The collaborative approach taken by the authors of Pony For Now and YOU offers an engaging solution for readers bored by the typical, solitary perspective of a standard perzine. This Australian split zine is, practically speaking, two zines bundled together with string — however each zine recounts the same events from two different directions.
Melbourne resident Luke You and Nat from Canberra each drove four hours to the arbitrary midpoint of Albury- Wodonga in New South Wales to hang out and create this project: Luke’s YOU is a photocopy of a handwritten letter that fills both sides of a single A5 sheet, folded into sixteenths and sealed in a wax paper envelope about the size of a seed packet. Nat’s 16-page parallel booklet Pony For Now unfolds into a personalized map of Albury composed of postcard imagery accompanied by anecdotes on one side, and her account of a meticulously documented collection of 45s on the other side.
Each writer takes delight in the fish- out-of-water, weekend tourist excursion — Luke notes that his barely-restrained contempt for small towns is displaced by Nat’s enthusiastic stories of growing up in Albury during the ‘90s — but music is the common interest that fuels their conversations and shapes their activities in Albury. From observations of a car blaring Bon Jovi as it cruises the main drag, to their experience at a local dance club (“We are twice the age of everyone else…Lots of people are dressed like pirates”), notes about bands, clubs and concerts fill both zines. Perhaps this is what saves the project from lapsing into merely reflexive nostalgia — when YOU mentions lesser-known bands that I
remember from way back when, I can’t help but feel like I’m along for the ride. (Shane Lange)
Split Perzine, [email protected], stickyinstitute.com, free