Happy 2016

It's been a while since I last posted here. Although I'm not actively reviewing again, I am planning on posting music and zine reviews throughout the year. Nothing to write home about, but enough to keep this blog active as an archive, and help support some good ol'timey underground art. If you have any questions you can email me at randyp627@gmail.com.

POB No More

Well the time has come to let the PO Box go. In the past four months or so, I’ve received exactly 4 zines for review, and that just doesn’t justify the cost of a pob. I will still do reviews here and there when I pick stuff up on trips to cities with zine stores and such. But as I’ve stated previously, my personal life is too busy right now to try and do regular zine reviews, and that’s just not fair to the people who took the time to send me their work and expected a relatively quick review response, something that rarely happened. This has been a fun experiment and I’ve made a bunch of great connections with all kinds of interesting artists all over the globe. I plan to keep publishing zines and making art, and hopefully I’ve built up enough good karma over these past five and a half years that others may give my stuff a hearty look and review. Thanks to everyone who sent stuff in for review, it was an honor to be part of it all. As always I can be reached at darlenezine@yahoo.com

ps: I still have about ten more zines to review, which I will be getting to asap. pss: Here's a link to my art blog http://randyp627.blogspot.com/

The Cultural Aether #1 & #5

Cultural Aether #1 & #5///$1///2440 E. tudor Rd. #364, Anchorage, AK 99507 I am putting these two zines together because they are very similar in style and content. Both of them are a mixture of interesting collage art and cartoon bubble phrases and statements and nothing else. They have a lot to do with love and relationships. The collage art is nothing short of amazing, where this artist gets the material I do not know, but it is truly exceptional. It’s like someone let Monty Python loose in the middle ages with a copy machine, an exacto, a glue stick, and a heavy heart.

Freak Tension #15

Freak Tension #15 freaktension@yahoo.com///www.freaktension.com///wbhauser@yahoo.com/// Freak Tension: super fun stories about life, punk, etc. Super hilarious reviews (The Doyle Abominator review being one that legends are made of), interviews with Brain Tumors, and City Mouse, and a very nice recipe for Roasted Minotaur Gizzards that I absolutely have to try! MP Johnson has a knack for the absurd, witch makes this zine a very entertaining moment in time.

The Soda Killers #6

bnb@hotdogdayz.com/// $5 or trade/ // I think this is the third time I’ve reviewed The Soda Killers, and I could basically write the same review for it every time. I would only have to change the names of the bands that I discover within (which is basically what I’ve done the past two times anyway). This zine is consistently good, and follows a very specific pattern: collage art, some stories, pictures of graffiti, and reviews by Nathan G. O’Brian. All of these things are great. But because I enjoy reading Nathan G. O’Brian’s reviews so much, the rest of the content has a tendency to get overshadowed. I’ve always been attracted to writing that is first-person, where the author injects themselves into whatever is being written about. I think that NGO does this in a way that seems very authentic and relatable. For punk type folks of a certain age, my age, his anecdotes and background knowledge make the reviews hum with a sort of undefined generational authenticity. Being in my 40’s and working in the world of education, I don’t have a lot of work peers that can I can relate to on these levels. I haven’t met too many people my age that know what a zine is, or spent their 20’s in smoke filled punk bars having their heads, souls, and hearts filled with the dysfunctionally creative dystopia of 90’s diy culture. NGO writing helps to fill that void. This particular issue of TSK is packed with so much NGO content that I wouldn’t feel bad about copying, pasting, and updating the band names at all. That being said, there is also a funny story about two dudes hating on some Food Network approved chili, and some collage art, and pics of graffiti. Bands discovered this issue: Condominium, Autistic Youth, Gas Rag, Hoax.

vacation catch up

Finally have some time to get to the reviews. Coming soon.

