Send all zines for review to:
Razorcake,
PO Box 42129, LA, CA 90042
Please include a postal address (that’s how we trade), the number of pages, the price, and whether or not you accept trades.
TRUST #190
Trust is one of the longest-running zines in the world. –Art Ettinger
ADRIFT, 5½” x 8½”, copied, full color cover, 16 pgs.
Earth is uninhabitable or else destroyed completely; it’s not totally clear in Adrift. A survivor, perhaps the only one, floats through space in a capsule and this collection of poetry is of her isolation. She refl ects on her time on earth and her current state of loneliness and exile. Patti Jean Pangborn has the nuance and quiet dignity to bring you into the mind of this sequestered, reluctant astronaut. With a lesser writer this would come across as trite or forced, but Pangborn pulls it off to create an introspective and inward study of the human condition. –Craven Rock (spacecowboybooks.com)
ASYMMETRICAL ANTI-MEDIA, Issue 1, $1, stamps or trade, 5½” x 8½”, 6 pgs.
A short, photocopied zine review zine that focuses more on the esoteric and the fringe. Most of the zines that are reviewed seem to refl ect the sentiment of its author, old school zinemaker Jason Rodgers, who has no love lost for the internet and the information age. It’s a great resource if you want to order some zines. –Craven Rock (Jason Rodgers, PO Box 10894, Albany, NY 12201)
BIG TAKEOVER, THE, #82, $5.99, 8½” x 11”, printed, 144 pgs.
You must know the Big Takeover, right? Since 1980, editor Jack Rabid has lived up to his name, obsessively interviewing and reviewing bands from the punk and indie scenes. This time around, bands like Yo La Tengo, No Age, and X (wuddup, Berlyant!) are interviewed. Tons of reviews, too. Each new issue reminds me of the days when Big Takeover was one of a dozen zines I’d pick up on a trip to Newbury Comics. Now, that number has dwindled drastically because there aren’t as many stores, or zines—but the Big Takeover survives. At six bucks for 144 pages, it’s a steal, whether you’re a longtimer or fi rst timer. Worth seeking out. –Michael T. Fournier (shop.bigtakeover.com)
CIAO CIAO PAGES #1, free, 4¼” x 5½”, copied, 16 pgs.
The Giallo subgenre, the love child of horror and mystery, is only really known by hardcore horror fans. Ciao Ciao focuses on this genre as an extension of their podcast. Its fi rst issue deals with one famous actress in the genre, Edwige Fenech, who became an Italian sex symbol. This zine is, in essence, a fanzine/review zine, but it’s a great primer to those who want to learn more about one of the genre’s best and sexiest actors. It gives you the seven best fi lms to start with, to get yourself into the Fenech bandwagon. The tone of the zine is very much in the eyes of a huge fanboy whose infatuation with Edwige Fenech is really endearing, happy, and wide-eyed. It’s gotten me interested in some of these gory sex romps, and I’m taking this list with me to fi nd these fi lms. The scale in which the movies are rated is pretty great, too, taking into account how good the fi lm is and how fashionable Edwige Fenech is. –Iggy Nicklbottum (Creep, giallociaociao.com)
DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD #3, $3, 5” x 5½”, LaserJet, 24 pgs.
The Menendez Brothers are the subject of this extremely well-made and thick zine. Inside is what looks like a website made in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, with information about the case in great, but brief, detail. The design is amazing, and at times funny. One section plasters “Power Bottom” on the face of Jose Menendez, and there’s a section that creates a poster of the Menendez Brothers calling them “Scum Fuck Flower Boys.” I love some humor in the face of gory death. If you’re a lazy ass true crime fan, this may be a series you’d love to read. It has great detailed information (with sources!) in just twenty-four pages. –Iggy Nicklbottum (Castroburger, deadinhollywood.com)
DEEP FRIED ZINE MPLS #14, $1, 5½” x 8½”, copied, 20 pgs.
