The Schmaltz and the Smooth

From "In the Street, Today." _Thrasher_ 1.1 (January 1981):

"A curb is an obstacle until you grind across it. A wall is but a ledge until you drop off it. A cement bank is a useless slab of concrete until you shred it. A street is another downhill to be tucked. A multi-level garage is built for cars until a gang of skaters discovers it. You've got to give the streets fair due, rolling is way cooler than walking. Don't restrict your boundaries, skate architecture is everywhere, grind every edge--You've gotta find all the lines you can."

This rhapsodic quote, which, like excerpts from many skateboarding editorials, is both endearing and cheesy. This nostalgic approach to skate aesthetics often provides room in skate videos and other places for a particularly schmaltzy soundtrack that both enthralls and repulses. Part Husker Du, part lost 80s never-rans, this music occupies a strange place in that it would seem out of place anywhere but as the soundtrack to skate videos. Here is an example from Transworld's _i.e._:



The song is by Built to Spill, which I guess people listen to without skate videos, but I really don't see how. It's sort of evocative of the controlled-noise, you-can-do-it attitude exhibited in the _Thrasher_ editorial. Especially "I got the words and the music wrong / but life goes on."

Both works (that is, the Thrasher editorial and the Built to Spill song) break the normal rules. They're both self-conscious and blushing but nevertheless touch a nerve with anyone familiar with skatboarding. The works become yet more endearing when the reader approaches each as an artifact of human labor, not as a piece of inspiration that fell from the heavens. The same way people enjoy their friends' bands, blogs, and books even when they break the rules of good lyiricism, writing, journalism, or even compelling diaryism.

By the way, _Thrasher_ has published its first twelve issues online at this url: [http://secure.thrashermagazine.com/index.php?SCREEN=articles_1st12]. Good for both nostalgia and a peek into the longest-lasting, most far-reaching codification of the skateboarding-punk connection. Found via boing boing. (wah wah.)