Summertime Mixtape Vol. 3 – Jeron Wilson ‘Skate More’

‘Skate More’ was DVS shoes’ Terry Gilliam-infused answer to the blockbuster shoe video parade of the early aughts, and while Mikey Taylor and Jereme Rogers supplied handrailing hammers and Jason Dill pushed gritty gravitas in knee socks, it was Daewon Song’s circus of tech and the 1990s-aged swagger from Chico Brenes and Jeron Wilson that spiritually grounded the project. Jeron Wilson’s heelflips, nollied over a fire hydrant or straight-up over gaps, detonate like bombs and a range of other tricks get soundly handled (switch frontside 360 over the bench, switch 180 up onto the big block in Australia) en route to a plenty dazzling ender for the time (or this one). Song and Girl-heavies friend section seals the deal.

Above The Fruited Plain With Torey Pudwill, High On Freak Pills

Cue the kickflip lipslide to switch k-grind and out the door goes any notion that Torey Pudwill might put some kind of lid on the video game tricks in favor of putting his oodles of raw talent toward something like a concept-part, and that’s okay — Pudwill gets it in wearing mustard yellow sneakers and anything less than his usual all-the-way-turnt-up tech probably would be uncivilized. The line through those La Brea* ledges sparks the idea life again, until he goes supervillain with the backside noseblunt and starts kickflipping sidewalks and twirling over pic-a-nic tables, but when this dude applies himself to tricks like that bump-to-bar nosegrind and the backside smith grind through the blue kinker rail, if I was a cellar door searcher, I’d be glad Torey Pudwill’s not out there looking to eat my lunch the way it seems like he could really do on the energy-drink contest circuit if he had a good day.

When he did that looong backside noseblunt I sort of moaned and it came back louder after that launch-ramp b/s tailslide. Dario Rezk gets points for subtlety on an off-the-flat ender, even with pop being one of Pudwill’s stocks in trade. When it came out that Thrasher was going to be the exclusive home to this latest marquee web-part, and the ensuing hype cycle on the website in the last couple weeks, I got to thinking this was Plan B’s way of trying to slot Pudwill in for SOTY. It would be hard to argue with. No doubt these are precision moves, nollie flip backside tailslide bigspin flip out, but those arms work in his favor because if we’re putting a technician on the pedestal I’m going for the sweaty, hairy unhinged one versus the switch-flip-switch-b/s-tail-coloring inside the lines of Shane O’Neill. If Pudwill comes back with a part filmed in the second half of 2011 featuring a load of frontside tailslide and frontside smith grind tricks then it’ll be game over.

*Or wherever — you know, Danny Garcia localizes them

Torey Pudwill’s Eastern Exposure Moment

Is it fitting that this clip promoting an upcoming Torey Pudwill web video feature, set to launch July 4 in honor of the U.S. declaration of independence, could be run through a black-and-white filter and pasted into one of Dan Wolfe’s mid-90s Philadelphia stories? Pudwill’s special meter is a lot of times topped out on hyper technical slide-to-flip-to-slides or whatever but he gets bonus points here for channeling some Forbes/Barley/Oyola power basics with no pushing. The quick set up for the kickflip, height on the smith grind and lateness of the b/s 180 make me wonder if this is the best run Torey Pudwill has done since that one in the DVS “Dudes Dudes Dudes” vid with the rainbow wallride. It would be cool if he made a whole part that was like this.

Daewon Song’s “Love Child” Recreation Exposes Vital Weaknesses That Our Enemies May Already Be Exploiting, Dudes

Former World Industries Man Daewon Song had the internet agog last week when he made the choice to re-film a few clips from his landmark “Love Child” section along with a heap of other zany moves that indicate his already freakish skills have only mutated bigger and more transition-savvy tentacles over the past couple decades. Daewon Song was roundly praised for his choices and we applaud him as well, except with the Zen-approved one hand’s worth of clapping because this seemingly fun exercise exposes a gaping weakness of modern skateboarders that puts the whole operation at risk.

Basically several generations’ worth of product upgrades and fashion cycles have seen our legs atrophy from the pinnacle of the early 90s, when miniscule wheels, sub-Abec 26 bearings and yards of cheaply dyed denim ensured a minimum five pushes between each trick. And on actual paved surfaces, as opposed to the custom-poured park surfaces of the current era. It’s no accident that among the most severe blows landed against the drill-bearing aggressor in Plan B’s early 90s document “Virtual Reality” were several beefy kicks. And similarly, unsurprising that no physical violence ended up transpiring between Mike Plumb and the shouty Baby Schizo the other weekend, as neither wanted to throw out the first feeble roundhouse attempt in a widely televised event.

The truth is that complacency has led us down this unhappy road, to a place where Will Smith’s progeny could whomp our collective behinds, where rollerbladers’ calves may be considerably more toned, where we stand little chance in grape-stomping contests or a footrace to the top of the Burj Khalifa. It’s possible we can make this work again but it likely will require discipline, an aged/possibly alcoholic mentor and at least a couple training montages set to appropriately motivational tunes.

