issue #07 pdf - Razorcake

More documents

Recommendations

Info

the Hitler/ Ford connection. Way tostay on top of current affairs, guys.Hitler’s bad; multinational corporationssuck. That’s a news flash.What’s your next column gonna beabout? Napoleon’s short-guy complex.Then there’s the article onindependent book publishing wherethe author rags books that are publishedby major publishing houses,yet starts the article off with a quotefrom George Carlin’s book, whichwas published by a major publishinghouse. If independent books areso great, you’d think he at leastcould’ve found an independentlypublished book to quote from. Tomake matters worse, the author isan independent book publisherhimself. Can you say incestuous?What are they gonna do next, havean article on an independent radiostation written by a former DJ fromthat station? Yep. It’s in there. Andwhat else can I find to rag about thisrag? Let’s see. More in the latebreaking-newscategory, there’s aninterview with the Adolescents – aband that put out one album, andthat was twenty years ago. That’s afinger on the pulse of the undergroundfor you. There’s a columnabout a baseball game from 1968.Now there’s a recent event. I bet theauthor of that column wasn’t evenfucking born in 1968. Let’s see,what else? In the zine review section,they review two zines put outby their own contributors. Andhere’s a big surprise: they likethem. Did I already ask if you couldsay incestuous? The most appropriatething in this sorry excuse for amagazine is the comic about asuperhero who has a guy living inhis ass, which is kind of like theeditors of this magazine, whoapparently live with their heads uptheir asses. So, anyway, this zine ishighly recommended. –Sean(Razorcake, PO Box 42129, LA,CA 90042)RESIST #42, $1, 5 ½ x 8 ½,copied, 60 pgs.Matte is always struggling to packeach issue with more and moreinformation. He does pretty wellthis time around comprehensivelycovering organic gardening, composting,Wal-Mart’s economicdestruction of American smalltowns, how to make dandelionwine, building a cart-bike out of anold shopping cart, the work that hiswife does as a mother and caretakerof the family, how to conservemoney, dumpster diving at yourfavorite stores, keeping warm onyour bike in the winter, May Day(the true Labor Day) stories andhow punk is a ghetto, and morealong with some obligatory zine,book, and record reviews. Resist isalways a sort of condensed versionof all of the books that Matte hasjust finished reading and it workswell this way. I feel like I learn afew things after reading every issueand this one is no exception. Greatcover artwork. –Joe (Bicycle LaneIndustries, PO Box 582345,Minneapolis, MN 55458)REV. RICH MACKIN’S BOOKOF LETTERS #15, $3 ppd.,5 ½ x 8 ½, copied, 48 pgs.Granted, Mr. Mackin is aRazorcake columnist, and I ambeing paid off with huge bags ofSour Patch Kids to write a goodreview of his zine, but still… it’spretty great! For those not in TheKnow, Rich Mackin writes silly lettersto corporations and prints bothhis letters and the replies. He alsohas a book out, and does speakingtours every once in awhile. (I refuseto use the phrase “spoken word” –one of the most annoying phrases Ihave ever heard. Spoken word =speaking. Got it? Okay.) Anyway, alot of this stuff is quite funny.Haikus about Gillette razors,Starbucks, the Gap, and more.Letters addressing important questionslike “What exactly are the2000 parts my family needs to washwith Lever soap?” and “Why doesmy junk mail address me as awoman?” And some more politicalletters as well. Well worth your twobucks – and buy the book to readabout Mr. Mackin’s stalking of theLever 2000 company. Hilarious!–Maddy (Rich Mackin, PO Box890, Allston, MA 02134)SHREDDING PAPER #12, $3.95,8 x 10 ¾, full color cover, heavystock, 100 pgs.Shredding Paper is essentially amusic review magazine, and thisissue has excerpts from books andarticles delineating the linksbetween Osama bin Laden andGeorge Bush, which was prettycool. Let me retool that first sentencea tad. Shredding Paper is anessential record review magazine.Every day when I wake up andbrush my teeth and look in the mirror,against my best intentions, it’shappening. I’m turning into a fullfledgedrecord geek. Not only doesShredding Paper review over fivehundred pieces of music in thisissue to satiate my ever-burgeoningdesire to hear more and moremusic, they do it well. Define“well,” Todd. I happen to agreewith them 80% of the time, 10% ofthe time I have no reference point,and the other 10% they seem tohave good reason for disagreeingwith me, and that’s a rare thingindeed. Very few magazines comeacross as essential record buyingguides. Shredding Paper is one ofthem. Looking for something new,musically? This is a wonderfulplace to start. –Todd (ShreddingPaper, PO Box 2271, San