Flotation Device #14

Flotation Device #14

Keith Helt 

40 pages, 14cm x 21.5cm. Black & white, on cream paper.  

$2 (USD)

Obviously, reviewing zines means there is mainly a nowness to what I'm reading - the latest issue, or a recent capturing of thoughts or events. But there is a deep pleasure to be had from older zines. For that reason I'm always up for reviewing past issues of anything - as long there is some availability for readers to get hold of a copy.  We all read old books, listen to old records, and watch old films, without thinking - yet that doesn't happen so much with zines. Largely it's a scarcity factor, limited print runs, and creators - quite rightly - moving on to making something new. Although some publishers and distributors - Microcosm for example - is helping to plug that hole by printing, and reprinting, compendium versions of out of print zines. 

Why am I telling you this? Well, the distance of time and space is hard coded into Flotation Device. This issue was written and published in 2015, focused on events that happened in the previous decade. Those memories cluster around playing in a band from 2001 to 3003, and working in a comic shop from 1998 to 2006. 

The zine is split into two linked pieces composed of text fragments, illustrated by photos taken at the time. The first piece recounts the relationship dynamics of playing in a band, tensions around songwriting, pre-show nerves, divergent musical ambition, and the realities of practising in a comic shop after it has closed its doors for the night. 

The second section focuses on the years Keith worked in a comic store. Keith's writing is sharp enough to allow you to visualise the shop in detail - the stacks of old comics, the trashy knickknacks that are branded collectable, but you also get to understand it's rhythms, the personalities of the staff, the particularities of the customers. There is stuff in here too about zine making, running festivals, and workshops. 

It's not an easy task to draw you into a stranger's life and make you care. Flotation Device does that effortlessly. There is an unflinching honesty to the writing too - about not fitting in, how anxiety can form itself around even insignificant interactions. 

Flotation Device #14 was my first encounter of this really solid zine, written by a really solid writer. Completely recommended. 

Buy a copy via Etsy: etsy.com/listing/584494430/flotation-device-14-a-zine

See more on the Flotation Device blog: flotationdevice.wordpress.com

Review by Nathan Penlington

Rum Lad #10

Rum Lad #10

by Steve Larder

A5, black and white on grey paper, 16 pages

£2 (plus postage)

Rum Lad is a unique combination of diary style comic and astonishingly detailed illustration. When sending me the latest issue (it's one of the best things you'll read this year - read my review here), Steve also sent over issue 10 for review. 

When Steve isn't drawing he makes noise in a band called Moloch - Rum Lad #10 is essentially a diary of the Moloch / Savage Realm 2016 tour. Moloch make music that is around the Sludge/Doom area of the spectrum. If that doesn't mean anything to you, they describe themselves like this:

Moloch's primary objective is to ruin everyone's night with a bass tone that has so much treble and distortion that it reduces humans to paste and a turbo brute behind the pots and pans who just won't give in until every snare is destroyed.    

The zine follows the the ins and outs of touring, lugging gear, soundchecks, crashing on floors, discovering new bands, new people, and new places to eat. Also included is a breakdown of some of the finest Slayer moments. 

Rum Lad #10 is a peek backstage at the reality that underpins the moments a band is on stage, all the unseen and unexpected acts of kindness that allows that raw brute wall of noise to happen. 

You can listen to Moloch on their bandcamp page - moloch.bandcamp.com - but it doesn't have to be your kind of thing to take something away from Steve's zine. 

Buy a copy via Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/501213378/rum-lad-10-comic-zine - and while you're pick up issue 12 too! 

And visit Steve's site for more of his incredible illustrations: SteveLarder.co.uk

 

Review by Nathan Penlington

Headwinds - Issue #1

A4, 24 pages (23 black and white pages, colour front cover).

 £1.50 (+£1 p&p)

“Headwinds… refers to things blowing in the opposite direction to the one you’re moving in,” explains Mike G in the introduction to his fanzine of the same name. This theme of pushing through mainstream culture persists throughout the first issue, which contains comics, band interviews and reviews.

The layout of Headwinds is immaculate; it looks less like a zine and more like something you’d find in your local newsagents nestled between NME and Mojo. The time invested in its quality makes it a pleasant read – there’s no text disappearing into the centre crease or dodgy photocopying going on here.

Whilst aesthetic appeal is important, it means nothing without compelling content. Luckily, Headwinds is as interesting as it is pretty. Given that the zine only costs £1.50 (£2.50 online), I was surprised by just how much content there was – a couple of lengthy interviews, comics, articles, and tons of underground gig reviews – and how decidedly different the items were from those typically seen in mass-produced magazines.   

I particularly enjoyed the interview with Emma, lead singer of The Natterers, which covered topics such as world environmental issues, the perks and dangers of living in a digital age and the declining bat population in the UK. It was weird, and I liked it.

Stranger still was Mike G’s retrospective account of the Treeworgery Tree Festival, which he attended in the summer of 1989. Waiting 28 years after the fact to write about an obscure festival in Cornwall doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t. But it was so well-written that I found myself filled with nostalgia for a place I’d never been, and for a time in which I hadn’t existed. I found myself feeling increasingly wistful for hitch-hiking, serendipitous friendships and weekend tickets for £20.

Headwinds feels like a relic from the past, but it doesn't come across as dated. Perhaps it’s Mike G’s unabashed enthusiasm for the stuff he’s writing about that gives the zine a fresh, current feel, or maybe it’s down to its overall polished appearance. Who knows? The one thing that’s clear is that it’s very tricky to write about underground culture in an accessible way, and Headwinds is an excellent example of how to do it correctly.

To keep up with Headwinds’ latest updates, you can follow @tblastzine on Twitter. You can get a copy of your own through PayPal by emailing tblastzine@gmail.com.

Review by JL Corbett.