Sunday, December 18, 2011

GV30: TSOL, Bad Religion and Youth Brigade @ Santa Monica Civic


TSOL, Bad Religion, Youth Brigade and three opening acts played at Day II of the Golden Voice 30th Anniversary show. A full capacity crowd at the legendary venue, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, for a night reminiscent of an old school SoCal punk rock bill. Several generations of punk enthusiasts gathered for this larger-than-life event presented by legendary rocknroll show producer, Gary Tovar.

The first act was a lousy band called A Pretty Mess. Female-led generic punk that left everyone wanting the headliners as soon as possible. The second worse thing, aside of this, was hearing a Ramones-only soundtrack between bands. A lack of variety that reminded us that definitely, the best was yet to come.

Mystic Records 80s outfit, The Grim, hit the stage for their blend of hardcore surf punk that set the tone for the rest of the night. Fast songs with potent guitar riffs that initiated circle pitters to wreck shit up. Things to highlight were the tallest bass player ever and the lead singer throwing out their entire merch to the crowd.

Sin 34, the female-fronted 80s hc band, came next. Led by singer Julie Lanfeld and drummer Dave Markey (from We Got Power Films fame), they blasted songs from their classic "Do You Feel Safe". It was so good to hear live, a sort of underrated band from that era.

After this, arrived one of the main dishes of the feast, Youth Brigade. 2/3 of The Stern Bros, Shawn and Mark, accompanied by two young guns to play all their classics. "Blown Away", "Modest Proposal", "Men in Blue", "Fight to Unite", "Violence" and they ended their set with singalong classic "Sink with Kalifornja"(in the latter, the remaining Stern brother Adam as well as producer Gary Tovar, join them on stage for the encore).

The main reason for our attendance, TSOL, brought mayhem to the stage with their presence. Lead singer Jack Grisham with a full-face of make up and a suit joined by the other original members: guitar extraordinaire Ron Emory and pounding bass player Mike Roche. Keyboard-player (Greg Kuehn) included, they passed through their classic discography with great taste. Fast punky stuff like "Superficial Love", "World War 3" and "Abolish Government" and horror punk anthems as "Sounds of Laughter", "Silent Scream" and "Wash Away" kick some major ass. Grisham's witty and irreverent talk between songs stand them out as great punkrock performers, a thing musicians in general lack. Their classic necrophiliac tune "Code Blue" ended their round set like a bomb.

Bad Religion closed the fest with an hour-long wall of sound full of their 3 decades repertoire. "Fuck Armageddon, This is Hell", "Do What You Want", "You Are the Government" heated up thousands of kids, old timers and walk ins. Their 3 guitar attack of Hetson (Circle Jerks), Baker (Minor Threat) and Gurewitz (Epitaph Records) was outstanding. Graffin (UCLA professor) and Bentley (original bassist) completed the full five-man front row performance. Songs like "I want to conquer the World", "Modern Man" and "Supersonic" continued the singalong extravaganza. Finally, to time travel to the eighties decade, they played never-before stuff from their first album. This was a great way to end this show because it completely fulfilled the purpose of showing the attendees how was punk rock back in the day. As Gary Tovar said: "Don't ever underestimate the power of Bad Religion".

Post Scriptum
: This fest started on Friday with X, Adolescents and Social D. and ends on Sunday with Descendents, Dickies and Vandals.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

A Dangerous Method by David Cronenberg



Legendary canadian auteur filmmaker, David Cronenberg, delivers his latest cinematic effort A Dangerous Method after four years apart from motion pictures. A film that goes back to the birth of psychoanalysis and its pioneers Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Starring are Viggo Mortensen as Freud, Michael Fassbender as Jung, Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein and Vincent Cassel as Otto Gross.