Rafael,CA 94912)SORE, #13, $2 ppd., 8 ½ x 11,newsprint, 40 pgs.This is a newsprint fanzine withmusic, zine, and book reviews, plusa bunch of short stories. I really likethe concept of this zine, and it’skind of cool to read short fiction byDIY kids. The quality of the storiesvary here. A couple of them aren’ttoo well-written, but most of thestories range from okay to prettygood. The real stand out here is anexcellent story about a guy’s loveaffair with a girl who lives in a trailerpark. To say any more about thestory would give away too much(the story’s only a page long), butit’s definitely a good read. The restof this zine is worth checking out,too. –Sean (Sore Zine, c/o TaylorBall, PO Box 68711, VirginiaBeach, VA 23471)SUBURBAN VOICE #45, $4,8 ¼ x 10 ½, glossy cover, newsprint,lots of pages, comes with CD.Al Quint’s got it going on. Not onlydoes he have the perspective ofalmost twenty years of being in thethick of music (without becoming atwat, totally jaded, or an industryfuckball) – so he knows what he’stalking about – he’s got anirrefutable enthusiasm that has mechamping at the bit to check out aslew of new or previously overlookedbands coming through townor hiding in the record bins. I’lleven go so far as to say that AlQuint writes the best live reviews inthe business. Bless him. If you’reeven remotely interested in hardcoreand punk and want to beimmersed in a zine for the betterpart of a week full of reading,Suburban Voice is more valuablethan an ass patch is to a crustypunk. In this issue, interviews withCrispus Attucks, Deathreat, Rip ItUp, The Gaza Strippers, Life’sHalt, Unseen, Last in Line, andEbro. It’s packed to the gills andworth every penny. I’d happily paytwice as much. Best case scenariofor a punk music mag. –Todd(Suburban Voice, PO Box 01903-2746)THIS PLACE SUCKS #9, $1, 5 ½x 8 ½, copied, 44 pgs.The following paragraph completelysums up this zine: “I have beenusing the same bottle of shampoofor over 2 years. Pert plus (proctorand gamble). Does shampoo moldor expire? I would like to know. 2years ago when I told my previousbarber that I used Pert Plus, she saidthat I can also use it to mop myfloor. Interesting, I thought. So Itried it, and she was completelyright, although the floors wereespecially slippery. So slippery infact that it made my mother slip andbrake her tale bone. My barber andI had a good laugh over that one.”Not for grammar buffs. –Joe(Brandt Schmitz, 513 NW 19th St.,Corvallis, OR 97330)TIGHT PANTS #9, 3 stamps (butsend an extra $1,000 if you’re RossPerot), 5 ½ x 8 ½, copied, 66 pgs.If you’re one of those folks who’salways raising your hand first inclass, yeah, you got me. Maddywrites for Razorcake. Wanna knowhow that high-level, clandestineoperation worked? She sent us backissues of Tight Pants. Sean and Iread them. We laughed so hard Ihad to stop reading her duringbreakfast because I’d keep oncharging milk out though my nose.(Mucous bubbles and all.) Shealways reviews bands in comparisonto cereal and that section of thezine is never stapled in so it can betossed out. Genius. We asked her towrite for us. Easy as pie. Maddy’sgot the perfect balance of wit andsmarts. Not only does she mockcorporate culture with the best ofthem, she’s not subsidized by someinvisible money tit. So, you get twothings that don’t usually interlock –first-hand experience about temporaryshit jobs, (the inside info on thehiring process at The Limited isinvaluable) and you get an everkeenersense of humor, heavilydosed with punk rock referencingthat comes across in pure bolts ofenthusiasm. What’s not to like? Inissue #9, there’s an in-depth articleon how emo was really the evilforce behind the 9/11 attacks that’llmake you want to re-evaluate BinLaden’s involvement; a piece onhow she got hired as Lucky thefucking Leprechaun at the Mall ofthe America’s Cereal Adventure;and her past involvement with theMilitant Grammarians ofMassachusetts. Buy several. Spreadthe joy. –Todd (Tight Pants!, 91817 th St. East, Apt #1, Minneapolis,MN 55404)URBAN GUERRILLA, #11,$1.50, 8 ½ x 11, copied, 32 pgs.I generally hate it when folks usetoo many fonts, but there’s somethingcharming about the anarchicway these ones do it, and it’senhanced by a thick body of interestingphotos (including brief nudity).Interviewed are Blown to Bits,Iron Lung and Nicki Sicki, andthere’s a fully illustrated guide tothe high spots of Berkeley. Overallfocus is on thrash/core and it’s surroundingsand how can you lose?–Cuss Baxter (PMB 419, 1442AWalnut Street, Berkeley,CA 94709)95
