MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
On this week’s MRR Radio – recent Bandcamp fundraisers, a bootleg Judas Priest shirt, and examining one of these “1980s punk fanzines” we’ve heard so much about. Wear a mask.
Intro/It’s Not 1984 MYDOLLS – Soldiers of a Pure War I Wanna Know If Punk Sucks KREMLIN KORPS – Abyss BRISTLES – Ban the Punk Shops MAHO NEITSYT – Tehdaskaupungin […]
This lovingly assembled release is as much a record reissue as it is a work of brilliant punk scholarship. The LP comes with a joint issue of two of the best music fanzines of the last decade (Negative Insight and Defiant Pose), featuring copious documentation and writing on the lost and unreleased anarcho punk releases […]
NATIONS ON FIRE was an important part of the European SXE scene—the Belgian part of which emerged around the Vort’n Vis squat—and was more radical politically than maybe what you think of when you think of “Edge People” now, who seem mostly engaged with clothing choices and high kicks, an aesthetic 1988 reenactment activity. This […]
This is an absolute treasure! By 1988, Polish zine/label QQRYQ had created strong bonds with like-minded punks around the Eastern Bloc and compiled a tape with bands from GDR, Hungary and Poland. Stories of dedicated punks in this repressive state and time are always humbling and inspiring, and there are a few great ones in […]
I was afraid I would fail trying to tell the history of GESS, but the insert helps me out. They formed in ’83 when they were 15 years old and this record—which is their demo tape—came out a year later. Not until ’86 did members from CONFUSE and SIEG HEIL join. If you are into […]
X2000 awakes heavy BETONG HYSTERIA vibes on their first 7″, blending spooky and headstrong chorus-drenched riffs with determined minimalist punk beats. It’s either how the record or the band sounds, but the repressed energy and craziness under a sealed surface reminds me of RUDIMENTARY PENI. X2000 guitars are not minimalist repetition but wired through the […]
The third and final installment of the last decade’s best releases.
Second installment of our favorites from 2010–2019.
We asked MRR shitworkers, contributors, friends, and extended family to write about their picks for the second decade of the twenty-first century. Every decade has made its mark on the entity we know as “DIY punk,” expanding on what was good and what worked while attempting to change course on its past missteps. But as […]
Imagine if Beavis and Butt-Head had eventually, um, Grown Up Fucked Up, somehow learned to read via overtly sexist garage rock zines, and got into the GERMS and the JABBERS more than GWAR, and you’re enough of the way there. Gross declarations of sexual frustration and an accompanying music video for the song “Cocksucker” on […]
Here it is—the final installment of MRR’s Top Ten (or so) Records (mainly) of 2019!
It’s the end, the end of the decade. But before we get to those top ten lists, it’s time for another round of year-end top tens! As always, we asked MRR shitworkers and friends from across the globe to write about their favorite records from 2019. This was, of course, the year that the print […]
Anthemic, leather-clad punk from Southern California, half beach / half gutter varietals represented. The songs are uniformly catchy with a vague hard stance, recalling shite like BELTONES or other pop-tinged semi-toughies. “Offended By Everything” seems pretty indicative of 2019’s lyrical laziness: complaining about other people complaining. Surely there’s something more interesting to tie your creepers […]
Urin is a fairly new group based in Berlin with members of numerous ex-bands and current projects, who arrived to the city from Poland, Sweden and the United States. This source-rich density is true to their music too, as it draws from everything far and beyond radikal music, with the aim to play short, angry […]
This is a fun poppy garage record. It’s got that modern fuzziness backed with bouncing drums, and some manic keyboard sounds occasionally appear. Heather Hussy has a clear, strong, powerful voice that makes you think she could easily replace one of the current Top 40 female singers if she was so inclined. I’d assume that […]
In 2006, Scott Soriano (SS Records) interviewed Tom Lax (Siltbreeze Records) for Terminal Boredom. When Soriano declared The Fugs «the first great American punk band», Lax agreed they were «great on so many levels; they were provocateurs, city radicals, literate, thinking, rapier-sharp people.» «Aha!» commented Soriano; «words like that will get you crucified by today’s ‘punk rockers’!»