Jung, a Swiss Christian, and Freud, an Austrian Jew, were psychologists who disagreed over the way patients should be treated and this gave birth to Psychoanalysis. Everything Freud did was from a sexual perspective. Jung was more ortodox by helping patients recover to be functional beings. Jung began treating Sabina, a hysteric russian woman who was molested by her father, that her intelligence allowed her to become a doctor. After several months of treatment, Jung and Sabina began a sadomasochistic affair which eventually "cured" her. Jung ended up using extramarital sex as an escape to his boring married life. Freud hardly convinced the status-quo that his theories would play an important part in the study of human behavior.

At the end, this two important social scientists were nullify by the World Wars that later arrived. Freud ended up committing an assisted suicide, while being in exile in England, in the verge of World War II. Jung died tormented and hopeless in the 1960s.

The performances in this film were brilliant. Keira Knightley made a great performance as the hysteric Sabina Spielrein and Viggo Mortensen made a very credible Freud personification, smoking tobacco and a jewish-nose included. The scenery was beautiful and served as background to the early 20th century setting. Cronenberg added another good film to his prolific and versatile repertoire. If "A history of Violence" and "Eastern Promises" (in both films Mortensen was the lead) were violent and gory as his earlier work, this witty flick puts him in the list of the greatest North American auteur filmmakers without a doubt. 8/10 stars.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Melancholia by Lars von Trier



Melancholia is the newest film by danish auteur filmmaker Lars von Trier. Starring are Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Keifer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgard (Eric from True Blood), Charlotte Rampling and John Hurt.

The story evolves around Justine (Dunst) who is getting married to Michael (Skarsgard), in a larger-than-life wedding paid by her wealthy brother-in-law John (Sutherland), who is married to Justine's sister Claire (Gainsbourg). Justine's relationship with Claire is not the best. Also their parents, Gaby (Rampling) and Dexter (Hurt), hate each other. After several events during wedding day, Justine ends up living at her sister's mansion. They wait there for Melancholia, a strange planet about to collide with Earth, and everything will change forever.

Lars von Trier tells the story in two different parts. 1st part is Justine's wedding day and 2nd part is Claire's family life at the mansion. Both of them are part of the end of the world story of Melancholia hitting planet Earth.

The camera shots are very reminiscent of his Dogme 95 days. They follow the characters with no apparent purpose as the actors wander through the gorgeous and iconic settings. As the story comes to an end, all the shots made perfect sense. The photography and editing are very interesting as well as strange, but serve the purpose of telling the unconventional story, just as prior's von Trier films.

Dunst performance is her best seen so far. She won the Best Actress Award at the 64th Cannes Film Festival. She also sounds for at least, an Oscar nomination. This isn't for baring all her clothes but for the dramatic scenes that compose her interpretation of a depressed and confused Justine.

During Cannes last edition, von Trier made some politically incorrect comments about sympathizing with Hitler, something that made him "persona non grata" at the prestigious festival and banned him from competition.

All in all, its very good storytelling about the end of the world told by the best Scandinavian filmmaker of the last 20 years. Entertaining, unique and somewhat controversial. 8/10 stars.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Filmage: The Story of the DESCENDENTS

Very stoked for a documentary about the DESCENDENTS.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Julieta Venegas @ Bakersfield, CA


Mexican indie pop icon, Julieta Venegas, played at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, CA. We made a 2 hour road trip from Los Angeles with our good friends Carlos and Zoey to watch some catchy pop tunes sung in Spanish.

We arrived at 8:00 pm to the venue where Korn (actually, they hail from this city) launched there 2006 World Tour [sounds random but we acknowledge it because they had a commemorative plaque outside the venue].

This convention center had several events at the same time (like Disney on Ice) but our venue was a medium-sized theater with seats. It was kind of empty but Julieta's performance was well worth it. She was accompanied by 6 all-around musicians (two kick ass chicks included) who changed guitars, keyboards, trumpets and other instruments between themselves.