Guilty PleasuresM. Christian, ed., paperback, 236 pgs.I’m actually surprised that this book wassent to Razorcake for review. It’s published byan indie, though, so I figured I’d check it out.Guilty Pleasures is an anthology of eroticawriters confessing about their “true” sexuallives. The stories cover most of the spectrumof fetishes and non-traditional sexual practices:from sadism to teenagers having sex in aconfessional to cross dressing to homo- andbisexuality to foot fetishists to one lonelyexhibitionist who masturbates in front of thewindow when she sees a guy walking by (notevery time she sees a guy walking by. Justonce or twice. But she uses a beer bottle).Some of the writers are more literary thanyou’d generally expect from erotica. One guyin particular writes almost just like ErnestHemmingway (short sentences, blunt details,getting to the point more through repetitionthan through description), except his story isabout being obsessed with fucking women inthe ass. It’s kind of hard not to laugh throughthat story. On the whole, I wouldn’t say thestories are a turn on, and I’d imagine fans oferotica would probably be disappointed by thediversity of these stories (because surely noone is into every fetish in this book, and prettymuch anyone could find something shockingand objectionable in these stories) and theliterary style of most of the writers. But if youwant to take a peak into other people’s bedroomsand see what kind of weird sex they’rehaving, this beats crawling around in yourneighbors’ bushes. –Sean Carswell (BlackBooks, PO Box 31155, SF, CA 94131)LankyAaron Cometbus, paperback, 90 pgs.I don’t know why I get sucked into readingevery issue of Cometbus.96Actually, I do know why. It’s because Aaronwrites at a level that’s miles above what youwould expect from a personal zine. I’ll evengo so far as to say that he writes at a levelabove most writers: zinesters, journalists,“serious literary authors,” whoever. He has theability to draw you completely into his world,and he has the talent to express deep thoughtssimply and clearly. I also really respect the factthat he can write at this level and that he hasall this talent and that he’s developed such alarge audience, yet he still publishes everythinghimself. That says a lot.Still, every time I finish reading an issueof Cometbus, I swear that I’ll never readanother issue. The reason for this is, despitethe fact that I really think highly of his writing,Aaron Cometbus has mastered a tone thatlingers somewhere between melancholy andnostalgia. I can’t read his stories without gettingthe feeling that, though the past was reallycool and full of good times and wonderfulpeople, it’s all over now. That coolness andthose good times and wonderful people are allgone and the present stinks in comparison. Iget stuck in this mindset. I start thinking aboutall the great friends I had and drifted awayfrom. I mull over great times gone forever. Itdepresses me. Then I have to snap myself outof it. I have to look at Cometbus and remindmyself that – this issue, anyway – takes placein 1984, when Aaron was nineteen years-old.And I’ve been nineteen, and I lived through1984, and I wouldn’t go back to either of thosetimes even if I could.I fully admit that this may just be a personalproblem, though. I’m talking more aboutmy reaction to the book than I am talkingabout the book itself.Lanky is technically issue #47 ofCometbus (and yes, I know that #48 is outalready). In the introduction, he says that it’snot really a book. But it is a book. It’s boundlike a book and it’s one long story with a plotand sub-plots and well-developed characters.It’s a novel. Lanky tells the story of Aaron’sfirst love. We follow a group of young punkrockers, most of whom are children of professors,living, partying, becoming friends, separating,and coming of age in Berkeley. Aaronand Lanky fall in love and have a relationshipin this atmosphere. In some senses, it’s a classiclove story, but the characters are originaland interesting enough, and the setting is differentenough to make you forget the classicelements of the story and just read along. Ifound myself feeling completely drawn intothis world, and, perhaps because the narratorloved his characters so much, I becameattached to the people in the book. I wanted toget to know them better, to hear more of theirdialogue, to see more of their actions, to getout of the narrator’s head a little and meet thecharacters more directly, but Aaron keepsthem at arms length. He’s very protective ofhis characters. You get the sense that he’s saying,“These characters are my friends. You cantag along and watch what we do, but you can’tbe a part of us.” This is a strange attitude for awriter to take.Still, like I said, it’s a really good read. Ithink this is Aaron’s first novel, and it’s animpressive book. As soon as I shake this nostalgia,I’ll probably go check out his next zine.