“The Mall Issue” indeed—Deep Fried #14 boasts blurbs and features on such pillars of mall culture as boycottable fast food chains, mall cops, mall punk hairstyles, and Kevin Smith’s Mallrats. There are cheeky reviews of various Minnesota malls and an activity page with a maze that leads to Hot Topic. Seamlessly interwoven with the general mall content are brief mall-centric interviews with the bands Dreamdecay, Mommy Long Legs, Wimps, and Sass. In keeping with Deep Fried’s greasy fast food theme, Sass is asked to rank the staples of the food court (Orange Julius comes out on top). Perfectly irreverent reading material for when you’ve got nothing to do but ride the escalators up and down all afternoon. –Indiana Laub (No address listed)
FIXER ERASER #5, $3, 5 ½” x 8½”, copied, 22 pgs.
J onas’s latest issue of Fixer Eraser comes just a few months after his last. It’s got the same general layout—black pages (oh the toner!) with blocks of white fi lled with black typewriter print. What it lacks in design it makes up for in fi ctional tales of messages in a bottle, echo chambers, friendship speed dating, and ghosts in hospitals. Jonas’s writing is exploratory of a great range of emotions, primarily on loss and refl ection. While the tales are fi ctional, there’s a large amount of personal experience included (I know this from having interviewed Jonas about mental health). Some of these pieces could easily be developed into longer stories and with that is my only complaint: I wish the zine had been a bit longer. As it stands, they’re brief glimpses of things that need more detail and description, but they’re a good start and certainly worth reading. –Kurt Morris (Jonas, PO Box 633, Chicago, IL 60690)
FLUKE #4, $6, 5½” x 8½”, off set, 52 pgs.
Fluke is one of those zines that I wish was a hundred pages or more each issue. It really is one of the best out there. This issue is the “Lust for Life” issue, which as stated on the last page, is “about getting older yet still following one’s passion.” This issue has excellent interviews with Ian MacKaye, Gary Floyd, Mike Watt, and photographer Adam Smith, who has gone as far as living in his car to follow his passion through and get the photos. There’s also a story from Linda Kite about her time with D. Boon, Steve Hart of New Wave Chicken zine has a story about Tex the Magical Rooster, and more. Buy this for yourself and see. –Matt Average (PO Box 1547, Phoenix, AZ 85001)
LAST NIGHT AT THE CASINO #13, $3, 4½” x 5½”, copied, 39 pgs.
I don’t know why it’s taken me until issue thirteen to read Last Night at the Casino for the fi rst time. I’m kind of bummed I haven’t because this is great. As Billy (who also does the long-running zine, Proof I Exist) points out, the reason people like this zine is because it serves as a doorway between the capitalist world of gambling (where Billy has worked for years) and the anti-capitalist world of punk rock. A big change has occurred with this issue, though. Billy quit his job working as a dealer at a casino in New Mexico and moved to Baltimore. However, he can’t stay away from the gambling bug and decides to start dealing at private parties (think fundraisers or holiday parties where no one uses real money but instead does it for fun and/or prizes). This issue is all about his experiences with those parties. And it is fascinating! The events are so varied he fi nds himself at a charity event attended by professional football players and then at an elegant booster club fundraiser for black college fraternities. The writing follows a step-by-step account of the various gigs Billy has, and thus isn’t very imaginative or exploratory, but it provides great insight into a world of which I know very little. If you have even the faintest interest in casino culture and a sense of curiosity, this zine is for you! –Kurt Morris (Billy, PO Box 22551, Baltimore, MD 21203, iknowbilly@gmail.com)
MAXIMUM ROCK’N’ROLL #422, $4.99, 8½” x 11”, newsprint, 112 pgs. One of my favorite parts of Maximum Rock’n’roll is the columns. While the ones in this issue varied in terms of quality, I did want to make a special mention of the “Sex Work Is Real Work” column by Natly Loveless. Sex work is such an important thing to discuss and any attempts to humanize it are worthwhile. So, it’s very cool that MRR gives it a place in their pages. As for the interviews, once again it’s a thorough collection of bands I’ve never heard of, including Muro, Haircut, Gen Pop, and more. It seemed that in more than prior issues, the band interviews were rather dull. Even if you’re not into the bands Razorcake covers, it can be interesting reading the interviews because they have a conversational tone. A number of the interviews in the latest issue of Maximum Rock’n’roll are simple Q&A. I’m guessing they were done via email. They remind me of the kind I used to do when I had a fanzine in the ’90s. Such interviews can be interesting, but they don’t allow much of an interest to build in the band unless you already know who the act is. All of this means that this issue is rather lackluster compared to others I’ve read recently. –Kurt Morris (MRR, PO Box 460760 SF, CA 94146–0760)
MINIMUM ROCK + ROLL #11, $1, 5½” x 4¼”, copied, 6 pgs. Compact zine containing compact interviews of indie bands! This issue features interviews with New Jersey band Secretary Legs and new label State Champion Records. Also features record reviews of Eureka, California (the band), Temporary Eyesore, Heavy Pockets, Talk, Tired Thanatoid, Tim Woulfe, and Moon Racer. Please note that the handwriting in this mini-zine is very wee, so break out your glasses! –Tricia Ramos (Minimum Rock + Roll, no address listed)
OUT FROM THE VOID, 6½” x 8”, copied, 14 pgs.
