recording of the devil. Allen Wrench does everything right. He kills people to gain notoriety and then starts a band to cash in on the whole deal. All along playing solid punk rock that has the

balls to be PUNK. There are tons of allegations about Allen Wrench. Sure Allen Wrench might of killed Kurt Cobain for $50,000 from Courtney Love. He possibly killed El Duce (of The Mentors) because he blabbed to some reporter about the murder. None of that shit can be proven. The thing that can be proven is that Kill Allen Wrench Rocks Like Fuck! Just take this "Full Metal Messiah" CD. It contains each of the rock basics: Reckless and Abundant Drug Use, Satanism, Abuse, and Alcoholism. It is just a hair more rockin' than the last album. When this CD arrived I felt all sorts of special. It came in a envelope with a huge half pentagram/half Allen Wrench print on it. Inside was a bunch of real cool stickers, porn stickers, a newsletter, an apology for the time taken to get it to me (They were in Europe), and the CD. It was like being a part of some satanic love club. The music made me feel just as fluffy. Songs about "Straight Edge Girlfriends", "White Trash Trailer Man", "Strippers are Sluts", and "Spotlight on the Pussy". I bought a 24oz. Pabst Blue Ribbon to drink while I listened. It only made it that much better. Please hear me. In a world full of empty causes and misdirected angst, know that you, too, can lean on Kill Allen Wrench for strength and piece of mind. This is one of those bands that make everything right again. I can name two other bands that have that spark Electric Frankenstein and Supersuckers. You like rock, metal, and punk? Don't let the force, that is Kill Allen Wrench, scare you. Instead, pledge your soul to hell and drink 'til you grow horns. At the very end of this disc, deep in track 12. You will find all sorts of fun recordings. There's interviews, marital advice, conversations, and live recordings of a few of their songs. As the warning on the disc states-" This is music by the Devil. Listen to it, don't believe in it." Do I need to say get it? Well, then get it! www.killallenwrench.com - SB Kung Fu Killers KFK Theme/Wasting Time 7" TKO Records Fresh from the Concussion World Headquarters I receive this little beauty of wax. The promo flyer for this speaks of the precision in which this band will rock you. This is HARD PUNK ROCK ! The first of these two tracks is The Kung Fu Killers theme song. It has lots of references to the violent action that you will experience while enjoying KFK. The second song on here is good rockin' punk. I look forward to hearing more from KFK. It seems TKO Records can do no wrong right now. Their business practices are truly honorable. Definitely get this. I've said it before: the best music out there right now is on 7"s.-SB Kung Fu Killers Game of Death TKO Cool cover, compelling title, relatively generic music, although I'll give it a chance longer than the first half a song. Four originals, and they do a decent Misfits cover, but then again the Misfits weren't that good of a band. - dk The Macc Lads An Orifice and a Genital (Out-takes 1986-1991) Snapper Music The cover of this CD has a warning printed at the top of it. It states - "Warning: This effort contains words ruder than bottom". Now look at the name of this effort. Great fuckin' name for an album. The liner notes, on any and all of the Lads releases, are very funny. They tell of the Lads misadventures. They are laid out in chronological order through time. The music on here is classic. It has different versions of old classics. The Lads take the Monkees song and make it their own. Along with blitzkreig bop, rebel, rebel , head kicked in tonight, and many more. The Macc Lads are one of the true greats. Many bands will come and go, but The Macc Lads will be one of the scumbag elite. So listen up ya sheep shaggers, get out to the record store and allow the Lads to knock you around. I'd musically describe them as the oi of anti-oi. Pretty much rock and punk with great humour. Here's a lyric

