Punk zine

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British punk fanzines from the 1970s. 1970s fanzines (21224199545).jpg
British punk fanzines from the 1970s.

A punk zine (or punkzine) is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetry, news, gossip, music reviews and articles about punk rock bands or regional punk scenes.

Contents

History

1970s: origins

Starting in the 1970s, the DIY aesthetic of the punk subculture created a thriving underground press. Amateur magazines related to punk were inspired by the rock fanzines of the early 1970s, which were inspired by zines from the science fiction fan community. Perhaps the most influential of the fanzines to cross over from science fiction fandom to rock and, later, punk rock and new wave music was Greg Shaw's Who Put the Bomp , founded in 1970.

One of the earliest punk zines was Punk , founded in New York City by John Holmstrom, Ged Dunn and Legs McNeil. Debuting in January 1976, the zine championed the early New York underground music scene and helped associate the word "punk" with these bands, most notably the Ramones. Other early punkzines from the United States included Search & Destroy (later REsearch ), Flipside and Slash.

An early United Kingdom punk zine was Sniffin' Glue , produced by Mark Perry, who also founded the band Alternative TV, in 1976. Perry produced the first photocopied issue of Sniffin' Glue in London after attending the Ramones concert on 4 July 1976 at the Roundhouse. Punk zines were produced in many European countries in subsequent years. The first Irish one was published in March 1977. [1]

In Australia in 1977, inspired by the Saints and Radio Birdman, Bruce Milne and Clinton Walker fused their respective first zines Plastered Press and Suicide Alley to launch Pulp; Milne later went on to invent the cassette zine with Fast Forward, in 1980. Another early publication was Self Abuse first published in Sydney in December 1977. [2] [3] [4]

1980s

British and American punk zines, 1994-2004. UK and US zines.jpg
British and American punk zines, 1994–2004.

The politically charged Maximum RocknRoll and the anarchist Profane Existence were notable punkzines that were founded in the 1980s. By that time, most local punk scenes had at least one punkzine. The magazine Factsheet Five chronicled thousands of underground publications and "zines" in the 1980s and 1990s.

In the 1980s, the punk self-publication scene was quickly expanding to include numerous different subcultures within the genre.[ citation needed ] For example, the birth of the Queercore movement: inspired by the desire for social change, the subculture was represented by zines that sought to accept those within the LGBT community who were also involved in punk and also had overwhelming themes of promoting individual rights. [5] The topics discussed in the issues often ignited forums and chatrooms where readers could share their opinions. This genre of zine was self-sustaining and produced in a DIY manner. Queercore is often accredited to a Toronto-based zine entitled J.D.s, an abbreviation for "juvenile delinquents",[ citation needed ] created by H. Quinn and co-published with Bruce Wayne. H.Q.s was a cut-and-paste-style zine that featured manifestos and dialogue about identifying as queer within the realms of the punk community. [6] Other zines that instigated this movement are Chainsaw (punk zine), Outpunk, and Homocore. The queercore zines influenced the Riot Grrrl zines of the late 1980s and 1990s, as well.

Riot Grrrl zines

The "Riot Grrrl" movement emerged from the punk scene in the United States when women began to produce zines with feminist themes. [7] The "riot grrrl" wave was influential for pinkzines as it called for women to publish and produce content in the male dominated culture. [8] Featuring political issues from a personal standpoint, the zines arose in popularity amongst the underground world of punk. The format of the "riot grrrl" zines was similar to that of queercore zines, in that they were cut and paste and xeroxed with many featuring collages. [9] Self-published punkzines from this era such as Bikini Kill, Girl Germs, Le Tigre, and Jigsaw were put out by members of riot grrrl bands who supported the notion of women learning to play music and feeling self-empowered. [10] Other apparent themes in this category of zine include activism, social change, sexuality, body image, and the discussion of controversial topics such as racism and abuse.

List of punk zines

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanzine</span> Magazine published by fans

A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and first popularized within science fiction fandom, and from there the term was adopted by other communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk subculture</span> Anti-establishment subculture

The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom, and the DIY ethics, the culture originated from punk rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zine</span> Collection of self-published work reproduced by photocopying

A zine is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very small group, and are popularly photocopied into physical prints for circulation. A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and popularized within science fiction fandom, entering the Oxford English Dictionary in 1949.

<i>Sniffin Glue</i>

Sniffin' Glue and Other Rock 'N' Roll Habits..., widely known as simply Sniffin' Glue, was a monthly punk zine started by Mark Perry in July 1976 and released for about a year. The name is derived from a Ramones song "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue." Some of the zine's writers, such as Danny Baker, later became well-known journalists.

