RAMP LOCALS ONLY!

We roll into the next edition of HOLLYWOOD BABYLON on Thursday, April 11th, with the raw, high-energy sounds of Vatos Tristes at 9:00pm, followed by the ultimate ‘80s skate-punk cheese-fest—Thrashin’ (1986)—at 9:45pm.

A post-Goonies, pre-No Country For Old Men Josh Brolin (ex-RKL) stars as Corey Webster, an out of town teen visiting LA to compete in a skate competition. Unfortunately for him, he falls for Chrissy (a pre-Twin Peaks Sherilyn Fenn) who is the little sister of Hook, leader of the punk skate gang The Daggers. Romance, danger, skate montages, and punksploitation of the cheesiest level ensue!

This is a high water mark of ‘80s LA punksploitation, where the fashion and vague anti-establishment attitudes are nothing more than lazy writing. Still, this is the kind of punk/skate movie that while being completely ridiculous and bogus, still had just enough realness peeking through to become a shockingly culturally influential film. Yeah, the movie’s theme song is by the most un-punk Meat Loaf (who smartly decided to never have the song released on any format, ever), but you also have decidedly punk cuts by legends Devo, Fear, the Circle Jerks, and the criminally forgotten all-female Screamin’ Sirens. You can even spot a JFA and Crass shirt if you squint. There’s also a live appearance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who while now couldn’t be any less punk if they tried, then had a (drug induced) revolving lineup that included members of the Weirdos, the Dickies, Black Flag, Social Distortion, Fear, and Lydia Lunch’s band. On top of that you have stunt appearances by some of the heroes of pro-skating such as Tony Alva, Christian Hosoi, Steve Caballero, and of course Tony Hawk. Not to mention the (in)famous Jaks crew, who would also appear in the 1990 Canadian punksploitation classic, Terminal City Ricochet.

Thrashin’ might be a mess, but it’s our kind of mess – equally serious and silly in all the right and wrong ways. Sometimes at the same time. You know, kinda like punk rock.