They delivered a very warm and intimate set which reminded me of Belle and Sebastian's DC gig back in Oct 2010. The comparison came to my mind because it was a lot of musicians and instruments on-stage delivering beautiful music. The difference was that it was done with a very mexican flavor to it. In addition, the drummer played with only one stick during the entire set, which was very cool. The interaction between the band and the public was very good.

Julieta sang hits such as Canciones de Amor, Eres para mí (in which she rapped Anita Tijoux's verses), Lento, Amores Perros Me Van A Matar (from the classic Iñarritu film soundtrack), Debajo de mi lengua, Me Voy, Ya Conocerán (which she announced will have a music video soon), Algo Está Cambiando and a cover of La Jaula de Oro by Los Tigres del Norte.

After an hour and a half, the band left the stage but returned to sang their last three songs Revolución, Sin Documentos and Andar Conmigo. Overall it was a great show, full of her hits. Even though it was a very small audience, Julieta and his backing band played with tons of energy. Definitely would see Julieta Venegas again but never going back to Korn's hometown.

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Skin I Live In by Pedro Almodóvar


The Skin I Live In is the new film by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. Starring are Antonio Banderas as Dr. Robert Ledgard, Marisa Paredes as Robert's mom Marilia and Elena Anaya as his patient Vera Cruz. All of whom have appeared in previous movies by the legendary manchego filmmaker.

Dr. Robert, an innovative plastic surgeon, has invented a powerful synthetic skin. He has lost his family to tragic events and therefore uses his time to develop his scientific experiments on his guinea pig, Vera. His mother Marilia has return to help him in the house duties. Life is getting better for Robert but unexpected events will get things back to the usual.

The story is very Almodóvar-like in many aspects. The dark humor, the shocking themes and dialogs, the bright colors of the scenery, the feminine identity, Art and music presenting the tone, homosexuality in some form, nonlinear storytelling using flashbacks, a movie inside the movie itself, strong sex scenes and a final twist at the end are all elements in this flick.

The performances by Elena Anaya and Banderas are great. Anaya's unconventional role uses more body language than words, making it very interesting. Bandera's character is a bad guy with the social acceptance to do whatever he wants because of his profession. Both are worth any nomination in the festival circuit.

Almodóvar never dissapoints on my book. His stories are unique and told in an original and bizarre way. If you have not seen any of his movies, avoid this. If you are a fan, then sit back and enjoy, his latest entertaining gem. This film was nominated for the Palm D'ore at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. 8 out of 10 stars.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

50/50: A Jonathan Levine Film


50/50 is the new film by director Jonathan Levine (The Wackness). Starring are Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, Seth Rogen as his friend Kyle, Anjelica Huston as Adam's Mom, Anna Kendrick as therapist Katherine and Bryce Dallas Howard as his girlfriend Rachael.

Adam is a young radio writer who suddenly gets a rare type of cancer. His life torn apart but with the help of Kyle, Katherine and his family, his journey becomes one of self-discovery and acceptance.

The film goes back and forth between comedy and drama. Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes an outstanding performance that is really Academy award nominee material. Adam is one of those characters that you feel happy for them when things are getting better and very sad when things go bad. Seth Rogen does the same funnyman character we are accustomed to see and Anna Kendrick's character brings up the feelgood elements of falling in love and sexual tension with the main character.

It is all based of a true story. The script being penned by real-life "Adam", Will Reiser. He got cancer while working as a writer for HBO's Da Ali G show and his best buddy at that time was actually Seth Rogen, who plays the friend in the movie.

Worth seeing if you are into switching emotions in a limited time period. Avoid it if you hate sad movies or Seth Rogen type comedy.

7.5 of 10 stars.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Early 80s gems

Here's some rare videos from early 80s bands.

