Skate Death – You Break It You Buy It (Bullhead Records) 1985. We all would have loved Skate Death back in the day. It’s the kind of thing that would not have been out of place on the Blazing Wheels and Barking Trucks compilation which was a staple. I dunno if the fact that Skate Death were from Alaska would have been an added bonus or not but it impresses me. I figure if you’re gonna be a skater in the Land of Moose Hunting Soccer Moms, you gotta be committed to the lifestyle. It’s just too feckin’ dark and cold to pull a frontside grind at least 6 months of the year. On the other hand, skating in the midnight sun is probably pretty bad-ass so it may even out in the end. In fact, the binge and purge skating lifestyle probably lends itself to being in a skate-core band. Think about it…Skate Death were able to spend their six months off learning their instruments, writing their songs and recording this LP. Then when it warmed up they had soundtrack music for skating the various empty strip malls that lined America in the waning years of the Reagan administration. Were they not bored for half the year, they may not have recorded masterpieces like Thwap, Research and Destroy, or my favourite song, Life Is Such a Boring Job which has a guitar line that rivals Yngwie Malmsteen himself. Hey, enough of this, it’s summer…get off the computer, go outside and SK8!
Hardcore Podcasts
September of 2010 I put together eight Hardcore Podcasts. You can check them out here if you are interested. For more insight into how I came up with the years 78-90 for the First Wave you can read about The Hardcore Superiorty Myth.
There used to be a really cool punk zine from Anchorage around that time– I forget the name of it, but they used to use a cool multi-color ink wash for their pages, kinda like a faded/tie dye type of deal. So, anyway, there WAS a punk scene of sorts in Alaska back in those days…
Nice! John hughes died by the way.
and Willie DeVille. I think we’re going to see this happening quite frequently now. The sheer amount of aging celebrities and such
it’s the beginning of the baby bust
Mink deville too? Oh gad!
the baby bust! so wrong yet, so right!
I bought this record when it came out – probably due to a review in Thrasher or MMR. Some of the songs were great (and some were generic filler), but they had a great sense of humor.
Every so often I would hunt the internet to see if anyone had it – but found hardly a mention of this band or their LP. I was glad to see it resurface!
The only song from this record I still had was an ancient compilation tape I made consisting only of eponymous songs (i.e. Code Of Honor, Minor Threat, Nip Drivers, 45 Grave, etc). I think I’ll be making a new eponymous comp playlist tonight in honor of Skate Death….”and when there’s nothing left, I’ll just skate – I’ll skate to death”.
This one and Barkhard’s LP were my first (and only) 100% Skatecore records, from what I remember. Wish they had released EPS instead of full LPs.
I was was a founding member of salmon death-pre skate death. mike, kelly and I all went to DHS together- still talk to Kelly once in a while. long live skate death
Mike Belyea and Jason Riquelmy were in a band called The Dickins in Austin, TX until recently.
Both are extremely hilarious and still making music…
Ahhh. The old days. Hey JOsh ! Whats’ up? There was a 4 track recording we did with Irish Frank in 1985 called Eating your Own Lips, it was KIck ass but never transfered or pressed. I had it on cassette up until 1993 when Belyea and Rennie came to SA for a visit and Belyea begged to “borrow” it. Of course it was lost. It had BUsh Country blues, YEah MAn, Little KAren says, Don’t rip my Shirt, and about 10 other songs. A real loss it was never pressed as it was far superior to the Lp. I still think Kurt Reaman is a dumb Fuck. YOurs etc… JAson
Oh SHit!! BIg Todd!! If it were’nt for you there would’nt BE an LP!! THanks again man. Glad your Alive and Kicking. Greg and I got together 2 years ago when he became persona non-grata in Amsterdam. He’s somewhere in the U.S> now. MArk and Mike have been in touch here in Austin. Who KNows. Maybe a Skate DEAth re-union before i go to jail. Yours etcc, JAson
LOng lIve the Wok
Wish I still had my old cassette of Bark Hard and Skate Death LPs!!
Oh, the good old days. When we played parties we could clear a room in 5 minutes. “Where’d everybody go?” You definitely knew who your fans were. Fun.
They WERE good old days. EPWR forever! Lurking in Wheeling, WV – G