Queercore is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community. Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film.

Anti-Scrunti Faction were an American queercore punk trio from Boulder, Colorado, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk ideologies</span> Group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture

Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture and punk rock. It is primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, hierarchy, white supremacy, authoritarianism, eugenics, class and classism, while supporting anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, anti-imperialism, leftism, anti-globalization, anti-gentrification, anti-racism, anti-sexism, gender equality, anti-homophobia, racial equality, animal rights, free-thought and non-conformity. One of its main tenets is a rejection of mainstream, corporate mass culture and its values. It continues to evolve its ideology as the movement spreads throughout North America from its origins in England and New York and embraces a range of anti-racist and anti-sexist belief systems. Punk does not necessarily lend itself to any particular political ideology as it is primarily anti-establishment although leftist punk is more common due to the prevalence of liberal and conservative ideologies in the status-quo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Dresch</span> American queercore punk rock band

Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington.

Chainsaw Records is an independent record label run by Donna Dresch that is devoted to Queercore bands. The label is in Portland, Oregon.

Outpunk enjoys the distinction of being the first record label entirely devoted to queer punk bands.

The Need is an American queercore band formed by the singer and drummer Rachel Carns and the guitarist Radio Sloan in Portland, Oregon, in the mid-1990s.

<i>J.D.s</i>

J.D.s was a Canadian queer punk zine which started in 1985 and ran for eight issues until 1991. The zine was co-authored by G.B Jones and Bruce LaBruce and is credited as being one of the first and most influential queer zines. The zine's content was centred around anarchic queer-punk themes and heavily discussed queer-skewed punk music from the late 1980s.

Sta-Prest was a multi-racial queercore and riot grrrl band from San Francisco that was active in the 1990s. The group members included Aloofah and D.M. Feelings.

Donna Dresch is an American punk rock musician, perhaps best known as founder, guitarist and bass guitarist of Team Dresch.

Leslie Mah is an American musician and performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk literature</span> Literature related to the punk subculture

Punk literature is literature related to the punk subculture. The attitude and ideologies of punk rock gave rise to distinctive characteristics in the writing it manifested. It has influenced the transgressional fiction literary genre, the cyberpunk genre and their derivatives.

Daniel "Deke" Frontino Elash is an American zine editor, musician, actor, activist and historian.

<i>Homocore</i> (zine) American anarcho-punk zine

Homocore was an American anarcho-punk zine created by Tom Jennings and Deke Nihilson, and published in San Francisco from 1988 to 1991. One of the first queer zines, Homocore was directed toward the hardcore punk youth of the gay underground. The publication has been noted for popularizing the queercore movement on the United States west coast.

<i>Ablaze!</i> British indie music fanzine

Ablaze! is a British indie music fanzine, produced in Manchester and Leeds. Ablaze! ran for ten issues between 1987 and 1993, and returned for an eleventh issue in 2015. Ten issues of the zine were compiled into a book, The City Is Ablaze!, published in 2012.

Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics. It is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express anger, rage, and frustration, emotions considered socially acceptable for male songwriters but less common for women.

References

  1. "Early Irish Fanzines". Loserdomzine.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
  2. Schaefer, Rene (18 September 2011). "Fast Forward: A Pre-Internet Story". Mess+Noise . Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  3. "Fanzines (1970s)". Clinton Walker. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  4. Popsike, Seldf Abuse, Australian Punk fanzine #3, April 1978 PSYCHO SURGEONS Filth X KBD, accessed 2021.01.22
  5. du Plessis, Michael; Chapman, Kathleen (February 1997). "Queercore: the Distinct Identities of Subculture". College Literature. 24 (1): 45–58. JSTOR   25099625.
  6. Krishtalka, Sholem (20 September 2013). "Art essay: We are Queercore - Toronto Punks / a 'Porntastic Fantasy' Made Flesh". Xtra!.
  7. Brooks, Katherine (28 September 2013). "First Riot Grrrl Exhibition Explores the Lasting Impact of the Punk Feminist Movement". The Huffington Post.
  8. Meltzer, Marisa (2010). Girl Power : the Nineties Revolution in Music (1st ed.). New York: Faber and Faber. ISBN   9780865479791.
  9. "A Brief History of Zines". Duke University Library. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  10. Marcus, Sara (2010). Girls to the Front : the True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN   9780061806360.