This is a long piece on missing persons and the author’s obsession with them. To be honest, the fi rst few pages rubbed me the wrong way. It felt like the author had an unhealthy obsession with missing people in the same way people geek out over serial killers or devour true crime pulp. I get it, I thought, this is how you’re dealing with your mortality. I’m okay with someone having such morbid obsessions, but to put together a zine with real missing people’s photos and one another. This was primarily because Aaron went missing for periods due to drug and alcohol use. I don’t want to give away the entire content, but the writing is compelling and deep. It goes back and forth between Aaron’s story with drugs and Billy’s life without them. Aaron’s life is tragic and Billy doesn’t shy away from that, but neither does he hit you over the head with it. This is, ultimately, not a hopeful tale, but as Billy reminds us in the zine, “this isn’t a movie, and the fi nal scenes of resolution aren’t coming through all clean and smooth….” If you’ve ever had a family member struggle with addiction, or want to understand the pain of what that is like, this is essential. For more info, email iknowbilly@ gmail.com. –Kurt Morris (Billy, PO Box 22551, Baltimore, MD 21203)
Perfectly irreverent reading material for when you’ve got nothing to do but ride the escalators up and
QUEERFUCK: THE BIG ONE, free, 5½” x 8½”, copied, 26 pgs. Stressing over a comprehensive, queer-inclusive sexual health resource? Look no further! Longtime sex educator Eli Scriver provides an awesome guide to everything you could possibly want to know (and maybe a little more) in the fi rst volume of Queerfuck. It’s handwritten and drawn with a few handy printed graphics, which is super cute. Don’t worry, though, all the words and diagrams are easy to read, which is often a problem with zines done by hand. The overall visual is cute and welcoming, unlike many a sexual health resource. It’s perfect for educators and educatees alike, especially those whose school and parentprovided sex ed. was lacking (and whose among us wasn’t?). The Big One even includes a section for “Things They Don’t Tell Us” and “LIES,” aimed at correcting misconceptions folks may have picked up along the way, in addition to the basic information that composes most of the zine. There may be more issues coming, so watch out! –Jimmy Cooper (eli.scriver@gmail.com)
down all afternoon.
discussing how and when they disappeared seemed a little exploitive. Closer inspection reveals this is a reprinted column of the same name that runs in Eugene Weekly. The author writes it because he “think(s) missing people matter. That getting to the bottom of things matters” and he “wants cases to get solved.” Whether it comes from a place of compassion or is a subconscious way of dealing with mortality, fear, or inner darkness (probably a bit of each) he does something positive with this obsession. It’s a lot more than I can say for myself. If real life stuff like this gets under my skin, I just put on some movie about kids getting hacked up at a summer camp to ease the anxiety. –Craven Rock (outfromthevoid@yahoo.com)
POSSUMS DON’T GET RABIES, $?, 4¼” x 5½”, copied, 84 pgs.