JFA-Little Big Man, 1983 at The Mad Gardens in Phoenix, AZ


Agression-Money Machine, 1984 L.A. Olympic Auditorium


Descendents-Catalina, Hey Hey, Bikeage and Jean is Dead, Early 80s. Milo with a Bad Brains shirt. Same footage as Flipside Video Fanzine Vol. 1 but with more songs.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

D.I. and The Dickies coming to my town


D.I., the legendary Orange County punks, and The Dickies, L.A. punk pioneers, presented their anthems at the House of Blues of the Sunset Strip. The opening band was Juicehead and the closing one was The Misfits. As a matter of fact, it was the second straight show at the HOB that we went for the opening acts rather than the headliner.

The doors opened almost at 8:00 pm as hundreds of metalheads, rockers and punks with the obligatory Misfits shirts, entered the venue. Juicehead threw a set of 90s punk tunes that even included the Operation Ivy standard, "Knowledge".

Half an hour later, Orange County's finest, Casey Roger and company jumped on stage with their blend of skate punk rock. They opened with "Johnny's got a problem" and continued with classics such as "Imminent War", "Hang Ten in East Berlin" and "Guns". A couple of covers like "Amoeba" (Adolescents) and "Falling Out" (Rikk Agnew) followed in their repertoire. They ended with their best known tune, "Richard hung himself". In general, it was an intense set with lots of energy that left the crowd asking for more.

Our "headliners" came next to ripped the stage apart. The Dickies sounded like it was 1977. Very fun and energetic as their appearances in the old Flipside Magazine videos. Frontman Leonard Graves Phillips and guitarist Stan Lee, the only original members, began with "Rosemary" and played songs from all their early albums such as "Give it Back" "You drive me ape", "I'm ok you're ok", "If Stuart could talk" and the Sabbath cover "Paranoid". "Gigantor" was their last song. The best part was Leonard using different props like gorilla masks, snorkel masks, inflatable women or penis puppets.

We left before The Misfits because I have seen them twice in the past and it was late for a weekday. As we walk to our car, some punks broke into a fight in the street, apparently for something that occurred at the pit. Anyhow, it was a great punk rock show with two of the most legendary punk bands of Southern California.

8/10 stars.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

2011 Eagle Rock Music Festival


The 13th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival was held at the infamous Colorado Boulevard featuring music acts from electronica to rock, passing through hip hop and singer/songwriters. Upcoming and established groups from L.A. and beyond for all musical tastes. Rooney, the indie rock band featuring the youngest Schwartzman-Coppola, was headlining and were joined by other eclectic acts like Fuxedos or Barrio Tiger.

Since we live in the same neighborhood, we made a half hour walk to where the action was happening. After some oinkster pastrami fix, we head to the Razorcake stage to see the almighty Fuxedos.

This band is no joke in terms of their genius (although, any normal-type person can see them as a "joke band"). One of the most entertaining acts I have seen in my lifetime (with the permission of The Adicts or Belle and Sebastian). Theatrics combined with almost every prop unimaginable, accompany the sonic delivery which crosses boundaries so diverse as punk, jazz, country, opera, metal and any kind of sound from the musical spectrum. Their encore of The Beatles "I wanna hold your hand" fits perfectly the latter description.

Musicians followed singer Diabolical Danny Shorago like an orchestra follows a director. This says much of a band that changes from city to city (L.A. and S.F., different bands with same singer). After their jaw-dropping performance rock, we saw just a couple of tunes by Barrio Tiger and walked to the farthest stages to catch Rooney.

At the Kingsize stage, we awaited for Robert Coppola Schwartzman's band. A lot of underage girls began filling nearby the stage as if it was a Backstreet Boys concert circa 1999. The peak was their new upbeat single "Holdin On" and their hit "When Did Your Heart Go Missing", this one shortened because of the 11:00 pm curfew.

