Our collective can barely process all the correspondence coming our way. The least of which comes with scrappy limited edition zines. We endeavor to highlight them here when we can. Thankfully we have found a bright and wise ally who, when not tending to the garden warmly sits and reads deeply and widely freaky shit on paper. Maybe you will find a new life of reading zines, reviewing or even making them to thicken the plot we’re in.
By Jose
Ear of Corn #66
24 pages – $2 foodfortunata@hotmail.com
It’s really endearing that even after 18 years, Ear of Corn still uses pasteup for the design, even as it’s moved to glossy paper. You can see on every page that Ear of Corn is still assembled old school and copied like we all used to do at Kinkos with glue sticks. The glue had a mild starchy taste, slightly sweet with a bitter finish; not unlike bad cheese pizza.
I have this conspiracy theory about this zine. I usually write reviews in batches, and I’ll often have multiple issues of Ear of Corn on my desk at a time. But I’ve never had any sequentially numbered issues. I’ve begun to suspect issues are not numbered non-sequentially or perhaps they are sequential, but aren’t printed in that order. Their practice of reviewing old and new releases side by side makes it impossible to know for sure; but they’re definitely up to something other than eating the glue.
Out From The Void #8
$5 – 70 pages outfromthevoid@yahoo.com
This issue goes places Out From The Void hasn’t gone before. The new topics are mostly adjacent to the core topic: the missing. So it’s the CAHOOTS program, police records requests, suicide, and police killings. But on page 51 begins a 6 page essay about Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It’s sober, historical and philosophical without trumpeting statistics.
In the middle of Issue #8 is a photo essay reprinted from the zine Here’s What I’ve Hidden Under My Tongue. Writer DJT was visiting an abandoned and mostly collapsed mental institution. In the introduction Brenton Gicker comments that he didn’t write any of the stories in this issue. I appreciate that Gicker puts his mission ahead of his ego to spread awareness of these topics but I do miss his voice as a writer. But until next time, we get more tales of the missing, the lost and the found.
NXOEED #4
nxoeed.carrd.co $5 – 28 pages
The story of James B. Hunt and Fluke goes back to issue #16 of the infamous Fluke fanzine in 2018. Kudos if you kept that issue, it’s now a fine collectible. Even Maximum RockNRoll said so. They saw the future, perhaps even more clearly than I did. Gina Murrell always had a sixth sense for such things. But if you wake up feeling a bit goth, have a soft spot for monsters, or just like dead stuff, NXOEED might be for you.
If you don’t recognize his art that tells me you don’t skate bruh. His art appears on show flyers, album covers, websites, rad stickers and other greasy places. But among all that ephemera this issue is special. Usually Mr. Hunt lets the ink speak for him, but this time we actually get a few precious pages of text; our first sense of the man himself. He’s a geezer, like me, trying to do punk rock things, but to also go to bed on time. I feel that in my soul.
Big Hammer #24
$20 – 192 pages inequitypress@hotmail.com
It’s hard to say that many poets are famous today. But as poets go, some of those published in Big Hammer are highfalutin people now like David Cope, Donald Lev, Chris Stroffolino, Ken Greenley, and Enid Dame (RIP). Others, like Michael Pingarron, are still writing for Big Hammer. They’ve found their layer of strata, and one would hope some sense of belonging.
The first issue of Big Hammer rolled off the press in 1988. That was 38 years ago, kids. Statistically most of you reading this weren’t even born yet. That zine was way underground, like the Lincoln Tunnel; like the FDR Train Car in the pitch blackness of Track 61 marooned below Grand Central since 1945. But Dave Roskos is still out there in the tunnels, in the darkness, still editing and publishing Big Hammer. He’s doing it his own way, and accountable to no one. Doesn’t it sound grand?
Homocore Anthology
68 pages – $15
flukemags.com/product/homocore
Zine content from the eighties makes more sense in the context of its contemporary punk 7-inches” like “Too scared to be queer,” “Be a Fag,” and “Forbidden Love.” So I queued up the Homocore Hit parade cassette, and pondered its place in history. Homocore ran for just 7 issues between 1988 and 1991. If you didn’t catch my drift, it tapped into two communities which still remain the core of the underground today: queers and punks.
Art and history like this often end up in library archives, and museum collections — down in the basement. The art gets intellectualized and institutionalized; separated from the artist, and their community. I’m generally a fan of official zine anthologies; but that’s because it makes art available to the public. The only better option is for zines to be unofficially anthologized: i.e. bootlegged. But the good stuff is always hard to find.
People remember the letters section, because it was hilarious but don’t forget they had some legendary writers: John Zerzan, GB Jones, and Larry Livermore. Deke Motif Nihilson even did an interview with William Burroughs. Notwithstanding my intro, don’t assume everything inside was for queers or punks. To quote Issue #2, “You don’t have to be homo to read or have stuff published in Homocore. One thing everyone has in common is that we’re social mutants… sexuality is an important part of it, but only part of it.”
My Teeth Need Attention – Issue 6
$7 – 36 pages myteethneedattention.com
It has been interesting in my lifetime seeing zines switch to primarily color printing. Zines used to be such a lo-res affair. In this case the gray cover conceals a glossy color interior. These pages clearly came off an inkjet printer, but in every other way it descends from the original zine aesthetic.