Technically a novella but produced and printed as a zine, Possums Don’t Get Rabies follows a pair of unlikely companions—a demon named Iodine, and their familiar/love/lover, an opossum named Chernobyl. Desolate and heartwrenching but beautiful, Possums Don’t Get Rabies works as an allegorical tale of coming-of-age and love, in sickness and in health. Would you die for the people you love most? What would you do to keep them alive? Simple in formatting and copy, this story sticks with you. Ripe with quirky metaphor, fascinated with birth, death, and all the human (or, in this case, demon and possum) parts in-between, this is worth the read for anyone who loves an eccentric, gritty, and meaningful journey through the city and life. Also, the author, Arthur Sprague at Blue Snake Zines, is super sweet and will probably send you homemade lick and stick stickers or other fun stuff with your order. –Jimmy Cooper (bluesnakezines.tumblr.com)
PROOF I EXIST #28, $2, 4½” x 5½”, copied, 35 pgs.
I’ve read Proof I Exist on and off for well over ten years. I’ve always enjoyed Billy’s writing, but this issue is by far the best he’s ever done. On a superfi cial level, the paper stock and typewriter he used are beautiful. The paper is off-white and the type is kind of black but also kind of blue. Whatever it is, it makes the words easy to read. The content, on the other hand, is more diffi cult to swallow. But that’s not because of how Billy writes (to the contrary!) but because of what he’s covering. This issue delves into Billy’s relationship with Aaron, his brother. Aaron and Billy grew up in what seems to be a good household. But as the brothers grew older, Billy steered clear of substances while Aaron got involved heavily. It got to the point where the two brothers were fairly well estranged from –Indiana Laub | DEEP FRIED ZINE MPLS #14
READY FOR WAR, $13 ppd., 5½” x 8½”, fanzine booklet, 100 pgs. The term “battle jacket” isn’t one I was immediately familiar with. It’s what the photographer of Ready for War calls a denim jacket or vest covered in patches, studs, pins, et cetera. In over one hundred photographs from 2013 to 2018 inside this glossy booklet, we see the backs of various punks and metalheads and their battle jackets. Seeing all the personalized jackets from pristine patches in a row, to faded and cracked paint pen-scrawled band names, they’re all so unique of each individual. I’ve always liked seeing people’s design choices (or lack thereof?) for the back of their vests and jackets, and these full color photos do not disappoint. The zine also includes two postcards with eight different battle jacket pictures on them. –Tricia Ramos (Ready for War, adelsouto@adelsouto.com)
SHOES FANZINE #8: INTERVIEWS OLD & NEW $3, free to prisoners, 5½” x 8½”, copied, 71 pgs.
Vancouver punk, Nate—whom you might know from great bands like Siren Songs, Poor Form, and Unfun—dropped this zine full of interviews and you’re really going to want to get it. Each interview is with people who are friends with Nate, so the tone is relaxed and casual. This also gives him the advantage of knowing what’s interesting about his subjects and drawing that out. With Karmin, he has her talk about sailing the Pacifi c Ocean, a quixotic seven month, 8,600 mile trip she took with her father. They barely escaped with their lives during a lightning storm. For the thrills, this harrowing tale was by far my favorite interview. Nate’s childhood buddy, Will, talks about organizing AntiRacist Action in Sarnia, Ontario in the nineties. He talks to Matt Hern, author of What Is a City for: Remaking the Politics of Displacement and other titles about gentrifi cation and rises above the same tired conversation that’s usually had about it. Shellshag talk about their history in the San Francisco punk scene, 50 Million, Hickey and more. And with Cometbus, he recycles questions he asked him from an interview in 1999, then he prints his current answer and the one from way back then. –Craven Rock (Nate/Shoes Fanzine, PO Box 88023, Chinatown, Vancouver, BC V6A 4A4, shoesfanzine@hotmail.com)
SLINGSHOT #127, free, 11” x 17”, newsprint, 16 pgs.
