Ah, the modern age of skate rock. It’s hard to judge these days in the context of the current state of the industry. San Diego ban Sk8 or Die comes to the table with Not in My Skatepark, a throwback to the thrash-type skate rock that littered the sides of early Thrasher Skate Rock compilations. Sk8 or Die has a slightly more modern metal edge to it, but is otherwise reminiscent of the genre. The cover has a horrible drawing of a punk cracking the skull open of a heavily neoned rollerblader, however the punk looks more like a Michael Jackson Thriller-era caricature, He’s sporting rails and a tail dome on his deck, so maybe that fits with the 80’s and the birth of skate rock.  The actual CD and CD tray has another retro drawing of your typical 80’s era skater with a skull for a head doing a layback air. This one hits the mark better. Inside are lyrics and flyers with a band history, which was surprising. Who knew they had a history? Song titles include “Sk8 or Die is Go!” “ Skate Youth,”  “Friends Don’t Let Friends Rollerblade” and “Roadkill Rollerblader” to name a few. You get the idea.

On first listen this record is pretty mediocre. The recording quality is pretty bad, and it turns out cause it was recorded live (possibly under a pillow) with vocal overdubs, also possibly in a closet.  The songs aren’t complex or highly memorable for that matter, but the band has a pretty good sense of humor as evidenced by the short and sweet “Sometimes I Freak Out,”  “Let’s go Ride the Bus” and assorted between song banter. Also of note is “This Song is Like Fucking a Corpse”  which could be subtitled “Punk is Dead”.  “Skate Youth” articulately describes the utopian brotherhood and is capped by the great line “Unless we’re stopped by inclement weather, we’ll skate forever.”  Not in My Skate Park clocks in at t just over 22 minutes long, not including 44 minutes of annoying silence before the secret mandolin reprise of SK8 Hymn at the end.

Not in My Skate Park is put out by a small label called Hill Billy Stew. Not in My Skate Park  is fun, but not fun enough to overcome the recording deficiencies. Judged purely on their musical merits this would be called  Not in My Record Collection – but it’s hard to hate these guys. They are funny and have a reverence for the genre and era. Years ago they would have been minor stars on any Skate Rock compilation. These guys strike me as a great band for the party after a heated session, but not something you’d necessarily want to own if you don’t know the guys in the band. Or maybe it’s a sarcastic joke and I’m not getting it. An “A”  for Effort though. Let’s see…Their web site is based on screen captures from the video game that they share their name with. That’s cool. Not in My Skate Park is put out by a small label called Hill Billy Stew. Not in My Skate Park  is fun, but not fun enough to overcome the recording deficiencies. Judged purely on their musical merits this would be called  Not in My Record Collection – but it’s hard to hate these guys. They are funny and have a reverence for the genre and era. Years ago they would have been minor stars on any Skate Rock compilation. These guys strike me as a great band for the party after a heated session, but not something you’d necessarily want to own if you don’t know the guys in the band. Or maybe it’s a sarcastic joke and I’m not getting it. An “A”  for Effort though. Let’s see…Their web site is based on screen captures from the video game that they share their name with. That’s cool. Oh wait, you have to follow the link from the label cause someone forgot to pay their domain name bill. http://members.cox.net/brucepastorjr/

Online Action: www.sk8ordie.net
Online Action: www.hillbillystew.com

Reviewer: Kilwag