This is the first issue of MTNA in a year, but Joe Tunis kept busy. He operates Carbon Records, makes podcasts, books shows, played shows, and still runs a distro. This zine seems to be another way to keep his hands busy. The zine opens with a 5 page feature on an Australian record label, Another Sunday. It rolls into book reviews, zine reviews, a scene report, interviews, and a free form essay that defies all description. That essay was long, trippy and self-indulgent. It could have just stopped at “Man, you’re tripping balls.” But it was also my favorite part.
Fan Scene – Issue #1
$7 – 24 pages zaftigpress.com
Are you a near-sighted, aging punk rocker who reminisces about the old days when you spent all your money on records and pizza? Yeah, me too. But in that case this zine may be for you. It’s full of reviews from old concerts from 30 years ago; accompanied by pictures taken by Dan Varenka. If Dan was a fan of Huey Lewis and the News this would not be so notable. But Dan saw every band you’d want to see in New York in the 1980s.
He saw Ministry in 1986 and the Butthole Surfers in 1988 with Gwar. He saw Rapeman in 1988 in Hoboken, at Maxwells. [I miss that place]. On different nights in December he saw the Jesus Lizard and L7 at CBGBs. He saw the Rollins band in 1990 and Unsane in 1991. The list goes on and with every page you might begin to measure your own life against Dan’s. You will inevitably feel envious. For me it was the two pages on Cop Shoot Cop. I am jealous of you forever Dan Varenka. We cannot be friends.
The Misery of Love & Other Essays From Social Disease
$14 – 34 pages mar-stratford.com
This zine collects essays from 5 issues of Social Disease published between 1972 and 1974; translated from French. The original publication was run by members of FHAR (front homosexuel d’action revolutionaire), an autonomous collective of Paris-based activists who led direct actions against homophobia. The zine’s translator, Mar Stratford, is an American writer residing in Philadelphia. She discovered Misere du l’amour via a collective-run leftist bookstore in Ales, France named L’impossible.
The era was a critical time for LGBTQ rights. Homosexuality was only removed from the DSM in 1973. Between 1918 and 1973, per the DSM and its predecessors, medically speaking, homosexuality was considered a mental illness.
I have translated French for publication before. For me it was a struggle. Stratford translates French elegantly. The cultural weight and complexity shine through the text. Her two page introduction was so high brow it blew my hair back: situationists, reification, Marx… She’s brilliant. It’s not clear who foot noted this edition, but it helps.
The Little Book of Pennsylvania Folk Songs, Vol I
$15 – 24 pages jodijonesmusic.com/store
The mythology of the Appalachian mountains focuses on the mid-Atlantic. The images evoke the mountains of North Carolina, and West Virginia. But the Appalachians start in Alabama and extend up through New England. That includes the section of the keystone state north of the Mason Dixon line called Pennsyltucky. Let me tell you, there are parts of central PA where you can hear dueling banjos just as loudly as in the darkest hollers of Kentucky. If you hear someone call your name in them woods, no you didn’t.
Jodi Jones digs into the history and ethnomusicology of the region. She explores coal mines, labor unions, steel mills, strikes, poverty, and her own family history to tell the story of that folk music tradition. She includes musical notation which is highly unusual. Boffo! I already bought Vol 2 and 3. This zine is fabulous.
Public Transport – Issue 6
publictransportmagazine.com Free – 8 pages
It’s free if you can find it. Public Transport is hyper local to the New York City Subway system. Their website does not tell you where to get one. It asks readers where they found it, like some reverse scavenger hunt. Readers post the answers, train by train, stop by stop. It has that kind of magic.
I used to ride the Subway every day and I remember it fondly; despite the rats and the ubiquitous smell of urine. There were benches back then, and they sold beer on the platform. People smoked between the cars, but that’s also where they went to puke. I got pick pocketed once and fought back. A drunk guy cheered me on from his seat, but didn’t help. “That’s how they do it in Jersey, pal!”
The zine is written by a rotating collective of comedy writers, and subway riders. The content is indescribably random: doodles of flattened rodents, profane pigeons, punchlines, subway etiquette, train announcements, and one liners. This is the most New York thing I’ve ever read.
I Was Bound To A Machine
$25 – 40 pages instagram.com/wavethebanner
The zine opens with an explanation “In this age of social isolation & computer generated art there is nothing more important than something HAND DRAWN. Nothing more important than seeing the world with your own eyes.” I couldn’t agree more.
The zine contains a series of 6 short stories and each is supposedly true. But each is also a parable. Every train ride is an adventure. Trust is earned, and lost. Most people are worth knowing but some strangers are more than strange. People will let you down, but some may also lift you up.
Honestly, this is my favorite genre of zine. In our dreams we all want to feel this kind of freedom: sleep on the ground, drink cheap black coffee, cook on a campfire, and ride that train across the plains and disembark wherever it stops. But if you ride that train please tell me about your travels. I’m a sucker for this stuff.