Lunchmeat #7

...$7 www.Lunchmeatvhs.com As a naturally curious person, one of the great things about being into fanzines is that they come in all kinds of interesting flavors. I love that, and I especially I love it when that flavor is “weird”. Lunchmeat is weird. This is a ‘fan’zine in the truest sense, with the fans focal obsession being that of VHS tapes. Enthusiasts of the genre, nicknamed, ‘Videovores’ are responsible for most of the review content, and It’s packed full. The reviews consist of obscure VHS only movies with titles like, ‘Hunter’s Blood’ ‘SuperGrass’, ‘Disaster at Silo 7’ and more. There are provocative and funny VHS-centered graphics, interviews with cult directors (Brian Threnchard-Smith) cult character actors (Mr. Potato Head himself, THE Eddie Deezen), crossword puzzles, and horror stories full of gore, obsession, and video production. If Pixar movies with their ungodly expensive special effects, are the designer deli sandwich of sliced sweet cappicola and Havarti on a lightly seasoned focaccia of the film world, then the VHS-obsessed world of Lunchmeat represents a half-eaten loaf of pickled-pimiento bologna on Grocery Outlet wonder bread. I prefer the latter.////////////////////////

Spending time with an old friend

One of the great recordings of the 20th Century.

KARP: a documentary film about a band called KARP

I’ve written in the past about having seen KARP live and how it had been such a musical high water mark for me. This band was so good, and they showed up at a time in the 90’s where a lot of underground music was getting pretty predictable and stale. Not KARP. They were a musical powder keg with a short fuse that knew exactly when to touch it off. Part of the beauty of what KARP brought to the table in those days was that they weren’t just a heavy as fuck band completely ruling the shows they played, they were also hilarious. Their sense of humor was so obvious in everything that they did, from their record art and press packets (See Suplex pic below that I got in the mail in 1996 and have had hanging on my wall/refrigerator ever since), to their incredibly clever on and off stage banter. They really made going to see them live a heck of a good time, much of which is captured in this wonderful documentary . It was so sweet to see everyone involved with this band speak so earnestly about them, and it’s a touching tribute to their talented drummer Scott Jernigan who died so young. If you are a fan, or if you just like documentaries about musicians, this is highly recommended. Unfortunately I think it’s out of print. I found this copy for sale online and pounced.

INSPIRATION POINT

INSPIRATION POINT By Spencer Hicks deeperaway@yahoo.com ////

Bad days come and go. How we deal with them is one of the true tests of being human. This is a story about a bad day, a rough night, and an attempt to solve it with some cigarettes and a run in the woods. There is wisdom contained within this comic, this fellow seems to have significant insight into the imperfections of the world around him and his place in it. In a world where the majority of humanity is playing bumper cars at the bottom of Maslow’s climb toward self-actualization, Spencer seems to have clawed his way toward the summit. Human relationships are always going to be difficult and full of compromise, and if we are to survive it all without loud persuasive voices in our heads telling us to do unorthodox things against our will, one must accept this one solid truth; a run in the woods is always a good idea......and, smoking in moderation never hurts.

MIRLEFT

Mirleft By Barnaby Goode///// barnabygoode@hotmail.co.uk//// www.barnabygoode.tumblr.com/ This is a photographic essay about a small town in Morocco. As presented in this zine, the landscape in this area appears barren and unforgiving. The photos of empty dirt roads, lawn-less yards, and flat concrete buildings in various states of disrepair with a smattering of people and livestock scattered about are reminiscent of some generic Mexican village in an old western movie. The people look to live simple, dedicated lives. This is the impression I got from viewing these photos and knowing nothing about this town previously. Because I’m naturally curious about everything, I looked Mirleft up online after viewing this, and it’s actually a strikingly beautiful coastal resort town surrounded by absolutely stunning beaches. That’s the beauty of this essay and perhaps art in general; the idea of perspective and how it varies so much from person to person in everything. This is one person’s perspective as documented through his camera. I’m not sure I did the essay justice by utilizing 21st century technology to investigate that perspective further. Regardless, Mirleft is a truly wonderful photographic series, that transforms this small village, which is surely a tourist destination full of all the dirty deficiencies and shortcomings of those types of places, into a place with a pulse, a living breathing community of steadfast residents eking out a living in a desert climate with an incredible beach.

Dream Whip 15

/////////Dream Whip #15 $11 Microcosmpublishing.com I equate Dream Whip Zine to the musical stylings of The Pixies, Canned Heat, and early Patsy Cline on an off night in a dive bar near the desert town of Yermo California. It’s hot, dry, and not in the best of moods…but for some reason, I want it all. This is Bill’s story about making a movie about the immigration situation on the southern US border and his bike tour across the Midwest to promote it. It's full of forgotten towns, ankle biting dogs, politics, and complicated relationships. Bill Brown is one of America’s best writers. I can turn to any page in this zine and pick a quote that bites as hard as a golden eagle ripping the head off of an angry chukar on the banks of the Salmon River. Exhibit A: “The people we meet aren’t unfriendly, but they’re definitely no-nonsense….Maybe it’s because it doesn’t rain much here, and the land’s not so fertile. In a place like that you don’t waste anything, including you’re breath. All the sweetness that people around here don’t express is baked into their pies. Big-hearted, generous pies.” The entire zine is full of quotable insight like this. I’ve been reading Dream Whip for many years, and the same thing happens to me after reading every issue, I put it down, smile, and say to myself, “Never get famous Bill Brown”, but I really wish he does.