Now That’s What Boil the Ocean Calls Skateboarding (’00s Edition): 40-31

A general disclaimer about the list to follow ought to start with noting that most lists of this sort are pretty much bullshit anyway, designed to ignite pointless debate and sell health magazines or ad spots on VH1, and this one may not be much different really. However, given that this is an internet blog site, and the end of a decade is approaching, fate holds that a list must be made. I thought about whether it should be billed as the 40 “best” videos of the past decade, or the 40 “most significant,” or the 40 “most favoritest of BTO” but in the end we’re opting to call it something altogether different and stupid and just get on with things. Special shout to Skim the Fat, where from I got most of these images, is that site still going? Anyhow, numbers 40 through 30:

40. “It’s Official,” 2005

An overall pretty awesome video marred by a Kanye-heavy soundtrack and a few too many Lenny Rivas quotables, Kayo Corp’s stab at a “Trilogy” featured the national debut of gap-gliding Kenny Hoyle and SF sweatpants fan Robbie Holmes, alongside solid turns from all-stars Jackson Curtain, Karl Watson and a damn Marcus McBride part. I don’t know if Marcus McBride is the Z-Ro of skateboarding, exactly, but he’s something. “Official” could’ve done with more Richard Angelides but this video is one that probably doesn’t get rewatched as often as it should. Chany Jeanguenin skates vert in it.

39. “Skate More,” 2005

Daewon Song’s self-reinvention for a post-picnic table world helped vault him to SOTY status off the back of DVS’s debut full-length, but the Python-flavored “Skate More” also boasted the feel-good part of the year straight from the happy feet of Jeron Wilson who floats the slickest heelflip that Jason Dill had ever seen. 2005 was a banner year for Keith Hufnagel as well, putting out two ollie-riffic sections, and this DVS video also offers a glimpse of the ever-shifting Dill in his New York denizen phase and the mixed bag that is Jereme Rogers’ best part to date; also Busenitz/Zered Basset and a more-interesting-than-usual Mikey Taylor contribution.

38. “Get Familiar,” 2006

Chris Hall’s sneakerhead-financed East-by-West coast document should’ve maybe leaned a bit heavier on the retro elements, like I always thought the electro songs used for the intro clips would’ve made an interesting soundtrack for the whole thing. “Get Familiar” though was a worthy addition to a long line of self-produced East Coast videos with a pretty stacked lineup in a still-skinny Bobby Worrest, a skinnier yet Zach Lyons, EE vets Barley and Forbes and the resurgent duo of Joey Pepper and James Craig (the backside bigspin flip is a career highlight). Curveball parts come from Daewon and Mark Gonzales before gun-slinging Darren Harper drops the curtains with some baggy denim stylings, crazy pop and that silly floater of a switch frontside shove-it.

37. “Waiting For the World,” 2000

It’s kind of fucked up how John Rattray’s section in this video was this fraught bargain that earned him the glitz and glamour associated with Zero, Elwood and Osiris sponsorships, while at the same time moving out Blueprint’s heaviest dude, but these things happen. Nowadays some aspects of WFTW look kind of dated, especially Paul Carter’s Osiris pants and the Souls of Mischief song, but in 2000 the video itself was a major stylistic push forward (the intro in particular) and generally served as a statement of purpose for the British skateboard scene, especially for those of us outside it, putting everybody onto the likes of Paul Shier, Colin Kennedy, a pint-sized Nick Jensen and the loopy genius of Mark Baines, leading up to John Rattray’s Britpop-powered star turn.

36. “Cash Money Vagrant,” 2003

There was really no reasonable or feasible way for Anti Hero to try and follow up “Fucktards” but their stab at a semi-conventional video in the midst of restocking the team for the concrete park decade is laudable enough and a fun one to throw in now and again. Young(er) and dirty Frank Gerwer does half his frontside k-grinds on Firm boards and Tony Trujillo rejects the Transworld gloss that helped mold his SOTY bid, alongside contributions from Cardiel, Hewitt and most of the other Anti-Heros that matter. It’s short, there is a little lo-fi themed skit that ties the whole thing together and they make it safely to Benicia at the end (spoiler alert). Interestingly, this site is selling a copy for $1300.

35. “Dying To Live,” 2002

In some ways it’s become easy to bag on this vid and its heavy dramatics, but as with most Zero productions the editing is sharp, the music fantastic and there is enough good here that “Dying to Live” probably can be considered fairly underrated at this point – Ryan Smith in his young and hungry days, paired with Nirvana, Matt Mumford to Queen, bespectacled Lindsay Robertson’s crushing slow-mo intro, and Chris Cole kickflip backside noseblunting a damn handrail amid a characteristically ridiculous part that capped his fresh-to-hesh migration. And, it had a sweet friends section, something that’s kind of fallen by the way-side in recent years.