The highlights were Rooney, Fuxedos, the $1 cupcakes, free good clean fun for all the family and the closeness to my crib. The downgrades were Rooney's set cut off and annoying drunk teenagers hanging out instead of seeing the bands. 7/10 stars for the ERMF.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Late 80s and Early 90s Puerto Rico Hardcore Punk


While living in Europe, I bought the compilation "Delirium Tremens Vol. 23: Puerto Rico Hardcore Compilation" from a guy named Marko Orava of Sweden who actually released the compilation back in the day. I sent him 3 one-euro coins wrapped in newspaper to the Nordic country for this piece of history. It was released in 1992 and was assembled by Fernando Díaz, from old school Puerto Rico punk band Fobia Estatal and the label Fuera de Orden Records.

Infamous bands such as No More from Sábana Grande, Unión de Defensa (an oi band featuring some members of No More), Werner and Paíto's first punk band Frontside Generation, Aguada's Chicken Shit (later Demasia), Crossover legends Sham Pain, Long-standing hardcore outfit Golpe Justo, ska band Pies Negros and Rotten Core (about whom only know that they were from the West Side) complete this long out of print sonic gem.

To make long story short, recently I have seen this compilation posted in a couple of European blogs and decided to put my copy for download (since it was private in my Mediafire files for so long lol)..


Artist : Various Artists
Album : Puerto Rico Hardcore Punk Compilation: Delirium Tremens #23
Genre : Hardcore
Label : Delirium Tremens
Year : 1992
Source : Tape
Tracks : 21
Time : 40:37 min
Size : 36.15 MB


Tracklist:

1. Rotten Core - Never [01:30]
2. Rotten Core - Society Rules [01:52]
3. Rotten Core - I Don't Care [01:23]
4. Frontside Generation - No More Politics [01:34]
5. Frontside Generation - I'll Break All My Promises [01:34]
6. Frontside Generation - No More War (Pagan Babies cover) [03:52]
7. Shampain - Mosh It Up [02:11]
8. Shampain - No Más [02:25]
9. Chicken Shit - Cerdos [02:50]
10. Chicken Shit - Soldados [00:51]
11. Golpe Justo - Golpe Justo [01:37]
12. Golpe Justo - Fuerza Bruta (live) [01:56]
13. Golpe Justo - Maldita Opresión [02:03]
14. Unión De Defensa - Pensamientos Contra El Racismo [01:27]
15. Unión De Defensa - Oi! For Respect [02:02]
16. No More - Represión En La Prisión [01:46]
17. No More - No Somos Penes [02:10]
18. No More - Twenty-Five [01:41]
19. No More - Steppin Stone (live) [02:01]
20. Los Pies Negros - El Espíritu Del Gran Guerrero [01:00]
21. Los Pies Negros - Niño De Sangre Azul [02:42]
-------
40:37 min

Get it, here.

Picture: No More at Steps Club 1989.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

25 songs about surfing

Surfing is another extreme sport popularized in Southern California. Surf-inspired music has always been present in punk rock and its derivatives. Here's a sample of some of the better surf themed songs:


1-The Crowd: Suzy is a surf rocker

Song about surfing from one of the first hardcore punk bands from Huntington Beach, CA. They influenced other O.C. bands such as TSOL, Adolescents and Social Distortion. Fast and catchy rock n roll punk. This song appears in the seminal Posh Boy compilation "Beach Boulevard".






2-Agression: Locals Only

Best song about surfing by a hardcore punk band. A scream for surfing localism. "This beach is for locals only, Take your silly and get it off of our streets" says the classic chorus. Agression was involved in the skate-punk scene known as Nardcore. From their classic "Don't Be Mistaken" on Mystic Records.




3-Millencolin: In a room

Swedish punk band from the 90s Epitaph boom. Song about "Surfing in my room". This tune was a constant in surfing and bodyboarding soundtracks during the 90s. From their first ep "Use your nose" on Burning Heart Records.






4-Surf Nazis Must Die: Theme Song

Short-lived German thrashcore outfit. From their sole Ep "Anti-Everything".








5-Flema: Surfiando en el riachuelo

Legendary and prolific Argentine punk rock band led by the late Ricky Espinosa. "Surfing in the river" is the english translation. From their 1998 album "Resaka".