Does it get more classic than Slingshot? The radical newspaper behind punk’s most ubiquitous daily planner celebrated its thirtieth birthday this year, and it’s clearly still going strong. As usual, this one is packed with insightful pieces on a broad range of issues. This time, major articles cover topics including
105
the defense of forests in Northern California, the dangers facing sex workers in an increasingly hostile political climate, and ongoing activism against police violence around the States. I was also impressed by the thorough and thoughtful discussion in the “Dear Joan” advice column about how punk scenes deal with sexual assault. Everything in here is remarkably accessible in style and content, even the pieces on topics I know little to nothing about. That accessibility is exactly how Slingshot, after all these years, can be both a regular read for longtime activists and a manageable point of entry for newly minted young (or old) anarcho punx. As the jubilant editors’ note explains, the strength of the Slingshot Collective lies in the diversity of its members’ and writers’ radical imaginations—as shifting and confl icting as some of their ideas may seem, each is a strong-willed “attack on reality” in its own way. –Indiana Laub (Slingshot, PO Box 3051, Berkeley, CA 94703, slingshotcollective@protonmail.com)
$PARE ¢HANGE #36, $3ppd. or trade, 5½” x 8½”, copied, 40 pgs.
Long-running zine $pare ¢hange starts off with a declaration that this issue will be the fi rst of a series of collections of fl yers from their own house shows. Located in Chattanooga, Tenn., lies a punk house called “Anarchtica.” The author gives us punk tips and info on what exactly is a “punk house” and how to throw successful shows in one. Throughout are small stories about the house shows and tons of fl yers. Pretty straightforward; probably a good zine to grab if you’re one of the locals who attends a lot of shows there. –Tricia Ramos ($pare ¢hange, PO Box 6023, Chattanooga, TN 37401)
TRUST #190, €3, off set, 8” x 11¼”, 68 pgs.
The German language publication Trust is one of the longest-running zines in the world. I don’t speak German, so I can’t read it, but it sure is pretty. Formatted similarly to MRR and Razorcake, it’s packed with columns, articles, and reviews. This issue’s highlights include coverage of Phantom Winter, Refuse Records, Martin Büsser, Joseph Boys, Hank Wood, and Hairy Lights. Nice! –Art Ettinger (Trust, Postfach 11 07 62, 28087 Bremen, Germany)
XEROGRAPHY DEBT #43, $4, 5½” x 8½”, printed, 74 pgs.
I still get a kick out of sitting down with a pile of zines and reading through reviews, circling records and zines to seek out via mailorder. As such, Xerography Debt is right in my wheelhouse: columnists review zines on their radar screens. It’s been a few years since the last issue I read, but the format remains the same: per the mission statement inside, the columnists/reviewers are all about hyping stuff they like rather than bashing stuff they don’t. It’s nice to have such a collection of positivity handy for mailorder scouring. –Michael T. Fournier (order through Microcosm: microcosmpublishing.com)
YELLOW WALLS: THE MONKEY BIZNESS CONFESSIONS
$5/no trades, 5½” x 8½”, copied, 60 pgs.
Slingshot, after all these years, can be both a regular read for longtime activists and a manageable point of entry for newly minted
young (or old) anarcho punx. –Indiana Laub | SLINGSHOT #127
Author Chris Kill provides a comic chronicle of his time working at an indoor kid’s playground. He and his co-workers are young and raw, and behave accordingly throughout. I know this is supposed to be a funny rendering of the good ol’ days at the job, smoking weed and having parties at the place after hours,
SPIDDER #19, $?, 5½” x 8½”, copied, 16 pgs.
This one’s all over the place—some comics, some tour photos, some cool illustrations, a short interview, some meditations on Southern blues highway ghosts… wait, what? The few pages of prose in this zine seem somewhat intentionally obscure and meandering, but I think what they culminate in is a brief, hyperliterary take on a tour journal. Based on the details provided, I’m fi nding it easier to picture what the smoky hills and cemeteries looked like from the road than to determine exactly what exactly happened when, and to whom. The bands are in Japan at some point? A Japanese band is playing in New Orleans? Maybe it’s not for me to know. –Indiana Laub (No address listed)
STILL SANDLER #1, $?, 5½” x 8½”, LaserJet, 20 pgs.
