Fall Indie Video Round-Up: Stop Fakin’ Volume 2, Lo-Fi, Outdated & Secret Society

Some of these videos came out in the summer, so this post should have went up in September. Oh well, better late than never. The DVD may be closer to the end than the beginning, but dudes are still out there grinding on them. Don’t be a YouTube bandit. Support local skate scenes and buy a physical video.

Stop Fakin’ Volume 2

In 2004, the trailer for Static II boasted a section of “Philly Survivors,” a reference to a city recently depleted of the world’s most famous skate spot. (The section would be re-named “The Philly Four” in the actual video.) Why Josh Stewart, or anyone with a grip of footage from Philly circa 2004 for that matter, didn’t edit a montage to Cher’s 1998 mega hit “Do You Believe in Life After Love” is beyond anyone’s wildest guess, but that is a topic for another day. If those Static II guys were “survivors,” Stop Fakin’ 2 is a peek into a thriving post-apocalyptic world. Using D.C. as a home base, a roster of mostly unknown dudes (and Jersey Dave) comb every inch of territory between New Jersey and Virginia, filling in the spaces with Pulaski Park and footage of Love’s pink remnants. None of its skaters file under notable northeastern stereotypes (thankfully not a whole lot of highwaters, cellar doors or 200 mile trips to the Courthouse Drop), and the music supervision is gumbo of everything, making it feel like an east coast version of last year’s exceptional Sk8Mafia video. Current college applicants who won’t get accepted to their top choice school in New York can take solace in Stop Fakin’ 2, as it is good enough to make them less bummed on having to move to D.C. or Philly, in turn saving their lives from being ruined by “the party.”

Order a copy here

Lo-Fi

Floridians are currently entrenched in a New York public relations crisis with a ferocity not seen since the Ohio backlash of the mid-2000s. (We are going to focus on domestic issues, but it should be stated for the record that Australians currently have worse New York P.R. than Floridians.) Lo-Fi is a solid effort in remedying Florida’s tarnished image in New York, and in the country as a whole — lord knows America let out a collective sigh of relief last Tuesday night when the election was decided *without* it. In Lo-Fi, we confirm suspicions that the state is just one big industrial park while watching great parts from Brendan Carroll, Brad Cromer (possibly the most underrated dude on any of the Deluxe rosters, who does the most impressive fakie flip in recent memory for his ender), and Jonathan Ettman (the second person this year to skate the Stuy Town rail.) Many videos still don’t acknowledge that a modern skater’s attention span has been corroded by YouTube and Hella Clips; Lo-Fi clocks in under twenty minutes with three parts, a friends section, and perhaps another part-and-a-half’s worth of footage for each of the three skaters in the bonus features.

Order a copy here

Outdated

It has been a quiet year on the Tompkins bench, and it is due to Outdated‘s release, or more specifically, the verification of its existence. The title may be accurate as the release a year late, but everyone can now behold what may be the East Village’s final glimpse of Yaje on a skateboard, barring a surprise part in some Brazilian video. We finally have an explanation for Brian Clarke’s ~seven tricks in the 5Boro video, as he has a full part here. And there is no more denying the proliferation of Zero videos in the northeast these past twelve years, because the curtains belong to Jason Carroll, someone who does big spin front boards down handrails and skates to Nirvana. The mystery is gone. The theories are obsolete. The hearsay is irrelevant. The latest and possibly final chapter in the “Consistently Delayed New York Skate Videos By SVA Students” sub-genre is here, Kevin Tierney looks less stressed, Jersey Dave has solidified his legacy by re-inventing the half-cab manual, Jeremy Lin plays for the Rockets, and we have nothing to talk about anymore.

Order a copy here

Secret Society

Unlike the other three videos, all of which have a decent-enough internet presence, Secret Society is an old-fashioned sort of homie video: one that’s merely circulated among friends, and not sold to break even on hours spent hunched at the bottom of a stair set. The average crew video in 2012 has its cache bolstered by the token friend with an industry sponsor. Secret Society has no marquee skaters or imminently scoutable talent. (The faux-VHS glitch affects are in tact though…) It is a video by Allen Dillard that features a bunch of kids in their late teens or early twenties skating around Detroit, a city that has piqued the interest of some outgoing pros, but one with a native scene that you rarely hear about. Something like Lo-Fi has solid skating and presentation, but it is not going to put suburban Florida on the top of anyone’s “To Visit” list. While most people’s mental image of Detroit is informed by watching the last half of 8 Mile on cable at 2 A.M. (can’t forget those “Top 10 Most Dangeous Cities” lists released every year!), Secret Society makes it look like a lot of fun and worth the road trip, even if the video doesn’t contain a part from “that next kid to get on so-and-so company.”