Ok I have to admit: I don’t know anything about skateboarding. But thankfully I do know a bit about Joseph Shabason, and can appreciate the vision for his upcoming project, Welcome to Hell, a reimagining of the soundtrack to the iconic skate video of the same name from 1996, made by Toy Machine.

The original video contained songs by The Sundays, Sonic Youth, Iron Maiden, Jefferson Airplane and more, mostly featuring rock and punk tracks, but also some jazz funk from the Overton Berry Ensemble. This fast-paced skate footage, along with the spliced in clips of the skaters’ surroundings, along with the eclectic combination of tune selections, inspired Shabason at a young age. Now, he’s gone about reimagining the soundtrack in his own terms, utilizing a big band of players and a wide range of instrumentation to harness the energy that surrounded the original and point it in new, exciting directions.

The star of the first single here, “Jamie Thomas”, is undoubtedly the vibraphone, which plinks and plonks around in a psychedelic haze set by the uptempo, driving beat. A fuzzed out violin and smooth keyboard also take solos, but the ping-ponging energy the vibraphone commands is undoubtedly my focus point. It’s an itchy, nervous track that presses you to keep moving, to keep looking back. I’m definitely curious to see how Shabason continues to pay homage to not only the skate footage itself but the musical moods placed upon them at the beginning. Should be a good time!

Welcome To Hell is out October 20th via Western Vinyl. Listen + pre-order below.