Tunnel Vision mainstreams “Skateboard” music video

Southern California has a flair for the alternative skate and surf culture, along with the goodies that go with the lifestyle such as bong smoking, bonfire making, and burrito eating – activities all set to a bangin’ punk/ska/reggae musical backdrop. What can we say? It’s summertime down here 24/7, and the livin’s most definitely easy…

Since Sublime established the mantra decades ago, bands have tried to emulate the SoCal skate essence and most have fallen short of the benchmark. However, some bands over the years have had that raw talent to truly encapsulate and emit the pure energy of what it means to be both a skater and a ska kid. One such band that comes to mind is Slightly Stoopid, stemming directly out of the Sublime era of the mid-90s; decades later, Slightly Stoopid passes the torch (and the blunt) to Tunnel Vision.

It’s summertime down here 24/7, and the livin’s most definitely easy…

Tunnel Vision may be somewhat new to the music scene, but has quickly escalated to a name on everyone’s reggae/ska radar. After making friends in high places (pun intended), the band recorded their debut self-titled album off WhiskeyBarrel Records in the Ocean Beach-based Stoopid studio – the same recording space that was utilized in laying down Stoopid’s latest Meanwhile… Back at the Lab LP. The inaugural LP skyrocketed to #3 on the iTunes Alternative Reggae Charts after being produced by Grammy Award-winner James M. Wisner, known for making his mark on the albums of Stoopid, Snoop Dogg, among several other big names. Now, all the band needs to do is tour and make a music video. Oh snap, that’s exactly what they did…

As an homage to their hometown of San Clemente, California, Tunnel Vision just premiered their music video for “Skateboard” – a song standing as an ode to their favorite pastime. With their hometown featured prominently throughout the video (with the majority of the footage being set at San Clemente Skate Park), their friends thrown in the mix, and skating being the central theme, the band has ultimately combined everything they love into one video. Speaking of friends, pro-skateboarder and longtime friend of the band Ryan Sheckler is the video’s main protagonist, who grinds and jumps and bombs and bails around the band as they play their instruments in the middle of the skate park. With split screens to tell the story, the viewer sees the band jamming in one corner of the screen and Sheckler skating in the other – it’s almost as if the band recreated their own music video version of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater… with just as good of a soundtrack. Blending surf reggae with an up-tempo ska beat, this track is simply Sublime-esque with a tenor saxophone. With lyrics like “I don’t get along with the kids in my neighborhood” and “I’m out of wax and my mom is pissed”, Tunnel Vision spells out the daily woes of a skater, yet, unlike Sublime’s lethargic “Burritos” diatribe, they’re actually getting out of bed today. There’s hills to bomb and a town to terrorize, after all. The video ends with Sheckler bailing from his board, the band helping him up, and his board colliding with the drum set in the middle of the skate basin; if there ever was a visual metaphor for how skating is forever intertwined with punky ska music, the band nailed it.

Tunnel Vision is currently curtailing their Spring Blackout U.S. Tour with The Expendables, making their way back to their SoCal residence after performing at Monterey’s 7th Annual California Roots Music and Arts Festival this Memorial Day Weekend. For Southern California and Vegas fans that aren’t heading to Cali Roots, you have more than a few opportunities to catch this up-and-coming band in action. Until their next tour, check out Tunnel Vision’s new video and album online at www.tunnelvisionsc.com.

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