to taste test-'Knock, knock. Who's there? Urine! Urine who? Urine for sloppy seconds at the gangbang!'. You can't deny them, You truly gotta try 'em. - SB Medeski Martin & Wood Uninvisible Blue Note These guys are still cranking out solid albums. Their last album "The Dropper" was progressive, jazzy and funky and just plain good, but for some reason it doesn't make it into my cd player all that often compared to some of their first releases. Their live album "Tonic" was interesting and musically talented, but very abstract as a whole... so I thought. This new release, Uninvisible, will without a doubt get a lot of play time. It's got some super funky jams as well as tracks that keep the strong jazz influence. The presence of the organ provides a New Orleans sound far more predominant on this album than ever before. MMW also blends the boundaries more between their music and the trip hop experimentals that began to originate with DJ Logic on Combustication. I would recommend this album without hesitation. You won't regret it. - JAH Melted Men Fangs Alot on Nerve Rust About a month ago, I had the overwhelming honor of seeing the Melted Men in action. Having not heard of them before, I had to trust the blurb in the paper about how they were "different". Needless to say, I'm always searching out the sounds that are a little left of center. Upon entering the venue, I saw men dressed as grown-up muppets on stilts, Abe Lincoln poprockin' to break beats, and a naked man in a chicken mask singing along to "When We Get Behind Closed Doors". I was hooked. Immediately after the show I bought every item of merchandise they had to offer. "Fangs Alot" was part of that purchase; totally worth the $11 asking price. This material is for the advanced listener who has grown tired of the mainstream format and craves something new. The beats are banging and the loops infectious. I defy your brain to keep the sounds from rebounding around in your head once the disc is turned off. One is reminded of Early Devo as synthesizers are milked to produce unearthly sounds. The partypop-rockin' style of "Butter Roll" and "Ingrowed Toenail" can easily be compared to Beck at his most flavorful. The juxtaposition of sound and sample melded onto a canvas of insanity is The Melted Men's forte'. If you ever get the chance to see them live, do so. You will not be disappointed. For more info go to meltedmen.com. - Sgt. Scrapes The Miss No Radio Morphius At first I thought it sounded like an At the Drive In ripoff, but on third listen I'm starting to like it a lot more. It sounds like ATDI except for a slight less sense of urgency but the same riot, sirens, chaotic feeling that arises from such a determined vocal style. I was surprised at the rawness of this CD when I put it in, and there are a variety of altered styles on this recording. From the CD cover of a photograph of an old style record player, I was intrigued at first glance, but anticipated disappointment. I've definitely only left finger trails of clear through the dust on the top of this old record player. Further examination is necessary. This one isn't going to Streetlight Records. It's staying on my shelf. Seriously. I'm not going to sell it, and that means something. - JH Nashville Pussy Say Something Nasty Artemis Records A new one from the sketchy long haired bald guy and his two saucy fire breathing rocker chick counterparts. The guy sings most all of the songs on this release, and it sounds like most of the songs are about fucking. Songs like, "Say Something Nasty", "Keep on Fuckin'" give you a feel of the content and classiness of this one. Other songs in the AC/DC, Ted Nugent vein, rock out about drugs, destruction and more sex. The ripping electric guitar solos and bad lyrics steal the show. If you like cheesy heavy metal that sounds like a rehash of good 80s hard rock, then you'll love this. I did. If you are looking for intelligent lyrics and sensitive guitar strokes, look elsewhere. - JH

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N.E.R.D. In search of... Virgin Records The production team known best for their work as The Neptunes have produced much of the pop music you hear on the radio today. Jay Z, Busta Rhymes, N*Sync even. You name it, they've produced it...they've got the skills. For their debut album as N.E.R.D. (No one Ever Really Dies), the boys have abandoned the electronic sound they have so skillfully honed for live instruments and raw vocals. Word has it that there is another version of this album floating around in Europe (the first version) which has all electronic backing tracks. Those of you who watch MTV 2 will remember "Lapdance" (the video with dudes on BMX bikes and lesbian strippers) a while back. That was a track off the first version. Well, they waited and re-recorded all of the songs and now have a truly banging record. Fans of Urban Dance Squad and Kool Keith will dig this joint. The lead MC Pharrell Williams can come off hard as well as sing melodic and nice (think R & B). "Truth or Dare" has sizzlin' female vocals and is one of my faves (as well as the high-energy "Rock Star"). Also nice, is that Amazon.com as well as most stores sell the CD new for $9.98. Well worth it! - Sgt. Scrapes