MAXIMUM TREMOLO

Maximum Tremolo $2 ppd or trade POB 467 Amherst, NY 14226 maximumtremolo@gmail.com//// Only a mere 16 pages, this fanzine is a ripper of mammoth proportions. “Making Surf a Fucking Threat Again” is the subtitle of this zine. I wasn’t aware that surf music was ever a threat, but after reading this, I’m now a believer. Maximum Tremolo is full of ‘fuck you’ attitude without being all fuck you all the time…..there’s an obvious love of the craft and a loyalist understanding of the history of the genre that precedes the punk attitude, the ‘fuck you’ just makes it entertaining. This zine was incredibly fun to read. Every page had something in it that had me laughing out loud, and the record and live reviews had me frantically looking up and loving all kinds of new bands. Great fanzine.

Feeling kinda Humpy tonight

Humpy

The Recoup

//// The Recoup #1 $? Therecoup.wordpress.com Someone delivered a hot tub time machine in zine form to my po box and it’s called, The Recoup. After reading this I felt like I was sitting in an English pub in 1968 chain smoking Pall Malls and drinking cheap gin in my vertical striped bell bottoms with an MC5 haircut asking Texas Is the Reason what a Liverpool orgy was like back in the day. Retro? Yup. Bad idea? Nope. This is a satisfyingly modern take on a bygone era; I want all music zines to look like this. Simple, minimal, modern, perfect.

Rest In Peace Dave Brockie

BELT OF VAPOR

Spokane's greatest band? Definitely in the running.

I AM MY OWN STEREOTYPE: THE SMALL DIARY COLLECTION

I Am My Own Stereotype: The My Small Diary Collection By Delaine www.mysmallwebpage.com////$5//// Delaine started writing this zine in 1993, my lord that seems like such a long time ago. That was the year that Nirvana did their Unplugged set for MTV. I was such a huge Nirvana fan at the time and remember watching that performance when it aired and thinking that something dark was on its way. That was also the year that fugazi’s In On The Kill Taker came out, my favorite Fugazi record (tape) that I played nearly to death while driving back and forth to work while living Anchorage. It also just happens to be the year that I started reading and writing zines myself. I Am My Own Stereotype is a very cool collection of the author/artist’s unique and ultra-random autobiographical comics. Each page consists of illustrated true events from her life. From finding brambles in her panties to running into Ron Jeremy in some random Deli this zine is definitely a worthwhile gander-fest. Autobiographical comics have always been near and dear to my heart and this one is wonderful.

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Grunted Warning #18

Grunted Warning #18 $2…or trade…or friendly letter// STRATU POB 35 Marrickville NSW 2204 Australia /////// Nothing to worry about if you’re a lazy bastard with a taste for the obscene, Mr. Stratu is your man. He finds it, cuts it, pastes it, and presents it to you on a shiny platter of yummy. I can’t believe it took me this long to review this zine....What the fuck? I know my life is crazy right now, but whatever, this zine kind of reviews itself….so I have no excuses. Mr. Stratu has a very sick sense of humor which he meticulously uses to peruse the newspapers with the eye of a hungry raptor, picking out headlines that satisfy his incurable disease. I love this man. Grunted Warning is the source. This zine should be on the back tank of every toilet in the English speaking world.

BURNING BUILDING COMIX

BURNING BUILDING COMIX $19.95 jeffscomixs@gmail.com www.jeffscomics.com ///// This strange and beautiful comic book from Jeff Zwirek uses space in one of the most unique ways I’ve come across yet (see pic). His style is distinctly his own and as clean as a cue ball fresh out of the box without being minimalist or cold. This book is a series of panels, each row representing a different floor of an apartment building on fire. There is a lot going on in these rooms, and by the end of each floor you get to know the occupants pretty well. The stories range from the bizarre to the hilarious with a lot of subtle social commentary thrown in for good measure. This is a great book.