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.

Last Century Zinesters - Chapter 1

Last Century Zinesters - Chapter 1 from Márcio Sno on Vimeo.

The Comics of J.T. Yost

www.Birdcagebottombooks.com
jtyost@gmail.com
www.jtyost.com

I always like it when I can look at a single panel of a comic and instantly recognize the artist. So often people seem to learn how to draw comics by mimicking other artist’s work and then don’t seem to get very far away from it. Not the case with J.T. Yost’s work, he has a very distinctive style. The stories are gloomy and weird, which I like, and the panels are consistently interesting to look at on their own without following the story, which I also like.

Tales of Good ol’ Snoop Doggy Dogg, & It’s Dream Time Snoop Doggy Dogg
$3 and $4
These are illustrated dreams that the author has had about Snoop Dogg. They are weird and fun to read. Also contained within is a childhood story about being a geekish loner, befriending a tough guy and going to a party. Insightful and entertaining.
‘It’s dream time’ is more of the same: illustrated dreams that make you go hmmm? After reading them (which would be the case for most of us if our dreams were illustrated I suppose).

Loosers Weepers # 1&2
$5 each
Apparently J.T. Yost is pretty adept at finding notes, letters, and journals in random places. He then comes up with a story behind those finds and illustrates it. This is a great idea. It’s interesting and funny to read the actual notes and letters and then see what kind of a kooky story he has concocted from them. There are homophobic raps scribbled onto the back of envelopes, silly schoolyard checklists, and notebook journals from distraught lovers, all of which play a part in the various characters’ lives. Awesome.

Old Man Winter
$7
As the title suggests this is a story about an old man and his sad daily interactions with family members and the public. It’s a beautifully drawn tale of a broken person at the end of his days. Also included in this book are some pro-vegan comics that point out the process of meat production and animal experimentation in a unique and highly effective way. I really enjoyed this comic and after reading all of these zines, I now consider myself a fan.

Maximumrocknroll

To say that MRR is my favorite zine is an understatement. I wouldn't even know what a zine was if it weren't for that fatefull encounter with MRR at a Helena Montana record store in 1990. When I first started thumbing though it at the counter, I had no idea what the hell was going on, it was so sloppy and full of weird bands and people that I had never heard of. But it looked cool and I have always been intrigued by the weird, pissed off, and opinionated of which MRR most definitely is. I picked it up and gave it to a friend of mine who was into punk rock. He tore into it and explained it all to me in a way that my thrash metal and mullet head could understand. It wasn't long before I lost the mullet and was reading MRR every month.
Maximumrocknroll is an institution. It remains the most consistent and relevant punk rock forum in the world. maximurocknroll Pob 460760, San Francisco, CA 94146-0760 (maximumrocknroll.com)

the postcard is from Tim Yohannan about a year before he died.