Nathaniel Merriweather Presents Lovage - Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By Tommy Boy Remember when your roommate listened to Portishead nonstop a while back? Well, if it was this disc, you wouldn't have minded so much. A bevy of musicians come together to make one helluva sexy album. The roster includes Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Peeping Tom, etc.), Nathaniel Merriweather (Handsome Boy Modeling School), Jennifer Charles, Kid Koala and Afrika Bambaataa...just to name a few. I'd describe it as slippery, slick, seductive, sultry and sometimes salty. Much to thank is Dan the Automator's wizardry on the controls and Mike Patton's chameleon-like quality that enables him to bust-out on most any track. It's been a while since we've seen the tender side of Mr. Patton. Welcome back, welcome back. Hearing the version of Berlin's "Sex (I'm a)" was truly surreal and unexpected in this context. From beginning to end, this disc provides a nice, gentle landscape that even your girlfriend will enjoy. - Sgt. Scrapes No Parade Ceaseless Fire 12" EP Another great looking and sounding release from Partners in Crime. No Parade consisted of two members of From Ashes Rise and that sound is definitely here on this record, but it's less on the super heavy side and more punk & 80's hardcore sounding with some rocking breakdowns. Some lyrics from "blood red": "HEADLIGHTS FLASH THROUGH A QUIET DESERT NIGHT TO PIERCE THE HEART AND TAKE AWAY THE HOPE. WHILE BEHIND THE GOLDEN GATES, THEY'RE SCREAMING TO GET OUT, WE'VE GOT PLANS FOR YOU ELSEWHERE. THEY DIDN'T CROSS THE BORDER, THE BORDER CROSSED THEM. THE GRASS GROWS GREEN WHILE THE OTHER SIDE TURNS BLOOD RED." Fifteen songs at 45 rpm, this wont fit in your CD player. This is hardcore how it should be played: raw, intense, a with a sense of fucking urgency. Now go down to the local record store with all your Pennywise and Offspring CD's and trade them in for this. - SH (Partners In Crime: 4507 n. gantenbein/portland/OR/97217) Prevalent Falls A Newer More Shattered You Equal Vision Power-Emo is what I'm coining this style of music, but I've probably already been beat out of that one. When I was a kid there was pop, Heavy Metal, Punk, Country, R&B and Classical. These days, pretty much every band can fall into their own category of music, well, maybe not, but, you know what I mean. Anyway, Prevent Falls are Power Emo. Talented musicians that lie somewhere between alternative emo & hard rock/metal. Prevalent Falls are from New Jersey, the

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same place as heroes Bon Jovi and the Boss if that tells you anything about their music. The press release tells me they sound like Helmet, but Helmet are way heavier and nothing really like this at all. Get it if you like your eggs over easy, but not if you like them scrambled. - JH The Pupils Dischord Records Slow methodic but melodic Scottish styled 70s Pink Floydish melancholy existential monotheistic catchy addictive folk rock. I've listened to this more times than any of the other new releases I've received this issue, so that means it's a definite keeper. I've actually become somewhat addicted to these Pupils. There's something mystical about them. Something I want to tell the whole world about. It's as if they had a secret riddle to tell you that you just needed to know the answer too. They could also be overlooked. Passed on by. Paid no Heed. But I stopped, listened, & learned. A couple sections of the Pupils bring to mind favorites such as Mudhoney, the Stooges, and Screaming Trees & Mark Lanegan. Other moments bring to mind absolutely no one and I feel like being a lone so go away and don't read what I'm writing you intrusive bastard. JH Q & Not U On Play Patterns Dischord Records On Play Patterns, a CDEP produced by Ian Mackaye, contains 2 songs that shift from repetitive emo melodies, to twangy guitar rhythms, to slow poetry sung in harmony with the guitars and pattering drums. The band consists of three members who play the guitars, drums and keyboard, and all the members participating in vocal harmonies. These guys aren't hard and they aren't pretending to be. The CD is pink, the vocals are sensitive, and they harmonics are soothing...and then its over. I'd be interested to hear their full length, coming out this fall.- JH Reverend Horton Heat Lucky 7 Artemis Records What could I tell you about the rev that hasn't already been said ? You know they rock. You know they're cool cats. So why don't you already own this ? You should if you like the way "Liquor in the Front" sounded. Or enjoyed the style of "It's Martini Time". Then you will surely love this here new offering. I blared "Los Gringos like to Party", the opening track at my BarBQ on May 5. It was very befitting. Seek the gospel of The only Reverend that matters. All the other Rev.'s out there are shit. - SB The Ritchie Whites Snitches Get Stitches TKO So I pop this CD into my computer (I'm reviewing albums on my computer stereo) and the first thing that comes up is a Quicktime video for me to watch of the Ritchie Whites. I was pretty impressed that it didn't crash my computer because usually those multimedia enhanced CDs are made for PCs and crash my Macintosh shit. So that was pretty cool. And the music is pretty ok too, I was actually able to listen to most of the album without taking it out immediately. - dk

