Category Archives: magazines

by Nick

The Girls Rock Lawrence theme song, all-star deluxe edition

grl campers 01

Check out this all-star, deluxe edition of the Girls Rock Lawrence theme song, featuring the GRL board members, along with Kelley Hunt, Kristie Stremel, Kawehi, Nadia Imafidon from Sharp 9, STITCH81CLASSIC, Sarah Storm from Vigil and Thieves, Britt Adair from The Bad Ideas, Alex Williams from Ultra Vivid, Lizz Weiler from Vedettes / Cave Girls, and The Sugar Britches: Ashley “Ziggy” Zeigenbein, Brianne Grimmer, Kahlen Mitchell, Kimberly Simonetti, and Monica Greenwood.

It was coordinated by me and engineered by Matt Pelsma at the Lawrence Public Library’s Sound + Vision Studio, with funding and organizational support from Lawrence Magazine. Additional thanks can be found on the Sound + Vision Soundcloud.

You can go to the Girls Rock Lawrence site to donate. Also, check out the GRL camp showcase next Saturday, June 12, at Liberty hall in Lawrence, Kansas. You can find details about that show here.

by Nick

The weirdest comic about a reincarnated Morrissey you’ll ever read

zine-cover-there-is-a-lightThere Is A Light is a self-published comic from Geoffrey D. Wessel and John Keogh that I picked up while waiting to talk with Tom Brazelton at C2E2. These guys had the booth directly to the left of his, and I chatted with them while Tom was working on a sketch for someone. They convinced me to drop the $2 the photocopied and stapled comic cost, so I bought a copy and stuck it in my bag, and promptly forgot about it.

As I was cleaning up the basement this weekend, I rediscovered There Is A Light and gave it a read-through. It’s the weirdest comic about a reincarnated Morrissey you’ll ever read. Probably the only comic about a reincarnated Morrissey you’ll ever read, but still … weird. My copy’s the second printing, meaning it’s doing pretty well. Not sure how you’d go about getting a copy, but Wessel can be found on Twitter @gdwessel, so you could probably do that. It’s a fun little read, and keeping it on your coffee table will certainly get a conversation going.

by Nick

“Wasted Opportunities” has interviews that go the distance

zine-cover-wasted-opportunitiesThe recently released ‘zine, Wasted Opportunities, is a true fan’s work of love. There are two interviews in this issue, and they are epic. The interviews that Justin does – with the members of Elway, and the proprietor of Poison City Records, Andrew Hayden – span 10-12 pages apiece, and contain every bit of dialogue from said interviews.

Now, these could be said to be a bit rambling, and they are, but by transcribing the entire Skype conversation verbatim, these interviews read more like chats between like-minded individuals, rather than the tightly-edited back-and-forth you find in most print interviews. As ‘zines are the sort of reading material you like to keep on the coffee table, in your bag, next to the toilet, whatever, reading these interviews is almost like being there as they unfolded in real time.

Good reviews, too, and a great piece on finding the perfect burrito in Brisbane. Hopefully, Wasted Opportunities will see further issues past this first spring edition. It’s a fun read, and Justin does some nice stuff. You can read the interviews over at the Wasted Opportunities blog, or hit up Justin via e-mail for a hard copy.

by Nick

Paper + Plastick releases comic book; Silver Sprocket smirks

cover-word-and-panelsI’d be totally thrilled about a record label starting to put out a comic book if it hadn’t been done before. I mean, granted – yeah, Silver Sprocket‘s put out both Turnstile Comix and the Phenomenauts’ Adventures In the 3rd Dimension. But – even before those recent releases – bands like Gas Huffer were including comic books with their releases. Were they always good? No. As a matter of fact, they were frequently amateurish and painful.

So, one can say positively that Paper + Plastick‘s release of Words and Panels Vol. 1 is a neat thing, and it’s always pretty cool to be able to snag a webcomic in print form. Hopefully, these will be something to look back on fondly, like the Nothing Nice to Say collection, rather than the slightly cringe-worthy early years from the likes of Sinfest or Penny Arcade (you can thank Dark Horse for pretty much all of those – prescient work, folks!).

