Manual

Chris Cookson

(Photo/Video: Jim Nowhere)

Turns out I have more video of Chris Cookson then pretty much anyone else. On the west end there is this super sketchy ledge next to a seven stair. I was trying to get Jerm to do a Fastplant/ Boneless down the stairs, or something that would look cool. Chris opted to try to 5-0/Manual the damned thing.

We spent most of the sesh hitting this, found a grate gap a little ways away, I've video somewhere of the event. Then found a slick manny pad setup that was pretty gnar till security came out and politely asked us to "get the fuck off their property." I suspect they were just worried that we were going to scratch the Porsche or something.

Till next time.
2012 kinda sucked, here is to 2013.

The Old Wives - Sux To Grow Up EP

http://theoldwives.bandcamp.com/album/sucks-to-grow-up-4-song-ep

So, you're a fan of "pop" punk.. I am.. not Blink 182 POP-Punk, but ya know, Descendents "pop" Punk.  The Old Wives come from a pretty varied background, one that I'm not going to get into, but let's just say that these kids have more cred then the guy writing the review.  This little 2 new/2 acoustic EP is well worth the $2 on Bandcamp, and honestly, its even worth it on iTunes where you don't get the acoustic songs.

In these two tracks one can tell that Liam & co are well versed in the music of the Riverdales, Descendents, ALL, pre-Dookie era Green Day, and most obviously Screeching Weasel. So if you dig any version of those bands, and you aren't already a fan of The Old Wives, grab this new EP.  It'll make you smile. Then, once you've devoured the deliciousness with your ears, grab their back catalog  you can thank me later.

--55--
THE OLD WIVES
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When's Lunch Records

Hand-plant Power Slide

Miek Headache - Hand-plant Power Slide

(Video: Jim Nowhere)

Most people know Miek Headache from either his Solo Acoustic Act, or as the front man of Edmonton's Good Friday Massacre.

Sometime in the summer of 2012 we met up for a quick sesh over at the new Grovener Park. I spent the majority of my time not landing a board slide or nose slide (I think that is what I was attempting...)

Miek however opted to rock things a little old school.

Mall Grab

Let's go back a little further then, well let's face it, a little further back then most of you were alive for. See back in 1985/86 I found my older brother's "bananna" board. I quickly sorted out how to not break my neck on the thing, and subsequently spent most of my waking summer days trying to ride the damned thing. Not once did I contemplate tightening up the trucks, oiling the bearings, or doing any sort of a setup on it.

Anyways, by the time school started for me in September 1988 my folks had kinda figured out that this whole Jim on a skateboard wasn't just a fad. As a huge surprise to myself, My folks got me this Killer "Slim Warp" complete, probably from Zellers, or Fields, or Kreskees, either way, some big department store chain that no longer exists. Plastic trucks, ABEC 1 bearings, 65mm wheels, nose pick guard, and rail slides.. I found my home.

Pictured above is me rocking a mall grab on the first day of school in 1988.

Board Slide

Lets go back to summer 2009 for a minute, we had a morning skate crew, myself, Matt Shnell, Matt Cunningham, KP, Tristan, and whoever else happened to show up. We'd get up at the break of day (or around 7/8am) and head over to Kaskitayo skatepark in Edmonton's south east. Mostly i'd just roll around attempting pop shuv-its and attempting not to break myself. Okay so mostly I took photos. There is this kinked rail on the outside that Matt spent one morning pretty much attempting every grind that he could nail on it. OF the shots, this board slide turned out the best.

The main calling of a sesh at Kask is the huge bowl, table top, and so on that the park has to offer.. I'll tell you more about those another time.

Micelli - A Christmas Song

Have A Very Micelli Christmas.

Blog set to auto post a couple skate tricks and stories for the next couple days, we'll be back on the 27th with another audio review.

Merry Ho Ho Ho everyone.