The Riffs Dead End Dream TKO Records I like The Riffs. If you remember I reviewed their release 'Underground Kicks' with only good to say about 'em. This new release is good....just not as good as the last. It makes me wonder if 'underground kicks' was their first album. I don't want you to think this isn't a great album. I'm just saying they've done better. They got lucky and found a good home. TKO Records is one of the best labels out there. '77 rock n roll snide and punked up. Get this and if you don't like it...oh well. - SB

The Riffs Such a bore b/w coming back TKO Records These Portland punks have been putting out a lot of records lately. This 2 song 7 inch of rockin slow/mid tempo punk rock is typical of their drugged out/Johnny Thunders/77 punk sound. - SH The Sabians Beauty For Ashes The Music Cartel The sticker on the front of the CD aptly says "Featuring exmembers of the legendary band Sleep, the Sabians' sound is a combination of punk, folk, metal, and chant." At first I was stoked when I saw this disc, but then I realized that Matt Pike is not in this band, this is not the new High On Fire album, and I'm not really into chant or folk. And they forgot to list Celtic on there too. - dk Skatanic Rednecks Burned CD with sharpie art TDK-CDR Dave Reul and the Skatanic Rednecks are a blend between Johnny Cash and the Mentors . The music varies from punk to speed-death metal to yee-haw slap your knee grab your cousin and kiss her type music. Songs such as "Taliban Must Die", makes you think these guys are some real patriotic enforcers. I'm not sure if they're joking or serious, but I guess you can just laugh at them either way. Them Skatanic Rednecks have done gone and made a song about John Wayne. Some fancy country western lyrics include: "Blood on the saddle and blood on the ground and a great big puddle of blood all around." Other more punk rock style favorite songs holler about: "Police are on my back, turn left onto the track, lights are flashing bright, we're getting busted tonight!" The Skatanic Rednecks are bringing it back to the garage with a case of beer, a microphone, a tape recorder, and some shit talking lyrics. Oh yeah. Their last song on their first album is the opening track to 2002 Summer Blockbuster: Deliverance 2 - Still Squeelin'. Join their cult or become a priest and touch little boys privates. Low blow. - JH

Scientist Scientist Dubs Culture into A Parallel Universe Ras Records How horrible is it when one of your favorite artists puts out a wack album? Unfortunately, this is the case with The Scientist's (aka Hopeton Brown's) new effort. Gaining respect as a protege to the world renown King Tubby, the student went on to surpass the master, taking Dub Reggae to new levels. His signature sound was at times more effects than instruments. The tireless beating of the echoplex, the blips and beeps of feedback, the overall pulse which created an environment that both surrounded and engulfed the listener. On "Dubs Culture..." we find the Scientist out of his element, remixing Culture's Roots Reggae release "Payday", struggling to keep up in a digital world. The effects now play him. Gone is the lush echo, replaced by strict digital delays calculated to the millisecond. With all of this said, I can not stress enough just how important his earlier work is. Please check out "Scientist meets the Space Invaders", "Scientist Encounters Pac Man", "Big Showdown", and "Scientist Wins the World Cup" to truly understand the dimension of this master's skills when he was hungry, and in his prime. - Sgt. Scrapes Scurvy Bastards Gold Fever/Polaris 7" 702 Records The Bastards are my friends...Hell, all my friends are Bastards. So with that said, I'll tell you to buy this and that's that. Right? No fuckin' way spike! If the band sucks, I'll say it sucks. But when you've got a band of musicians that come together and play celtic/oi/ pirate/ punk as well as these guys/gal. Well then, you call every release a sure bet. This 7" is no exception. The song 'Gold Fever' takes you out prospecting for gold. It feels like you should be in the

