Besides their cool policy of being free to prisoners, the Rayson Brothers’ Thought Bombs is a refreshing shot of outraged teenage invective that is almost annoying, but ends up impressing. I haven’t seen too many prison zines, but the Raysons do a solid job of presenting both contemporary cases of injustice in America and the outrage they feel towards American domestic policy. The Raysons also run a distribution label with several other Anarchist/Feminist/Abolitionist zines (more details on their web site.) Skeletor Rekids’ The Blood Runs Red is a little more art/fiction than politics, largely a lament on how “The World is a big mess of jumbled garbage” (an actual quote). Yes, Skeletor, we all know that but where to go from here…? Still, Skeletor’s no fool, and several of his pieces manage to contain his rage long enough to make some decent points. The cartoon about what people say and what they mean is hilarious. Skeletor’s rant against an unnamed Chicago label is less successful. Yo, Skeletor, nobody, but NOBODY sells CDs for $ 2-3 a pop and actually expects to make a living, pay bands, get it into stores. Distribution is a killer. Dischord’s CDs are all $12, do you think MacKaye’s just another con-man ripping people off and getting fat? Rebellion’s great but reality is, after all, reality. (SA)
split zine, # 13.5, $2.00 / Free to Prisoners, Anthony R. Rayson & Stanton M. Rayson, South Chicago ABC Zine Distro, P.O. Box 721, Homewood, IL, 60430, [email protected], http://members.nbci.com/thoughtbombs/