---47--
MICELLI
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A Very Micelli Christmas

Micelli - A Very Micelli Christmas

http://jeremytownsend.bandcamp.com/album/a-very-micelli-christmas

Saturday December 22, 2012. Down `pon the Island marked the release of A Very Micelli Christmas, a D.I.Y. CDR release by Edmonton's favourite Folk/Punk band. I'm sure eventually it will be up on their bandcamp site for a pay-what-you-may/free or something plan. What you do get on this little EP is five very amazing renditions of Holiday favourites.

Let's run through the track listing.

1.Little Drummer Boy
I'll be honest with you, it's not the holiday classic that Bing Crosby/David Bowie recorded, but it is full of passion and love, and makes you feel like you're sitting around the living room fire pit with your best friends, enjoying a glass of `nog or three.

2.Little Toy Trains
Quite possibly my new favourite rendition of this song, not quite the soft spoken holiday classic that you know, but filled with life. I'll be listening to this on Christmas eve before bed awaiting Santa instead of tracking down the old vinyl version that I grew up doing this ritual with.

3.A Christmas Song
Although I'm personally not familiar with the original version of this tune, I certainly don't feel like it could hold a candle to this "Ballad-esq" Micelli version. My only complain is that Jerm's vocals could have been mixed a little louder, as I find they get lost in the mix from time to time.

4.Do You Hear What I Hear?
Quite possibly a new holiday classic, well a new rendition of an old holiday classic. The way that Cody and Jeremy holler out asking if we've heard the news of the baby Jesus being born in Bethlehem, make you really want to know the tale, you can feel the electricity and change in the air.

5.O' Holy Night
As I pour my third cup of `nog & mix, okay it's pretty much just rum at this point in time, the cable TV fire log on in the background, and the twinkle of Christmas lights bouncing off of everything in the room. The sound of Micelli telling us the tale of the birth of the small child in a manger filling up the little space between the crackles of the fire log. It feels like Christmas, and this song really makes you feel it down in to your bones.

I like this little EP, and I can certainly see it getting a lot of play over the holiday season.


---47--
MICELLI
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A Very Micelli Christmas

R.I.P.

No photo today.
No video.
Just remember the ones you've lost.

Today we remember the passing of D. Boon & Joe Strummer. Two men so influential in my development as a human being that without them, I suspect I wouldn't be the person I am.

Front Side Grab

This is my buddy Chris "ThisBoyMODEST" / "Super Busy" Cookson.

Killing time down at Millwoods in the mini half pipe just off the bowl.

I last featured Chris doing an ollie.

Good Friday Brawl - Dirty Music Dirty People

http://gfb780.bandcamp.com/

Dirty Music Dirty People.  

8 Songs.   

Takes me back to the 90s, you know microchips, fax machines, no cell phones, sugar cereals  and killer fucking music.  Folk punk in the vein of Against Me! Hard songs about drinking too much, chasing women (or the lack of women chasing them.)  Opening the albums with January a catchy number, one that I've found myself humming along while wandering about my neighbourhood in the wee hours of the morning, and like those walks, are over just after they start.   Front man Miek Headache just pleads with your very drunken soul throughout this album.  From asking you what you believe in (Holy Rollers) to denying that these are the words of a prophet  and just chronicling time, drunken dreams, catchy riffs. Honesty and heart are the soul of this record, believe your ears, this is a band you can actually believe in.

No matter how many times Miek tells me he isn't a prophet, I always refuse to believe.

Just grab it, for pay what you may over at their bandcamp site.

--27--

GOOD FRIDAY BRAWL

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/GFB780

Bandcamp - http://gfb780.bandcamp.com/


**Edited 03/21/13 to update the name of the band, as since this post was written & published Good Friday Massacre has become Good Friday Brawl. - ed.

50-50 FS GRIND

Matthew Cunningham - 50-50 FS Grind

Back in the spring/summer of 2009 we pretty much spent everyday hitting different parks around Edmonton. I was taking my Lomo Fisheye with me most places, and if not I had my trusty Minolta XG-1. It was all about going back to the start, shooting with film, and pretty much just trying to have a good time.

