Every so often a web video is unleashed and immediately hailed as BMX's second coming. Today's offering from Nike BMX is a prime example of that, with Cult's Alex Kennedy and Subrosa's Simone Barraco (and their out-of-control hairstyles) taking to the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel. The city's modernist plazas and graffiti laden back alleys complement the duos smooth, line-based approach to street riding nicely. There's plenty of mind blowing tricks and it's all beautifully documented -- Simone's (spoiler alert) railhop tailwhip is executed perfectly and Alex Kennedy's 360 to smith grinds to nose manual is absurdly smooth. While their creative lines are the focus of the video, it's also nice to see them seemingly out of their element, namely with Kennedy's toboggan hop into a huge ledge and Barraco's nosepress to barspin on a steep, street transition.
While Barraco and Kennedy owe a lot to the early predecessors of line-based street riding (see Standard's "Domination"), their highly technical approach to the style is certainly pleasing to the eye. This is one video, regardless of where your interest lies in BMX, you should watch. If not because you actually like the riding, at least for its impact on the current state of BMX -- sort of like the fifth season of Mad Men's impact on pop culture.