desert as the song plays. The b-side has 'Polaris' . A H.P. Lovecraft sound bite was used for the opening. This demonic pirate ditty is very quick. They are a very talented band. The best music out there is on 7". Get with it, spaceboy. Buy or Die. - SB Sgt Scrapes Critical Brown Scrapes Mobile Audio Four score and many scrapes ago came the birthing: Scrape #1. The O.S. if you will (and I know you will, upon a sea of French toast.) From those younger loins a multitude of descendants have shot forth in many guises. Critical Brown serves as a sort of critical scrapes compendium for the uninitiated. But as with every Scrapes release, there's always something new; i.e. "BrownFinger." This is the latest and greatest to date. Chino RIP. LONG LIVE THE SARGE!!! - FG RS2 L.I.F.E Monde Music This CD is like a drink of cool refreshing water. It just feels good, like a Tommy G. song, or Ray Barbee, Ray Stevens has conveyed a beautifully pure emotion with one song. Unforturnately, it's the only song on the CD, so you're left craving more and I'm sure there is more to come. I think Ray has tapped some part of his brain and this could potentially be the next step in the illusterious music career of Ray Stevens the second. Check it out if you can find it. It's got a rad picture of Lincoln Nass at Vagabond on the cover, barfoot ollie, sick. - LC The Stitches Four more songs from the Stitches 12" Kapow Records The Stitches are a great band. They have energy and talent. They are similar to The Briefs in many ways. Just good rockin' punk. This is a 12" with four songs on it. It reminds me of the old days when SST Records would put out a 12" with two songs on it. Being that I am a vinyl freak this is very cool to me. For the same reason I am also familiar with Kapow Records. They put out three really cool 7" 's recently. Throw Rag, The Catheters, and The Starvations were the bands. I was really impressed with the wax and the sleeve design. It is always cool to include stickers from the band. Well, this here piece of wax is a bit less arty than those others I spoke of, but the music rips right through. Four songs over way too quick, by a band that deserves the attention of you skatepunks out there. What am I saying is you probably already own this. Great record ! - SB

Tenacious D Self titled Epic Records OK, so you know Jack Black for being a dumb ass in a bunch of dumb ass movies. Well, there is more to the story, this dumb ass can sing. Along with his best friend Kyle Gass (who can really play guitar) they make up the superduo Tenacious D. At first, I was very hesitant of this project thinking it to be another Hollywood vehicle to showcase sucking. Luckily, I was wrong. This album reminds me of listening to old Cheech and Chong albums and Spinal Tap as a kid...at the same time. They're funny, and they got the chops to back it up. Subject matter varies from Keilbasa to Karate from Schnitzel to World Domination. Guest stars include Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) returning to the drums, Steve McDonald (Redd Kross) and Page McConnell (Phish) on piano. It's also produced by the Dust Brothers (Beasties - Paul's Boutique, Beck Odelay), so you know it sounds big. All in all, the disc is good and kept me amused for a while. As with all comedy, some may find the humor to be "not quite their style". But, fans of early metal and meat products will be pleased. Two standouts are "Wonderboy" and "Friendship". - Sgt. Scrapes

Totalitar Spela bort allt du har EP Allting ar pa latsas EP Here's two new 7"s from one of the best ever Swedish d-beat bands. Each 7" has five songs of great solid hardcore like they've been doing for 15 or so years. Both these were recorded at the same time in September 2000 and in my opinion this is some of the best stuff they've done. Lyrics in Swedish with translations/explanations in English. Good luck finding these. - SH (Dod & Uppsvalld Records: po box 172 10/S-104 62 Stockholm/Sweden) (Really Fast records: box 6170/SE-102 33 Stockholm/Sweden) Ugly Casanova Sharpen Your Teeth Sub Pop Sharpen Your Teeth came to being by Isaac Brock aka Ugly Casanova (lead singer/guitarist of Modest Mouse). Brock portrays himself as the Ugly Casanova well in this album. His noticeable singing imperfections, which wail throughout the album, give it undeniable but lovable flaws. On the other hand, he's the ultimate Casanova due to his ability to seduce the guitar into enigmatic fits of pleasure and beauty. I like to fantasize that Brock titled this album Sharpen your teeth as a command to file the incisors to a fatally sharp point then live like a vampire by sucking blood and getting livid at the sight of a full moon. Brock's emotional and sometimes dark world can best be explored

