Though my zine, PUNK ZINE, came out a year ago I just received two new reviews of it. The sentiments which seem to unite the reviews include, A: My Zine is big. B: There is a "cut and paste" aesthetic. C: The name of it "is already taken." D: It is hard to read.
I say bullocks.
NERVHOUS RECORDS from Malaysia SAYS: Punk Zine –the Art/History issue (A3/English/copied)
This is my first experience having and reading an A3 size zine, it feels like reading a tabloid but the font size is humongous. So, the first page is where the editor James Payne tell us about why he do an art/history issue and why he named his zine ‘punk zine’ and why he choose to focus on his town, Columbus. He made great interviews with Phonzie Davis (zine and comic artist), Johnny Rattail (punk artist-mostly flyer art/design) –cool art!, Andy Hinton (another active flyer designer), Geoff Hing (one of the key members of Defiance, Ohio) one of my favorite folk punk band, Jason of The Neil House (a house hosting many-many punk shows) and Matt Reber (New Bomb Turks). Most part of the interviews is about the good old days, history, punk before internet existed, and Columbus scene. A review of The Evens’ show at Chop Chop gallery, some more writings and some reviews on comics and records complete the zine. This zine is rad, and punk! Dig this if you’re into folk punk, poppunk, bike punk and punk art. James Payne 115 W.10th Ave (The Monster House), Columbus, Ohio 43201 USA or aj_payton@hotmail.com or
myspace.com/totallysweet
GIVE ME BACK SAYS:
PUNK ZINE - The Art History Issue - 11 x 17 - 48pgs - Free
This is huge! It has a good and sloppy cut & paste style that works on this scale - occasionally I was like "ok, this maybe doesn't have to be this big" because it was like pixilated or something, but who cares? Overall it looks awesome. I can't believe it's free. I think it was like a college art project, like with funding or something. Anyway, I enjoyed the narrow, local focus - all the interviews and features seem to all be connected with their native Columbus, OH. There are interviews with flyer makers, historic punk house dwellers, and band members. The editor admits in one interview to it being their first time, but if that has any impact on these interviews, it's not a hinderance. I especially appreciate the scope of the interview subjects, not being limited to bands or celebrities, yet narrowed by local revelance. You might guess from the name, that there is a certain amount of arrogance to this project. There's a little of that, but I like it when young punks decide that it's time to reinvent shit. This scene gets stale fast and can always use some shaking up, you know. In the intro, they criticize the review sections of zines like ours, basically saying that in trying to review so much, we over simplify descriptions and force things into boxes. I agree with that, and I hope their zine inspires more local punk zines. I look forward to an issue two. Highly recomended. FIL.
RAZORCAKE SAYS:
PUNK ZINEthree stamps and mailer, 17” x 11”, copied, 46 pgs.By Keith Rosson
Thursday, August 21 @ 00:00:00 CDTMan. So obviously a labor of love and so totally unreadable. Turns out that having twenty-some individual 11” x 17” pages stapled on the edges—again, there’s no spine here, we’re talking a stack of pages stapled together—makes this fucker nearly impossible to open, much less read. Still, it’s got a nice cut and paste aesthetic, gloriously sullied halftones and a lot of passion. Focusing almost entirely on the
Ohio scene, this one’s subtitled the “art/history” issue, which is apt. There are interviews with various Ohio institutions of yesteryear (tenants of seminal punk houses, dudes from bands like New Bomb Turks, etc.) and kids actively doing stuff today (dude from Defiance, Ohio, punk artist John Rattai,), tons of old scene reports, newspaper articles, etc. All in all, it’s a terrific homage to a scene and locale, and again, the love is apparent. Still, I’d definitely suggest halving the page size, having a spine to staple, and actually making the goddamn thing, you know, functional. Also, call me crazy, but I think
Punk’s already been taken as far as fanzine monikers go. –Keith Rosson (James Payne, 115 W. 10
th Ave.,
Columbus,
OH
43201)
BLACKCLOUD SAYS: When I first heard Jimi was making a punk-themed zine, I was worried. It’s difficult to write about an abstract topic you’re apart of and it tends to turn out … well, cheesy.
Fortunately Punk Zine is more of a recent history, some of the last 10 years, of Columbus punk and not a this-is-why-punk-saved-my-life type of tribute. Thank god.
The history is not definitive, but appealing because the events discussed are still relevant, but beginning to yellow with age, unknown to most of the younger crowd. Does your typical youngster know the Legion of Doom stopped a war? That Defiance, Ohio once lived in Ohio?
The zine’s greatest strengths are its diversity in subjects and the balance between the history of Columbus punk and Jimi’s own personal history. The latter I enjoyed more because Jimi has been someone on my get-to-know-better list for a while now (yes, I really do have mental lists like that.)
Through question-and-answer interviews, he focuses on everything from local comic book writers and artists, to punk-house leaders and old-time rockers from a different era.
Some interviews drag on, but his humble style creates a depth that makes it worth wading through the murk to see what’s discussed later.
Reviews, which make a small portion of the zine, are the weakest link. For the most part, Jimi chooses media he likes and patronizes it. Much of the writing is academic sounding which is too bad because he has an engaging and personable voice when interviewing.
One review where he is objective is The Evens show at the Chop Chop Gallery in 2006, and he talks about Ian Mackaye signing autographs.
“I would equate (Ian Mackaye signing autographs) to walking in on your parents having sex,” Jimi writes. “As the product of their sex you know they must have previously had sex and probably still do just as you realize someone at some point has asked for Mackaye’s autograph.”
Not only does Jimi take on a punk icon (rightly so), we also learn about Jimi being a “product” of Mackaye’s music.
The style is very zine-like – cut-and-paste, flyers, photo copier art, ect. – yet still original. The layout is clear and easy to navigate. While that sounds like a backhanded compliment, it’s sincere because too many zines read like choose your own adventure books.
One judgment issue I have is the size of the zine. It’s fucking huge at 11” x 17”! While the size makes the zine stand out (more like dominate any helpless normal-sized zine that happens to also sit on top of your toilet), it’s cumbersome to read, kinda like a newspaper.
Getting your hands on a copy might be difficult. Jimi said he’s only printing 200 copies and I’m sure most, if not all, have been distributed. Not sure why he’s setting a limit. The diversity of subjects will create a demand and get his work in the hands of more people than your typical zine.
Looking forward to the next issue, but don’t skimp out on copies of this one: it’s a keeper, one of the best of the year … if you’re from Columbus.
You can order it from Microcosm. If you feel so inclined after all this. I think I am making a new one in the fall.
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