Content Summary Thrasher deals mainly with skating, but also with teen pop culture, music, and fashion. The magazine regularly reviews bands and skateparks, interviews professional skaters, and is known for high quality skateboarding photography. The format is active and energetic with page after page of skateboard tricks shown in panels or full page spreads, advertisements for skater clothes such as shoes, and various gear for skateboards such as custom boards and wheels. Other features include interviews with various pop culture figures such as a graffiti artist. The professionals featured as well as the amateur kids set the tone for the magazine - scruffy, tattooed, and proud of it.
Critical Analysis
Thrasher is dedicated to skater culture, both the professional side and the high school kid side. The format is slick but edgy. The language is quick and offbeat, and though there is plenty of print content such as reviews, interviews, and articles, none of it is lengthy enough to eclipse the profusion of photography that dominates this magazine. Shots of skaters flying through the air, wiped out, injured, suffering the scorn of bystanders, and so on are the heart of Thrasher. There is plenty of marketing happening here, just as much as a girl's magazine actually, and most of it is fashion - namely shoes. There is also a catalog of Thrasher products in the back of each issue (hats, t-shirts, hoodies, and girly products such as panties) and a list of stores that carry Thrasher products. Also notable is the two page spread of photos depicting a girl who is as close to naked as possible without being naked in the September 2011 issue. It is an advertisement for skateboard wheels, although no wheels are pictured. The music featured is largely punk (such as an interview with The Dwarves), indie (an interview with Kelley Deal of The Breeders and The Pixies) and heavy metal (the logo for Slayer appears in one photo shoot). There are also occasional random photos of odds and ends, such as pigeons pecking at what appears to be vomit - very appealing to teenage boys. All of these elements make this magazine current, relevant, and absorbing to teens who skate or want to skate.
Why I Included This Magazine
Thrasher Magazine is very well respected and established. It is also subversive, which makes it relevant to young adults.
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