6-Dos Minutos: Aquaman

Argentine punk legends sang about Salvadorian surf punks in this tune from their album "Advertencia" .







7-Airbag: Prefiero La Playa

Andalusian pop-punk band. Song about preferring the beach at all times. From their debut "Mondo Cretino"







8-Beach Boys: Surfin' USA

The most influential american 60s rock n roll band. Their classic tune "Surfin' USA" from their 1963's album of the same name. Surf-inspired music anthem.







9-Nig Heist: Surfbroad

Tongue-in-cheek SST punk band fronted by Black Flag's roadie, Mugger. A former runaway turned CPA. Their members were Black Flag members with wigs.






10-Surf Punks: Locals Only

Mid-80s surf rock group from Malibu, CA. Other song about localism in surfing.








11-The Gears: Let's Go to the Beach

Classic surf-punk band from 80s SoCal. Catchy and edgy rock n roll punk. From the homonymous 1979 single ep.





12-Simpletones: California

1978-1980 pop punk band from O.C., CA. The Vandals covered their hit "I have a date". From their 1979 single "California / I like drugs". Singer Snickers died in the 90s.







13-Ramones: Surf City

From one the last albums of the fathers of punk rock, "Acid Eaters". Great song. It's The Ramones for christ sake.





14-Pearl Jam: Big Wave

One of the better known bands of the Seattle late 80s and early 90s Grunge movement. This track talks about riding big waves and appears in their 2006 s/t album.





15-The Queers: Surf Goddess

80s New Hampshire punk rock legends led by Joe King "Queer". This is one those bands that has been playing for 30 years and plays everything from fast and bratty to poppy and surfy. From their 1995 same name Ep on Lookout Records.






16-Weezer: Surf Wax America

From their hit debut "The Blue Album". L.A. nerd rock n roll that has been on the mainstream ever since.








17-Homegrown: Surfer Girl

90s Cali Punk group. From their second album "Act Your Age". Very poppy stuff.








18-Los Fabulosos Cadillacs: Surfer Calavera

Song about a surfing skull by this classic ska-punk-reggae band from Argentina. From their album "Fabulosos Calavera".







19-Smut Peddlers: Fugitive Surfer

Redondo Beach's own Smut Peddlers deliver this surf-hardcore-punk song in their 2001 "ISM" album.








20-The Surfaris: Surfer Joe

California 60s rock n roll. No revival band, this is the real deal.







21-Legendary Pink Dot: Chain Surfing

80s UK experimental rock. From their "All the King's Horses. Good stuff.








22-The Stupids: Wipe Out

80s British skate-punk. Very rare skate music coming from the UK isles. From their 1985 Lp "Peruvian Vacation".






23-D.I.: Hang Ten in East Berlin

Song about surfing and communism from this legenadry O.C. skate-punkers. From their first album "Ancient Artifacts".








24-Toy Dolls: Wipe Out

The classic surf instrumental by this 70s English fun punk rockers. From their 85' "A Far Out Disc".









25-Descendents: Tonyage

The almighty Descendents with a tune that mentions surfing. From their first full length "Milo Goes to College" from 1982.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Skate-related punk (Cont of Previous post)

Although not referencing skate in their songs, some punkrockers in the early days skate while playing for punk rock bands. Here's a couple of them:

Darby Crash (Germs) with a skateboard

















Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat) skateboarding.









Tim Kerr (Big Boys) kicking ass!












D.I. playing in front of a bowl.













Code of Honor: Fight or Die cover art

Monday, September 19, 2011

31 songs about skateboarding!

Skateboarding is an aggressive and creative sport born in Southern California. Hardcore-Punk is a ferocious style of rock n roll created in the same area. Both complement each other since the late 70s and early 80s. Hip Hop music has also crossed in skateboarding's path because of its aggressive origins. Here's a brief look into some of skate's music most representative anthems:


1-Bones Brigade: Thrashin' USA

The first track of their debut "I hate myself when I'm not skateboarding". A song about thrashin' with your skate the entire USA. Bones Brigade epitomizes modern-day skate punk and takes their name from the legendary skateboard crew.





