“Never skateboarded in my life.”
-Andrew Cox, The Fauves

My contribution to this episode of Fauves Are the Best People was recorded in late December 2024, when I was at my better half’s family’s for the Xmas obligatories. So, perversely, it was recorded almost two months after the episode that follows it in the podcast timeline. Just like my hot-take on ‘Tying One On’, this contribution was a bit more rambling and incoherent than my previous appearances. So, I thought I’d harness the power of digital transcription services once again and include some of my most relevant (edited) ‘insights’ here.

JB: Davey, what do you think of ‘Skateboard World Record’?

DP: I’m so glad you asked. I love this song and it’s great that you point immediately to the fact that it’s a short song because I think it’s really a beautiful sub three minute power pop song. And for me, one of the brightest songs on the album, not just in terms of the content–which is very aspirational, you know, going for a world record–but in terms of the melody and the song structure and the way it’s over pretty much before you think it’s begun. I think it’s a great song. And I think it points to Future Spa being a power pop masterpiece. This is a really great example of a song that a lesser band would have put out as a single. And I do believe that if they had really wanted to go 10 singles deep on this album, ‘Skateboard World Record’ would have been one of those songs. So I think it would have been a radio-friendly hit. And I think it’s a really fun song.

JB: You’ve always loved it from the get-go?

DP: Yeah, I have actually. And we can go into the reasons why that might be for me a little later on. But I think there are two types of songs on Future Spa. There are the grungy, riffy songs that are a bit like a builder whacking down some mortar on a stack of bricks, you know, with the trowel running through it. And then there are the pop songs. And this is obviously in that second camp. I think I prefer those sorts of songs to a song like ‘Dragster for Christmas’, which you pointed to, or ‘I Love the Fight Game’ or ‘That’s the Lifestyle’. They’re much more riff-heavy songs, not quite my cup of tea. When I first listened to this album, when it first came out, I was immediately drawn towards the pop songs and the more melancholy songs, you know, ‘Sentimental Motel Journey’ or ‘Understanding Kyuss’. And this song, planted right in the middle of the album, it’s just a really light, energetic, forward-facing pop song. And I think I’ve always had a soft spot for it for that reason. 

JB: Where do you want to start, Davey, with the lyrics or the music or…?

DP: Well, could we start with the idea that this song is trying to get across? The one part of the song that I always passed over was what sort of skateboard world record he’s talking about. Because I did a lot of research in the lead up to today.

JB: Thank you.

DP: . . . about all of the skateboard world records that there are. And, I mean, there are… lots. And a lot of them are very fun. They’re in the Guinness Book of Records. There is a whole category of skateboard world records like the most number of kickflips in five minutes or standing on your head while holding a skateboard in one hand. There are a lot of records that kids can try out, which I think reflects the skateboard age group in many ways. But there is a landspeed record for a downhill skater, which is around the 140klms an hour. And that to me is quite mind blowing. Like, imagine going that fast on the skateboard. But of course, the skateboard world record that Coxy is singing about here is on a flat surface. And it’s this idea of being towed across a saltwater lake that made me think, okay, what’s the land speed record for any kind of vehicle on a flat surface? Maybe you can guess for me, what’s the fastest vehicle? It can be engine propelled or rocket or jet powered. What do you think is the land speed record for a vehicle?

It’s around 1220 kilometres per hour, maybe a little bit higher. It’s around the sound barrier or the speed of sound, literally. So, the idea of Coxy being on a skateboard, being towed across a salt lake by one of these jet powered vehicles at 1200 km/hour. You bet you’d want to write a song about it if you managed to survive that. But of course, the reality is that anyone propelling themselves on a skateboard on a flat surface is only likely to reach about 4 km/hour. So, you know, it’s a sobering comparison. But what I like about this song and about the concept behind it is that it’s a childhood fantasy. You know, I want to be the fastest ever. And he manages to do it in a really fun way. And in a really moving way that ties in with the whole theme of this album as a homage to childhood and to childhood dreams. Like the next song, ‘Tying One On’, where Coxy is fantasizing about being this exuberant alcoholic, in this song, he’s fantasizing about a hero who comes back to his hometown and is celebrated and they have a parade for him and everything. There’s so much theater in the lyrics here.

This is an extract from my contribution to Episode 100 of Fauves Are the Best People, which you can listen to on Spotify (see below) or wherever you get your podcasts.