Copyright Kills Culture – #3
retro.social/@LeoKirke 30 pages – $Free-ish
When I provide legal advice to others, I often quote the Brown Buffalo. “…As your attorney, I advise you to rent a very fast car with no top….” Leo gives advice with a more professional and prudent disclaimer. “Nothing in this zine should be construed as legal advice…” We do live in the same timeline where ASCAP sued the Girl Scouts. We must protect ourselves.
Leo goes on to explain copyleft, copywrong and the different types of anti-copyright licensing you can use to ensure your intellectual property remains in the public domain. He interviews writers, musicians and artists to bring these high-minded legal concepts back into the terrestrial world so we common folk can all understand them.
Rogues Gallery by Joel Schechter
joelschechter.wordpress.com 97 pages – $10
This isn’t quite a zine; it’s the size of a novella and I still read the whole mofo because Schechter writes top tier satire. We have to call these essays “satire” for legal reasons. Schechter writes satire in the same sense that Hunter S. Thompson wrote politics. We’re taking liberties with the sharpest knives of social criticism. Every essay stabs skyward at the degenerate American ruling class: felonious statesmen, military brass, plutocrats, war criminals, cannibals and billionaire welfare queens. It’s satire for a new world order.
We live in an era when The Onion struggles to parody these public displays of madness, where truthiness reigns supreme. In Schechter’s world, the Feds arrested Santa Claus, ICE agents are bludgeoned unconscious with sandwiches, the president wears golden diapers, and now Punxsutawney Phil is afraid to come out. I prefer to think that in the future there are serious moments to come: high-minded community initiatives, coherent economic plans, and rational political discourse. But not here, not now and not for some time to come. Rogues indeed.
AGAIN!
andrewconti.net/shop 22 pages – $10
The subtitle of this zine is “several thoughts on metastatic cancer.” It’s 22 full color pages about Andrew Conti’s experiences on his second fight with cancer. Each page is hand written and hand painted, pouring out his health struggles and personal experiences into the ink.
Metastasis is when cancer spreads from one part of your body to another. For Andrew’s day to day that means, scans, nausea, IV drugs, vomiting, drugs, diarrhea, hair loss, neuropathy weakness… We all know someone who’s been there. On the back cover in blocky script are two words: FUCK CANCER. Ame, and good luck Andrew.
Public Bathrooms of Twin Cities Cemeteries Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
muffinsurection@protonmail.com 28 pages – Free on Archive.org
I thought on first glance that this was a gothic zine about gravestones, then I thought it was about scenic public bathrooms. It turns out to be both of those things and more. This is a zine about horrible people, the horrible things they did, and logistically how, where and why to piss on their graves. There’s even a map. This is amazing. This is a heart-breaking work of staggering genius. We are in the presence of a giant.
I’ve heard this specific insult issued many times, and only rarely seen it fulfilled. They all have it coming. Colonizers, war criminals, gentrifiers, capitalists, mass murderers, war mongers… they all get named, receipts are shown, then at the end of each entry, it reads “PISS ON HIS GRAVE.” I’m ready for Vol. 3.
Go Cat Go #3 / Little Blue Rooster #1 1304 175th Pl. NE, Bellevue, WA 98008
16 pages – Free
Fishspit’s other zine Wiseblood has been around for decades. He’s been cranking out zines since 1984. I’ve reviewed some of his fine publications over the years. Here he pairs a Rockabilly Zine with a Blues Zine, back to back, in one dual issue. He’s an odd duck but he has great taste in music and I would trade mix tapes with Fishspit any time.
This issue is about the blue collar cousins to the genre of rock n’ roll. He reveals the stories of raucous players who binge drink and pop benzedrine. Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis play minor roles in features about Hound Dog Taylor and Ronnie Self. Some animals just can’t be tamed, they live and breathe with a feral intensity that doesn’t belong in the suburbs. Some of us are better off sleeping outside with the other beasts and that’s something Fishpit knows about.
The York Misprint, Vol 1, No. 9
Free online – 8 pages msprint.media
Some of you over 40 may recall we used to have local publications in every city, often more than one. This was a genre of highly localized non-fiction called “newspapers.” They focused on events relevant to a geographic area. These “newspapers” were not bound but were printed on cheap paper just folded and sorted into sections. Most of them came in daily or weekly editions and were delivered to your door by child slave labor. My recollection is hazy on the fine details, but I assure you the phenomenon was very real.
This adorable little zine is printed double-sided on legal paper and folded in half. The stories inside cover the closure of a public park, a proposed tax bill, a review of a literary magazine and an article on sustainability. The rest of the zine is local events: a bird walk, a coffee klatch, plant sales, gardening tips… We used to have this in every city in America. You kids don’t know what you lost.
The Great Unraveling
instagram.com/sparkandpen N/A – 10 pages
This zine is about a dream Rachael Price had about the end of everything. The front cover is a nice rough brown paper which feels nice on the fingers. The art is almost liquid, flowing from page to page, like water and ink. The pages sequentially describe a poetic apocalypse: mountains, serpents, bones, and darkness. The text feels ancient like Beowulf. It strikes an apocalyptic tone that also reflects our present political malaise. Maybe I’m projecting but the end feels imminent doesn’t it?