2-JFA: Beach Blanket Bongout


The definitive skate-punk anthem by the inventors of the genre. The clasic line "Surf Punks We're Not, Skateboard We Do" is a standard singalong in their shows since 1981. As a matter of fact, they still skate and surf 30 years later.





3-Gang Green: Terrorize

A song about terrorizing people with your skateboard while cruising through a shopping mall. Gang Green is a classic hardcore punk band from the suburbs of Boston, MA. While other early 80s Boston outfits were talking about boring stuff, GG were talking about skate at 150 mph.





4-Agression: Intense Energy

The best skate punk song ever by a skate punk band. The line "Have you ever seen a skateboarder surfing in a pool, Flying over the coping with a skateboard as his tool" is the essence of skate-punk. They were part of the Nardcore scene in the early 80s.




5-Riot.303: Skate Punx

Hailing from Calgary, Canada, this short-lived band released this pretty self-explanatory song in the first Thrasher Skate Rock compilation in the early 80s. Compilations done by the bible of skateboarding Thrasher Magazine.




6-Black Flag: Wasted

The 2nd song of the b-side of 1978's "Nervous Breakdown" Ep of the most influential Hardcore-Punk band ever. Singing is the first vocalist Mr. Keith Morris, who later fronted the Circle Jerks. Who by the way, do a much faster version of this song but not as great as Flag's 78' gem. "I was surfer, I had a skateboard". Classic!

7-The Faction: Skate and Destroy
The Faction were a punk band formed in 1982 by legendary skateboarder Steve Caballero. This is probably one of the most recognizable tunes in the genre. They come from the northern part of the state of California, San Jose.






8-Teenage Bottlerocket: Skate or Die

Pop-punk group from Wyoming formed in the early 21st century. A track that talks about making skateboarding a threat again. Their guitar player was part of seminal 90s pop-punk band Lillingtons.






9-Diente Perro: Muerte en Patineta

One of the first songs of this Puerto Rican punk outfit. Re-recorded for their latest album "Muertos en la Noche". The translation means "Death in a skateboard". The quintessential skatepunkers from this tiny Caribbean island.





10-The Panty Sniffers: Sexo,Skate y Rock n Roll

Opening track of their first and only full length "Sexo, Skate y Rock n Roll" released in 2005 by Rokirol Records. The song is about sex, skateboarding, punk and surfing in one night. They played between 2001-2011 and also released a Complete Discography CD/Fanzine and a music video. All the members from their several line-ups hailed from Puerto Rico.

11-Teenage Hell: Corriendo Olas de Concreto

Short-lived skatepunk band from Puerto Rico. Short, fast and loud and about riding concrete waves. They were all teen skaters who were into Zero Boys, Agression and Germs.







12-Common Enemy: Skate that Shit

From their 2000 self titled Ep. Late 90s Skatepunk band from Pennsylvania. They are skaters and D.I.Y punkers. They even visited Puerto Rico sometime in 2010.






13-Charles Bronson: Skate for God

90s Power violence pioneers from Chicago, IL. They were skaters, straight edge and sarcastic as hell. This track is from the "Possessed to Skate" compilation LP. They released a 100 + songs discography of their 30 sec or less fastcore tunes. Their drummer Ebro played in Los Crudos, a seminal latin hardcore punk band from Chicago.



14-Suicidal Tendencies: Possesed to Skate

Mid 80s skateboard anthem by Venice Beach skate thrashers. Led by Mike Muir, whose brother was part of the original Dogtown Z Boys.




15-Descendents: Doug rides a skateboard

Demo outtake from the Enjoy sessions of 1986. Not officially released but appears in bootlegs like "Still Hungry", "Milo Gets Bootlegged" or "Rareage". Its the almighty Descendents with a skate punk song. As good as it gets.