Anyhow, Words and Panels Vol. 1 is limited to 200 copies, features the first installments of 50 States, Exit Interview, and Kill the Wonderhawks, and will run you $5. It’s available from the Paper + Plastick store,

by Nick

New issues of Jerk Store and Filter

filter-and-jerk-storeSome new publications have made their way to the mailbox here at the Nutghouse, which behooves us at Rock Star Journalist to hip you to that which you ought to be reading. First up is the newest issue perennial RSJ fave, Jerk Store.

As the ‘zine goes along, it’s coming into its own and getting a little comfortable with what is has to offer. It’s to the point that even though this ish is a little light on the personal stuff, that which is there pretty much blows your hair right back. The visit to Melbourne offers up a glimpse into a town most readers aren’t going to get to experience. It makes you feel like you’re wandering the streets with Alex and Kelly, though, so it’s just as good, and without the airfare. Alex’s discussion of Embrace really demonstrates what sort of impassioned writing he’s capable of, as well.
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by Nick

MC Lars has a comic book

comic-cover-make-a-friendMusic and comic books is a combination that ought to happen more often. My interview with S. Shawn Struble about Li’l Depressed Boy dealt primarily with how he works musicians like Kepi Ghoulie and Andrew Jackson Jihad into the pages of his comic. When I spoke with MC Lars a week or so ago, I wish I’d known about his comic strip, 27th Street.

While you can view pretty much everything he’s done with the strip at its blog, having a collection in comic form certainly makes for a more interesting piece of merch than the usual shirts and stickers.
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by Nick

“Destroy All Monsters” a psychedelic mindwarp

book-cover-destroy-all-monstersDespite all pretense to the contrary (smarmy comments at gallery openings, friends who paint/photograph/draw/screenprint, having traded mix CDs for prints), I am not an art afficionado. However, as the saying goes, I know what I like. This collection of the complete run of the ’70s Detroit ‘zine, Destroy All Monsters, from Primary Information, is one of the most fascinating books to come into the Nuthouse mailbox in quite a while.
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by Nick

“Shouting Shorelines” a love letter from Long Island

zine-cover-shouting-shorelines-iiThe more ‘zines that come into the Nuthouse, the happier I am. I especially get all excited about publications like Shouting Shorelines, which offer a glimpse into a specific area – in this case, Long Island. The collective behind Shouting Shorelines has already put out one issue of the ‘zine, which has sold right the fuck out, although you can read it online.

The second issue is nearly double the length of the debut, and features art (which suffers a bit from the photocopy process), as well as show reviews, a guide to awesome places in Long Island, interviews, and a really great food section, which has a selection of what look to be some seriously nom-worthy vegan recipes, as well as a guide to urban foraging.
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by Nick

Lauren of the Measure [sa] has a new art ‘zine out

zine-cover-get-it-together-2The second issue of Get It Together, the art and illustration ‘zine done by Lauren Dinitzio, aka Lauren Measure, aka Lauren from the Worriers, is out now. You can buy it straight from her site for $4, as well as preview a couple of pieces out of it. The artist says of it:

“This issue is inspired by interviews with self-employed and otherwise independent friends in Providence, while I was Artist in Residence at AS220.”

Denitzio recently made waves for reasons other than her art when she spoke out against the veiled sexism and misogyny in the punk scene for the blog I Live Sweat…. You should go read it. It’s pretty great.

by Nick

Chris Arena’s “We Live In A Van” unexpectedly poetic

zine-cover-we-live-in-a-vanChris Arena, drummer for the New York punk band Sister Kisser, recently compiled several years’ worth of essays into a ‘zine entitled We Live In A Van. Volume one is nine different essays. While all are connected by the theme “The road is life, life is the road,” they’re not neccesarily from the same tour or even the same year.

Arena’s musings bring home the fact that, for touring bands, the show is the smallest part of the whole thing. MOst of the stories in here have mor to do with the life of a traveler, meeting new people, running into familiar faces in strange places, and the whole need to travel. As Arena puts it:

“The back alleys of my mind have been paved and are burning for some traffic. They’re waiting, all fresh and smooth, for new journeys, new experiences.”

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