through his song "Diamonds on the Face of Evil". In this song, one can hear the drudging of a chain gang in the background while he sings in Brokian language repetitious rhythms of men walking in chains. However, there's much more than a cynical element to the album, rather it consists of a spectrum of many different and original sounds. Along with the album comes a ten-page booklet of stony artwork by Thomas Campbell, which should be reason enough to own Sharpen Your Teeth. - CH Vanilla Muffins All Give Some, Some Give All Haunted Town Records I remember hearing about this bands debut. It was called 'Sugar Oi! Will Win!' I heard a few songs off of it and I liked it. These guys have been labeled sugar Oi because of the lyrical content, I'm guessing, 'cause they don't play pretty sweet pop. It is Oi in the same vein as old Cocksparrer. This is a great CD. My only complaint is that it only has four songs. They even have old punk / skin legend Frankie Flame on one of the songs. Solid music, fantastic label. - SB V/A Apocalypse Always Alternative Tentacles This is the new Alternative Tentacles sampler that starts off with some spoken word from Jello Biafra (sounding like that one dude on Sundays on NPR) that was way to long and drawn out for my short attention span. In the executive summary review, highlights include the Fleshies, a two minute spoken word from Chomsky on domesticated aspirations, the Fartz, and Ratos de Porao. There is some other spoken word stuff and more music on here, but I didn't have time to enjoy it. - dk

X At Home With You This album was originally released in 1985, yet it breaks the boundaries of time. X is pure rock-n-roll. The lyrical simplicity evokes emotions to specific circumstances in my own life... the songs' combination of powerful riffs and the charged passion in singer/guitarist Steven Lucas' voice brings back anger, frustration, and heartbreak I thought was gone to the recesses of my mind's past. And on those indifferent days, the music just rocks. It is no wonder X was one of Australia's favorite rock bands for decades. -SD Zero Bullshit A Moment of Silence Try It Punk Records Good East Bay hardcore, shitty singer. These dudes are pretty gnarly, I was told that some clubs don't like to book them because the singer beats up bouncers. Their guitar player Rich bartends at this place Connolly's in Oakland, and he gave me the CD. He said I probably wouldn't like it (which was a good assumption) but surprisingly I did, and I didn't even think the singer was really that bad, that's just what Rich said so it stuck with me. - dk SB - Sick Boy SD - Sarah Drexler FG - Frank Gilbert JH - Jonahtan Hay JAH - Joel Hickok SH - Simon Hay CH - Christine Hughes DK - Davoud JM- Jason McMullen JS - Jon Steel Sgt Scrapes - As Himself

Dave Tobin of Portland, OR is the latest person to win a free subscription by providing verifiable evidence of getting inked up with a Concussion skull or logo. You heard me right, lifetime free subscription for anyone foolish er- hardcore enough to get the Concussion skull or masthead tattooed on their body. Do it today, for there may not be a tomorrow. Send photos to: Concussion POB 1024 Santa Cruz CA 95061 or email photos to: concussion@concussion.org

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Ron Whaley having a little me time at Santa Cruz High. photo by t. roland

Hipper of the month: Is it a hipper when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on your side? Yucky. Photo by Dave Tobin.

Come for the death box, stay for the hippers. Jason D gets his in the WC.

Jeff Ault getting a little taste of the flat bottom. Ha ha.

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I really like this photo of Mike Yaccarnio on his head in the shallow end. It really speaks to me. Photo by Davoud

This is what Lee gets for attempting to ride the MagnaTron - MagnaTossed. Video sequences by Amell.

Mike Weir. Huck. Whirl. Faceplant. Photo by Wellhausen

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