I was handed this zine at Pomona Zine Fest by Ever Velasquez, and was told it was a zine about Adam Sandler. Obviously, I laughed a bit and thought, “Damn. This is gonna be something.” Before I started reading this, I thought again about what a great concept this could be as a study of Adam Sandler’s insane movies. This is an interesting zine. It focuses on three movies of Adam Sandler’s career. Each movie includes two essays on the fi lm and a really strange narrative on the fi lm. These narratives are really weird, have run-on sentences, and confuse me. It’s interesting but needs some work on the writing. I’m just glad they’re not blind Sandler fans, because that would be an awful zine. Also, if I read “Mr. Sandler” one more damn time, like he deserves this title, I’m going to explode into a bunch of disgusting Little Nickys. –Iggy Nicklbottum (Arlen Beck, Jeremy Leasure, and Renjit Rajan)
subTERRAIN #79, $7, 8” x 8”, printed, 96 pgs.
I love when this Canadian litmag hits my mailbox. subTerrain consistently features excellent writing, usually themed. This time around the editors and writers conduct an issue-long lament titled “Goodbye, Vancouver.” The general story is likely familiar: development and real estate prices are forcing longtime denizens out. The depth of this loss is relayed not just through stories on real estate (though there are these), but also through discussions of squats, old theaters, and through photo essays and poetry. The Vancouver situation is sadly all too common, but the level of nuance with which it’s discussed here is sadly uncommon. Always a recommended read, this issue especially hits hard. –Michael T. Fournier (PO Box 3008, Main Post Offi ce, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3X5, Canada)
so I tried to read accordingly. Mostly, though, it made me sad by reminding me of times when I was similarly young, stupid, and obliviously entitled. –Michael
T. Fournier (11051 Grassyglen Dr., Houston, TX 77064)
YOKAI WHY, $2, 4¼” x 11”, copied, 20 pgs.
I dig the humor of this zine right away. It’s always the little things that make me laugh, and the fi rst joke with the little kid was hilarious. Unfortunately, I can’t really say much about it without ruining the joke. But that little kid’s reaction to fucking disaster is great! The story follows a demon hunter’s reluctant path into turning something she hates into a profi table job. She reeks of regret in every panel, but continues because we all hate our jobs but need money. This is just an intro to the series, but I’m interested enough to see what happens next. Well, I was suffi ciently interested until I saw that the next issue would include an otaku, and that is not a character I would ever want to see continually. Then, there was promise of a ghost puppy, so I was pulled back in. –Iggy Nicklbottum (Tina Horton, Dan Candal, and Conor Rank, yokaiwhy.tumblr.com)
YOU SHOULD HEAR THIS!, $3, 5½” x 8½”, copied, 24 pgs. A fun, light mini-comic about music Ricky loves. In You Should Hear This! he deconstructs artists he likes like AFI, Jeff Rosenstock (Bomb The Music Industry), and Weezer. You don’t have to be a fan of these bands to enjoy these comics, but you should be a fellow music freak. He also gives us “6 Skullcrushing Songs about Pro-wrestling,” lauds the breakdancing game, Floor Kids, and there’s more. I’m not going to give it all away. My only complaint is it was too short. –Craven Rock (rickyvigil.bigcartel.com, rickyvigil@gmail.com)
ZINE CUISINE #4, $4, 5½” x 8½”, copied, 32 pgs.
Hey, here’s another offering by Zine Cuisine on the topic of winter in L.A. with the coolest artists in the area. I swear that was not supposed to be a pun or anything. It’s got some great stories like the one by Ari that’s a boundless comic on the troubles of gifts. It’s not a new topic but the art style, humor, and fi xation with My Super Ex-Girlfriend makes it memorable. There’s also this Whodunit? a la The Thing that has diarrhea jokes. I’m a sucker for diarrhea jokes. It’s poop jokes for someone with fi ne taste. Some artworks are a little confusing, narratively, but this is a great anthology nonetheless with lots of great stories. –Iggy Nicklbottum (Dan Kosmo, crookedghostproductions@gmail.com)