34. “7 Year Glitch,” 2002

It seems like forever ago that New Deal even was a company and most of these dudes have been scattered to the four winds at this point. But this video, which preceded New Deal’s folding pretty quickly, contains one of the better Ricky Oyola lines captured on video, a lot of good Europe footage before all the spots were played, and the type of diverse lineup that’s generally been tossed in favor of appealing to this or that sub-sub-demographic. There is vert skating and Rob G has a nice run that’s filmed via a stationary long-lens, also, Chad Tim Tim at the early stages of being underappreciated for more or less ten years. Probably you could trace Kenny Reed’s nearly decade-long wandering in the international wilderness to the filming of this project, and maybe the marathon backside 5-0 to backside tail in particular. The one with the kid on the bike.

33. “Baker 3,” 2005

The Baker Bootleg video formula refined and distilled, taking the sometimes-interminable 90-minute slogs through the chopped-n-screwed Baker world and squishing it into something resembling a more straightforward format. Baker 3 also introduced the world to polar opposite ams Antwuan Dixon and Theotis Beasley, and helped Bryan Herman transition from a browless Reynolds fan to a grown up hardflipper with a world-class 360 flip. Somewhere in there Spanky skates to Morrissey (I know!) and Reynolds stretches his editing legs with some weird effects. Thinking back on this vid now I remember being vaguely shocked that Erik Ellington was capable of backside noseblunting a handrail, and after reading the recent Greco interview, I’m reminded that it was a bummer he didn’t end up using the Queen song for his comeback section.

32. “Bon Appetit,” 2003

This video rightfully put Cliche on the global map, even though it retreaded that Yeah Yeah Yeahs song for the nth time and wasted much top-drawer footage on endless region-specific montages – where is the rationale, I ask you, in sprinkling JJ Rousseu nosegrinds here and there in some Japan part when he could’ve had a full section to himself. French Fred’s editing choices aside, “Bon Appetit” argues for classic status and still boasts Lucas Puig’s best part to date (the nollie backside noseblunt), Jan Kleiwer getting his Hufnagel on, Rousseau in top form and a part from when Cale Nuske’s knees still worked that contains exactly one line, which is sick. Also, Ricardo Fonseca’s ponytail can be interpreted to symbolize the virility of the European skate scene as a whole.

31. “Cheese & Crackers,” 2007

Chris Haslam and Daewon Song conspire to build a better mini-ramp mousetrap. Kind of like if the Tilt Moders got locked in a garage for a weekend with a miniramp and a sheet of high-powered blotter acid. When street skateboarding moves beyond its current love for manageable transitions this video could possibly become the current era’s “1281” but there’s a general whimsy that helps smooth out the troublesome physics problems associated with doing blunts behind a curtain, and all manner of other nonsense these dudes get into. Friends section features Carroll and Alex Olson and the human dynamo that is Giovanni Reda, remember, and Lewis Marnell’s bonus part is nice also.

2. Torey Pudwill, “Dudes Dudes Dudes”

If you would have told me a year or two back that Torey Jamison Pudwill, Valley boy of the flappy arms and unlikely name, would manage one of the better video parts of this year… well I’m not sure what I would have said. Probably I would have made a guttural/gurgling sound expressing general disbelief and disdain for the self-styled future teller. But as it turns out I would have been better off directing said gurgling sounds toward my own self in anger and shame, as this Pudwill section from the DVS promo last summer still possesses a certain wow factor* months later, packed as it is with unguessable trick combos and those off-kilter landings. Damned if they haven’t grown on me, somehow. Pudwill cracks tricks high, sits on feeble grinds and bounds out of nosegrinds, nollies over rails into manuals down banks. He skates fast. He executes crane style on the humongous backside kickflip photo in the new Skateboard Mag. And have you seen this new Venture ad? Insert gurgling sound of your choosing.

*Closely related to the Now factor, as in “Now that’s what I call music Vol. 29”

Torey Pudwill: on some shit

seriously what the fuck

We’re at the beginning of an era where a lot of people will try and reproduce the Fully Flared brand of late-aughts tech skating (brace yourself for the next Ronson Lambert part), but Torey Pudwill of all people steps right up and gets it pitch-perfect in the new DVS promo. The magazines over the last few months have been showcasing his ever-taller pop and he held it down at that Lord of the Lines contest, but to me his new DVS part shows he puts some thought into the tricks he does, which is what generally separates your Jason Dills and your Rob Welshes from Mr. kickflip-two-more-stairs.

There’s a ton of great stuff in this part, and the obvious Fully Flared influence is there with the b/s tail pop-up to manual or the b/s smith 360 flip (ridiculous). But I could rewind that nollie heelflip over the hydrant three times whenever I watch this. And it’s amazing to me when somebody has the control to nollie flip up a block as their set-up trick. Kickflip b/s smith grind on that bridge bench in NYC is pretty mind-boggling, and I like the way he really stabs those b/s smiths. The bigspin b/s tail to regular was smooth as shit, on par with the one Kalis had on DC-TV a few weeks back.

Pudwill’s still got some kinks to work out, like the occasional spazz-oid arms and wonky waist, and his switch b/s bigspin flip doesn’t have the suave-ness of Dylan Rieder’s or Russ Milligan’s. But compared to the wounded bird that shared a part with Daniel Castillo in Skate More he’s come about a million miles. And while everybody else tries to step to the Fully Flared level over the next few years it’ll be interesting to see Pudwill try and top his own shit.