Just north of Edmonton there is a military garrison, and on it they built this little park. Nothing super special, but it has this gnarly rainbow rail, Matt and I must have spent a few hours just taking turns hitting the damned thing. It's in a really awkward spot.

Anyways, it's Matt's birthday today, and I really wanted to post this photo.

The Mange - Second Foundation

http://www.themange.com

Seriously, I love Edmonton's The Mange, but try finding their shit online. If you don't know about them, you probably never will.  Firstly, they have the same name as a band in France called Le Manges, there is also another band that has been playing for a while down in the USA called the Mange, and even a Facebook search for either their "official" page, or the "Fan Army" page is pretty fruitless, EVEN if you're friends with the whole band.  AND you've clicked LIKE, BTW they need more Likes, but I digress.

I'm here to chat about this EP they put out this past summer. IF I could find a place to listen too it on the inter-webs. Sure I have physical copy of the album but dammit  I suspect that MOST of you don't, and that needs to change.  See the Mange have been Edmonton's best kept secret Punk/Pop Punk/Misfits Core band for about a decade.  I've had the privilege of playing gigs with them for the past six years, so I'm a little biased on how awesome I think they are.  

So now that we have a little bit of the history of the band out of the way, let's get down to just how awesome THE MANGE - SECOND FOUNDATION really is.  Firstly it manages to capture both the intensity and ferocity of the live show.  Secondly it's exactly what you want the Misfits next album too sound like. And Lastly it is only available direct from the band, on CD, and doesn't appear to exist online..

But i'll leave you with this rad YouTube video of some dude shaving off his `Movember stach to the title track.

---32--

THE MANGE

http://www.themange.com
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/TheMangeBand

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mange/162850237104573

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/groups/2440819834/

Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/themangecanada

Micelli - D.I.Y. or DIE (acoustic)

http://micelli.bandcamp.com/album/d-i-y-or-die-acoustic

Micelli - D.I.Y. or DIE (acoustic) to me is a straight up punk rock record.  It's just two guys on acoustic guitars, singing from their very souls, passionate to the core. As every song kicks in, the high energy "Folk-Punk" just makes you want to smash the state, phone up your member of government to complain about the oil sands, light a Molotov cocktail and toss it through the window of your least favourite coffee shop. You know, like something from and Against Me! song.

There is also an electric version, where the songs are a bit faster, and Bass & Drums have been added, courtesy of The Party Martyrs (who have become the full time rhythm section.)

Where D.I.Y. or DIE really shines is capturing the intensity of a live Micelli gig.  Available for pay what you may on their bandcamp site, it is a record worthy of any collection.

-Jim Nowhere

---23---

MICELLI
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/MICELLI.DIY.OR.DIE?fref=ts
BANDCAMP - http://micelli.bandcamp.com

Ollie

Chris Cookson - Ollie

(Photo: Jim Nowhere)

The start of everything, the ollie.

No rambling story that goes anywhere today, instead go check out this post on The Gonz over at the Chrome Ball Incident

Boneless

Jeremy Townsend - Boneless
(photo: Jim Nowhere)

Summer 2012 found a few of us hitting some random spots around Edmnoton.  We found this little four set near the university. Ended up spending a couple hours messing around, some boardslides on the bench in the background, many jumps down this little set.

The highlight however was this boneless, by my good buddy, and member of several Edmonton bands (Micelli, Strugglefucks) Jeremy "Hex" Townsend.

Nose Grab

Matthew Shnell - Nose Grab

(photo: Jim Nowhere)

This is my buddy Matt, doing a nose grab.

Back in 2009 we spent most of our time hitting this spot in the middle of nowhere, it's got a fun box, manual pad, a couple quarter pipes, and this wall.. Anyways, I'd just purchased my digital SLR and was shooting pretty much everything, including a bunch of my buddies ding flat land tricks.. Somewhere there even exists a series of me attempting a pop shuv-it, chances are those will never get posted.