16-Flema: Fernando anda en skate

Seminal Argentine punk rock band. They were formed in the late 80s by lead singer Ricky Espinosa, who kill himself a couple of years ago. This song translates as "Fernando rides a skateboard" and is from their sophomore album 1994's "Nunca nos fuimos". Catchy as hell punk rock.




17-Desde el Campo: Tributo a la skate

Hip Hop group from the West Side of the island of Puerto Rico. They are skaters and this tribute to skate track appears in their 2010 mixtape "Sustancia Controlada" (Controlled Substance).




18-Gritando HC: Ande de skate e destrua

Brazilian hardcore punk act. Track from their 2000 album of the same name. Translation from portuguese means "Skate and Destroy". Their original singer died in 2001.






19-Guttermouth: Do the Hustle

Late 80s Huntington Beach, CA punk legends with several controversial and sarcastic punk albums out. This song is from their classic LP "Musical Monkey" and rants about lousy rollerbladers getting in the way of skateboarders.





20-Screeching Weasel: We Skate

13 sec. classic song from Chicago Mid 80s punkers. This song is from their 2nd album "BoogadaBoogadaBoogada". After their first two albums, they became one of the most important (and imitated) pop-punk bands in the world.





21-Suicide Machines: Vans Song

Tribute to Vans skateboarding shoes by this influential hardcore-punk/ska band from Detroit, MI. They formed in 1991 and this song appears in several of their early recordings, most notably in their 1996 studio debut "Destruction by Definition".





22-Adolescents: Skate Babylon

Song about skating from their 2nd album "Brats in Battalions" from 1987. This stuff is good but quite different from their classic Blue Album tunes.







23-Violent Children: Skate Straight

Early-to-Mid 80s Connecticut hardcore band who featured a young Ray Cappo playing drums. He later went to front seminal bands such as Youth of Today, Shelter or BTA1000. Cappo is remembered as one of the most militant straight edge and Krishna people in the United States.

24-Pharrell: When Skateboard Came

Track about skateboarding from N.E.R.D. and Neptunes MC/Producer/Drummer Pharrell Williams. This track is from his first mixtape "In my mind: The Prequel". He skates also, so go figure.



25-Beatnik Termites: Skateboard

90s Pop-punk ala Screeching Weasel with a heavy surf influence. This skateboard song appears in their best known album "Bubblecore".







26-Satanic Surfers: Don't Know what to do

Swedish 90s punk band. From their "Skate to Hell" Ep.









Punk Bands featuring Pro Skaters:



27-Free Beer: Premature Enlistment

Early 80s Northern California punk band featuring skate legend Tommy Guerrero. Alternative Tentacles released their discography "The Only Beer That Matters" as the first of their Skate Punk series.





28-Political Crap: Slow Death

First punk band fronted by the Master of Disaster, Duane Peters. He is better known for his later outfit, US Bombs. Song appears in the 1981 "Who Cares" compilation. Great stuff.



29-Skoundrelz: Jimmy Closet

Venice Beach punk band formed by the first truly influential skateboarder Tony Alva. He played bass in this group that also featured ex-members of Suicidal and Wasted Youth. Alva is the original Z Boy from Dogtown that revolutionized skateboarding forever. This song is from Thrasher Skate Rock Vol. 1 compilation.





30-McRad: Greed

Early 80s Philly hardcore punk band featuring pro skater Chuck Treece. This song is from their classic Ep "Dominant Force". Treece is a multi-instrumentalist that has even played in the Bad Brains.








31-Mike V and the Rats: Never Give Up

Mike Vallely is an unorthodox pro skater who wrestles professionally, acts and plays in punk bands. His most famous act was Mike V & The Rats, which sounded like Black Flag Rollins era and Minor Threat. This track is from the self title Ep.