–Sean Carswell (BBT, PO Box 4279,Berkeley, CA 94704)This Too Can Be YoursBeth Lisick, paperback, 140 pgs.Beth Lisick is a spoken word artist whohas opened for Lydia Lunch and Exene andtoured the US on her own, so when I started toread this book, I expected it to have thatquirky, too-artsy sense that spoken wordartists tend to have. Happily, I was surprised tofind that none of those elements exist inLisick’s stories. In fact, every time I expectedLisick to be predictable, she did somethingunpredictable. I guess that’s what amazed memost about this book. But first, some basicdetails on This Too Can Be Yours.This Too is a collection of short stories,most of which are set in northern California,specifically the Bay Area. Lisick’s characterstend to be urban, though not the slick, cynicalurban stereotype that you get used to readingabout. Instead, they’re lost or naïve, on theverge of a nervous breakdown or close to realizingthat their lives have taken a drasticallywrong turn. They’re bumbling into situationswithout enough self-awareness to knowthey’re fucking up. They’re wise enough toknow that the world’s a cruel place, but strongenough to keep trying. They’re every bit asdiverse as the people you pass on the streetevery day. Lisick has a real talent for gettinginto people’s psyches, and this makes hercharacters seem like people you know. All ofthe stories are told in the first person, so itwould seem as if all the characters would be insimilar situations, but Lisick gives her charactersa range of voices. In one story, you’ll heara performing artist tell of his failed mimeexperience, in another story, you’ll hear anaging suburbanite tell her story about takingoff to San Francisco for a weekend, ostensiblyin hopes of visiting her daughter. Lisick handlesall of these voices well, even when she’swriting in a male voice. Her stories are convincingand fun, and she manages to get to thedepth of a character’s life and emotions prettyquickly.I enjoyed all of the stories, but I definitelyhad my favorites. “Aerosol Halo” isabout a young woman who becomes the trafficgirl for a local SF television station andgets swept up in small-time fame. Lisick capturesthis young woman’s enthusiasm andselective vision very well. “Back to theFuture” is a funny story about a woman goingto her ten-year high school reunion, and eventhough it’s the last story in the book, and eventhough, at this point, I thought I knew Lisick’swriting well enough to know what was goingto happen, there was a cool twist at the end.“We Call It Blog” is about a “weblebrity”writing about a date he had with a woman whois a fan of his web journal. The character is sovain and clueless that he’s ripe for ridicule, butLisick holds off just enough to make him ashuman as he is absurd. And on and on. There’sa ton of good stories in this book. Too many tolist individually, but they’re diverse and interestingand really fucking cool. –SeanCarswell (Manic D, PO Box 410804,SF, CA 94141)
Page 2 and 3:
When Sean and I started the print v
Page 4 and 5:
,I’m Against It…tensions betwee
Page 6:
from the wads in the music ormotion
Page 9 and 10:
ered in lab tests that if the Pinto
Page 11 and 12:
the war, Schmidt was re-hired by Fo
Page 13 and 14:
Pog Mo ThonThe Discovery of America
Page 15 and 16:
A Distressing SceneThey looked for
Page 17 and 18:
MaddyShiftless When IdleMaddyFurthe
Page 19 and 20:
The Twisted BalloonShould the guy w
Page 21 and 22:
The reason God gave us hair is to g
Page 23 and 24:
know. I’ve hardly ever worn it an
Page 25 and 26:
this dinghole till it ripped, and h
Page 27 and 28: 60 freeway, right across thestreet
Page 29 and 30: Rikk: So in some ways, I guess that
Page 31 and 32: things had turned around, at the fi
Page 33 and 34: Weeds fromtheUndergroundA Closer lo
Page 35 and 36: These things make books exciting an
Page 37 and 38: (he’ll release his next novel, Ev
Page 39 and 40: plaints against each band member an
Page 41 and 42: Sean: What’s wrong with mainstrea
Page 43 and 44: multi-millionaire, and he paid me e
Page 45 and 46: some intelligent things to say, but
Page 47 and 48: WE’LL TAKEPENNYROLLS:Behind the S
Page 49 and 50: KXLU VOLUNTEER MASSA HELPING OUTmak
Page 51 and 52: KXLU DJ ANDY SALDANAtoo, by that ti
Page 53 and 54: just picked it up by the end of the
Page 55 and 56: like, “Shut up” and rolling the
Page 57 and 58: ands spanning all these genres - em
Page 59 and 60: Todd C: What sucks about that…Cas
Page 61 and 62: I thought we hit something like ano
Page 63 and 64: 440s / CHICKENHAWKS,The: Sumthin’
Page 65 and 66: lessly pummeled my brains to apulp
Page 67 and 68: air to the style, despite the poprh
Page 69 and 70: ut delivered with the urgency ofear
Page 71 and 72: collection. If this were a cereal,
Page 73 and 74: of the sense that all is not well w
Page 75 and 76: • 13th Street Entertainment, 338
Page 77: one of their friends raping a girlb
show all

issue #07 pdf - Razorcake

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?