Anyways, I'll be posting more one off photos, and possibly some lines of different skate rats i know..  sort of a slacker version of a tricktionary.

Rebuild/Repair - Relics

http://rebuildrepair.bandcamp.com/album/relics

What can I say abut Rebuild/Repair that I haven't said about a dozen other local bands, or mentioned in person, on FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc, etc... They truly are the embodiment of post-stoner sludge rock for the current crop of local bands.  They pick up where Flipper, Jesus Lizard, Down, all left off.  They are like a crazed combination of the Melvins & the Circle Jerks, a true sludgy band that rips.  

Relics is the second EP release for Rebuild/Repair, and honestly outshines Summary quite a bit, but even then, only on the production side of things. Relics presents us with five new songs to ad to the `ol music collection, and songs that had a bit more time to breathe and develop live before finding their way onto the magnetic ones and zeros of a hard drive somewhere.  Some of the previous "rushed" charm of the band has faded, but it has been replaced with thundering bass lines, harder drums, and a front man who is getting a little more accustomed to people really enjoying what he is doing.

5 songs, 5 dirges, 5 tracks that any bowl session now require playing in the background.

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more Rebuild / Repair on the internet

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Down The Hatch - Space Goat Coast to Coast

http://downthehatch.bandcamp.com/album/space-goat-coast-to-coast

For those of you unaware of Down The Hatch, a lot has happened to them in their short time span.  Starting out as a four piece, and releasing a short EP before their lead singer left for another project.  New front man Joey Woods dusted off a fresh set of tunes and lead the charge for the full length debut 2010's Fiasco! Things looked on the up & up. Then just as they started to rebuild their name and fan base, their bass player headed across the pond to start a new life.  For a lesser band, this would be it.  Instead it just furthered their resolve.  They took a bit of a break, found a new man to rock the thud stick, and came out swinging with Space Goat Coast to Coast.  

This four song EP (available for whatever funds you can scrape together on their Bandcamp page) shows the pure heart and determination of D.I.Y. Edmonton punk, breading sound somewhere between thrash/skate/pop punk and doom/skate/metal.  It was the must have soundtrack to anything gnarly that we did over the summer of 2012.  From the opening riff of The Fuck? one immediately knows they are in for a ride.  Guitar riffs so reminiscent of early Lagwagon & How To Clean Everything era Propagandhi, Joey just gets your head bobbing along, and before you know it Kellan is hitting the four count and Boobgasm begins.

I'll leave the last two tracks for your own interpretation, but I'll leave with this.

Down The Hatch, Purveyors of Fine Punk Rock, deliver the goods with Space Goat.

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more Down The Hatch on the internet
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Now accepting submissions

We are currently accepting submissions for a 60 minute digital download/limited edition cassette release
and we would like to fill it up with Edmonton Punk.
The digital version will be free, and the cassette will help to pay for the photocopying of the print `zine.

File Under Music:

expected release date February 2013, Submission deadline for Audio is January 20th 2013

Also we are currently accepting applications for people who want to write about the shows they attend, spots they have found, or just general total nonsense. 

Please email submissions to serfxisdead@gmail.com  subject = On The Wall Comp Submission

Hello World

Is this thing on?

Oh probably.

Well, time to get back up on the `ol soap box, but this time with a plan.
Some action, something..

A topic has been broached, a couple to say the least.
See Edmonton has quite the fractured coverage of things..
from DeadCity, Where's Ernie, Void, plus many others...
and we don't want to take from them, we want to ad to it.

Provide one more place where words can be written.

But with a twist..
we're also going t try and cover the Edmonton Skateboard scene as well.
I know it exists, there are kids at the parks every day..
someone besides me is shovelling stuff off in the winter to skate it.
And we want to document it.

Edmonton has 3 things..
half a year of winter
punks
and skate rats

this is the goal.

- Jim Nowhere,
Editor & Founder
On The Wall `Zine
© This Is Genocide Publishing