The realm of the seven-ply maple stick these days is definitely not too real to resist the redemption formula, if ever it was — there’s a “Behind the Music” ring to certain of the “Later’d” series and the heavy 90s nostalgia trip ensures at least one more visit to the trough if you’re any kind of a name, let alone a Mariano or a Muska or a Penny (who I think may actually have attempted to mount his second career revival in the Play-Dough powered “Xtremely Sorry”). Earlier this year TWS tried to sell 16-year-old Nyjah Huston as a comeback story, for crying out loud.
It’s all good if substance and fame took you out for a while but what if your vice was youth, or alleged asshole leanings, or both? Outfits like Cliche and Almost and Santa Cruz have garnered deck sales by scooping up other teams’ supposed dead wood but few have done it like Foundation. In the volatile van ride-making trio of Corey Duffel, Sierra Fellers and Nick Merlino Foundation may have cornered the market in relatively high-profile (if early career) flame-outs from other teams, and these dudes load up the back half of last week’s new video offering from the magic F — distilled for the internet age into a “Brainwash” sort of minimal presentation complete with a keystroke-saving acronym title.
It’s weird to think of Corey Duffel as any kind of elder statesman, of anything, but for Foundation it seems like he now counts. The aging mall-punk employs his boardslides, 50-50s and big jumps with the help of some extra flannel and facial hair, and Sierra Fellers seems kind of on auto pilot a lot of the time, manufacturing flips-heavy ledge lines in a shortened part. He does put out one of the more retarded tricks of the whole video, a kickflip backside lipslide shove-it on one of those California grade-school rails previously leased out by Mikey Taylor.
But this vid is Nick Merlino’s big moment to justify himself and his large-seeming beanies of varying colour, and he goes hatchet-man, opening up a firehose of stacked footage and exercising some degree of restraint since I saw only one of his famed switch backside 360s included. Drama rears up at various points, like when the camera pulls back on the big switch ollie and when the friends race down the hill to shout him out after the kickflip closer, but for this peanut gallery member’s nonexistent price of admission Merlino’s best stuff came in lesser-seen handrail tricks like the nollie backside tailslide, kickflip backside noseblunt and its cousin the kickflip frontside noseslide, which flashed me back to Justin Roy’s brief tenure on the F.
The best parts in “What The Fuck!” though wind up coming from the dudes with probably the least to prove, namely kink chomper Dakota Servold, extra push-taker Ryan Spencer and tall drink of water Taylor Smith who is for sure going some places with those slick backside tailslides and his undercover mall spot. Ryan Spencer’s got a whole menu of tricks over the backs of rails and a pretty muscular bluntslide through a kinked hubba, plus a genuine internet-going-nuts taildrop move. Handsomest trick of the movie earned by Marquis Preston for the tailslide 360.
Tags: Bill Cosby, clay motion, Corey Duffel, Foundation, kickflips, Marquise Preston, Nick Merlino, Purple Swag Chapter 2, Ryan Spencer, second acts, second bananas, Sierra Fellers, Taylor Smith, VH1, What The Fuck!
November 9, 2011 at 3:55 am |
dakota servold has a good style for handrails, the kf front board/back lip tricks in his part look very cool and he never lands anything shitty
November 9, 2011 at 11:57 am |
Undercover mall spot is gone now ):
November 9, 2011 at 12:06 pm |
There’s heavy talent in this team, and bangers galore; sick video. Congrats to Foundation and thanks for making the video available online.
That said (and since this is a place for discussion of sorts) I wonder if this video resides in the shadow of Stay Gold (will there be b-sides?) Watching the rails and gaps a la emericans evidence a deficit in skating with lines, and I don’t mean the flip trick before the handrail/bar ollie. I got all you-will-soon-esque and counted only 10 shots in the whole video with 3+ tricks in a line. Maybe that’s just me…
November 9, 2011 at 1:26 pm |
where was that little indian mexican dude? Angel?
November 9, 2011 at 2:36 pm |
bring back Jon West
November 10, 2011 at 12:38 pm |
I was especially impressed when Josh Brolin, formerly known as Corey Webster of Thrashin’ fame, busted out a bunch of gnarly guest tricks during Duffel’s part. They didn’t put his name in the credits, but he’s the bearded guy in the football jerseys. Kudos.
November 10, 2011 at 3:44 pm |
nah dude, that was Jesco White
November 10, 2011 at 8:11 pm |
How is Duffel a mall-punk?
November 18, 2011 at 11:31 pm |
Okay he’s a mall-mod now.
November 11, 2011 at 12:48 am |
he is sponsored by hot topic
November 11, 2011 at 6:20 pm |
“hatchet-man, opening up a firehose”
“tall drink of water Taylor Smith”
“pretty muscular bluntslide”
“Handsomest trick”
No homo?
November 12, 2011 at 8:20 pm |
bring back jon west
November 14, 2011 at 10:20 am |
rusczyk, shimizu, beagle etc
November 15, 2011 at 1:58 am
STRUBING
November 15, 2011 at 11:45 am |
…and Nirvana b-sides