This issue rides heavy on raw street energy and earned scars, with Wes Kremer on the cover treating Tenerife concrete like a personal canvas, ollie to fakie balanced on pure nerve and timing. Inside, the tone stays grounded and real. Bones Poland delivers cold-weather punishment, Passing the Torch captures the tumble-heavy handoff between generations, and Birdhouse keeps things fizzy and chaotic with Faygo-fueled sessions. Skate Loteria spins chance and commitment into chicken-wing survival lines, while the SOTY Tour strips away hype for something honest and sweaty, just friends, boards, and endless pavement. The music features drift from Chronixx’s hectic rhythm to Parquet Courts’ crooked pop tension and Trentemøller’s goosebump electronics, keeping the issue humming across frequencies.
The departments reinforce the bruised realism. My War drops into personal hell, Lunatic Fringe lights up the social feeds, Photo-G splashes rich color across violence, and Trash catalogs neck sacks and kidney damage like badges of honor. The closing quote nails the spirit: Wes never stopped skating with his friends, never stopped pushing the streets the way he always has. No polish, no theater, just motion, impact, and progression grinding forward.
