The Almost Maine Street News is a bloody mess by design. A throwback to the bricks-andmortar zines of yore, this piece of work is a charming relic from a bygone era when life was simple and zines were seriously fucking weird. Scribbles, weird collages and creepy child-like drawings fill the News, giving off the stink of a First Grade project run amuck. Even the photocopied needlepoint cover is so grainy and cutesy–you can practically live and breathe the threadbare. What’s the motivation? There doesn’t appear to be one. All told, there’s a strangely provincial feel to a lot of this art, but short of their mailing address, it’s really hard to put a finger on what part of the world this type of stuff would originate from. For example, there’s a story about something or someone called Little Dog that is either about a pintsized pooch or a restaurant of some sort. For realz, The Almost Maine Street News is one sick puppy. (Cameron Gordon)
Zine, Spindleworks, Summer 2006, 16 pages, $3 (includes postage), 7 Lincoln St, Brunswick, ME, U.S.A., 04011, www.spindleworks.org