Music
The best kept secret in music
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Is ther still such a thing as skate rock? i meanin the accepted sense of the term, I guess the only "name" skate-rock bands that exist anymore are ones that have gotten back together, like the faction, or ones that spawned from earlier incarnations of other skate rock bands. Then there are the bands that claim "skate" even though they're clearly hot topic. Those are the worst and are to be avoided at all costs.
Wait, I have to reconsider this. I was all lined up to talk about how the world needs more Screaming Lord Salbas and Los Ovlidados, like we did 15 years ago. JFA and Drunk Injuns would be nice, too, i guess. But then I got to thinking about concepts like musical progression and crap like that also about how diverseskateboarding itself is, and so, shouldn't skateboard music be diverse too? Then I realized that i didn't want to turn a simple album review into a tirade on the state of skateboarding and once become bitter old guy.
So in the interests of sticking to the tasks at hand, I will say this: Hightower is skate rock int the purest and best sense, or as they prefer San Francisco street metal. It's also stoner metal in the vein of black sabbath- speed metal maybe like Celtic Frost at times too. The band's also hilarious because they name songs after cartoons or muppets sometimes. Just listen to tracks like "space maddness", "i am the wallride", and "that tree". Jesus, they gaveme a serious case of metalitis. And they skate, the whole lot of em. I saw them play recently at a skate jam, and shane the drummer took a run during a drum free interlude, while jake and dave, the remaining tho-thirds of Hightower held it down. He crailslid right in front of me and then ran back to his drum set and threw it down.
In fifteen years, I'll be even older and more embittered by skateboarding, and I'll be writing about how the world needs more Hightowers. No wait, the world needs more Hightowers right now.
-andreas trolf - transworld skateboarding magazize
HIGHTOWER play a metal style not far from mid 80's metal explosion. There are a lot of crunchy guitars, complex song structure, noodly guitars, and low-slow heavy riffage. they're somewhere between METALLICA and SABBATH. I could smoke a bowl and really groove to this... seriously I'm gonna. - maximimrocknroll
I think the emphasis is on the "High" in HIGHTOWER. As in: baked like a cake, stoned like a sinner. This issuprisingly good, mostly instrumental stoner metal from right here in SF, like THE CHAMPS fuck-up little brother who didn't do as well in math class cuz he was hanging out smoking weed though fabric softener tubes in the back of the room. Tons of riffs and changes in each song, a little sloppy but in a good way, like they're enjoying what they're doing, and the singings not bad when there is some. Think C AVERAGE, BARONESS, and a less techy SPACEBOY, and definetly THE CHAMPS. - maximimrocknroll
Discography
buckets and brooms ep, self titled full length, thrasher skate rock comp # 13. have songs on soundclick, myspace, get radio play on KUSF, KSJU, and other college radio
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
San Francisco Street Metal is the only way to describe Hightower. If you had to pin a name on what they play, that’s what it would be. Hightower is comprised of three individuals that form the hardened stoney edge of a sharp change in what people expect from a band. They have gone through most of the trials that D.I.Y. bands have done before; toured on their own money until it ran out 200 miles from home, woken up hung-over only to drive a full day only to play 15 minutes after arrival and many van breakdowns on the open road just to name a few. Hightower has done it all and will do it again and again because they can’t help themselves and know of nothing else they’d rather do. Dedication doesn’t begin to describe Dave, Shane and Jake.
They started playing as a group during the spring of 2001, living with 9 or 10 others in a 5-bedroom house in San Francisco’s Mission District, lovingly referred to as the 1040 house. Their practice area was next to and in the kitchen, spilling in from a small barely there breakfast nook. While they hammered out songs, their housemates would cook and go about their daily routines, drink, party and go through all of life’s motions. In this semi-chaotic mess they were able to create such trademark songs as Sluggish, Midtown, and Statler’s Quest. After playing their first show in a shack behind a backyard ramp at the 1040 house, they got a gig in Arizona. Slowly but surely, through word of mouth and a kick ass demo they have found venues outside of S.F. area and across the country. Meeting new people that have seen the light from the Tower. Europe, Australia, Asia and the rest of the skateboarding world have seen the light thanks to songs in skate videos. Thrasher Magazine even gave away their self produced full length with subscriptions adding to the worldwide exposure of this trio.
Hightower is one of those bands you just can’t put a label on. It’s cliché to say that, but it’s true. Their influences are clear, but not reproduced. The mark of any great band is their ability to sound unique while still holding true to the music. They don’t care where they play, from backyard shacks, flatbed trucks outside of a bar, skate jams to art galleries to packing venues like Slim’s and Bottom of the Hill. They even played the B.A.R.T. Station at 16th and Mission one rush hour afternoon. Coming up from the deep Mission they have carved themselves a loyal following of people who range in diversity just as their city does. Taking that built up inertia they toured the country three times, played in Canada and Mexico, and have done numerous regional tours. Their touring coupled with the exposure they have gotten from Thrasher Magazine, SLAP Magazine, MESH Magazine, Concussion Magazine, Fecal Face Dot Com, DLX.com, the San Francisco Bay Guardian and other media including songs in skate videos and the Thrasher Skate Rock 13 compilation. This has given them a solid base of fans and support. They have given to the community and the community has given back tenfold. Once you see them, you’ll know why.
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