Welcome to the fuckin’ future! No more ink-stained fingers, no more magazines lost in the mail, no more having to wait a month to see your column in print because somebody forgot to run it…you know, the future isn’t that bad if you really think about it. Of course, life isn’t all cyber-rainbows and byte-rflies […]
The first thing I heard about AUTOCLAVE as a teen in the early ’90s was that they were an “emo” band, whatever that means! I mean I guess all music can be considered emotional? This is not paper-bag fall-on-the-floor flail, however! Featuring the otherworldly voice of Christina Billotte (SLANT 6, QUIX*O*TIC, CASUAL DOTS, etc.) and […]
Holy crap! This book tears at the eyes and dares you to take hold of it. No corners cut on the production end of this project and this is evident the moment you take it in your hands. The details and attention put into this project needs mention, the authors/ designers went all out and […]
I first encountered the Maximum Rocknroll magazine in my teenage years, where copy after copy of new issues and back issues were stacked in the now long gone Repoman Records. I visited regularly after school, scrolling through the records and carefully picking something worth the modest paycheck from my job at the local supermarket. I […]
Like many people I was shocked to read that MRR was ceasing publication. As a columnist I am not involved in any of the decision-making nor was I even aware that such measures where necessary or being contemplated. I am sad to see this happen and I feel like some effort probably could have been […]
This is my last ever column for MRR in a print manifestation; the first column that I wrote for was in the July 2015 issue, which means that I’ve been doing this for almost exactly four years now. I had absolutely zero aspirations to be a columnist, and it’s honestly not something that ever crossed […]
LET’S NOT SAY GOODBYE… LET’S JUST SAY SO LONG FOR NOW… Imagine you’re riding up a roller coaster. Slowly you ascend to the top. The intensity level builds, then over the pinnacle you go, plummeting downward, feeling as though the car is going to go off the track or completely out of control…” Those were […]
Farewell Maximum Rocknroll, We Hardly Knew Ye Hearing the sad news about the changes MRR would soon be going though, I had a very difficult time finding motivation to compile a column for this month. It may seem strange to some to have been affected so heavily by such news, but few things have made […]
From the introduction to the first Teaching Resistance column in 2015: “Though the institutions of education are historically problematic and often oppressive, students who have experienced them as ‘outsiders’ understand the importance of learning from teachers who have struggled with the same systems as outsiders themselves, and who have developed radical notions of what education […]
Where were you when you heard the news that Maximum Rocknroll was going to be ceasing publication after the next few issues? I saw the announcement in my inbox while I was walking around a grocery store in Houston, Texas, of all places—back for a really short visit to the city that I grew up […]
OUT NOW at a supermarket checkout stand near you: the scandal-packed second-to-last issue of Maximum Rocknroll! All the latest tawdry punk gossip from your favorite columnists, the usual packed review section with the latest records, books, demos, zines, and punk movies, PLUS: Cruising through the brittle reality of life in a broken colony with TERRY; […]
We still can’t believe that it has been twenty whole years since our founder Tim Yohannan left us for good. We miss him dearly. His work, both in Maximum Rocknroll and elsewhere, has permanently altered the world of punk, and has affected millions of people worldwide. Instead of writing an essay about his work or creating another […]
Maximum Rocknroll is and will always be a volunteer-run operation. No one receives any salary, now or ever. It is an economically self-sustaining project, with all proceeds either invested in technological improvements for the magazine or donated to similarly minded not-for-profit projects. We have contributors (whose words and art appear in the mag), shitworkers (who […]
It’s time for Maximum Rocknroll #411, the August 2017 issue — our first-ever Pinoy Punk Special! This issue is absolutely packed with bands, activists, history, scene reports, and everything in between covering punk in the Philippines and beyond. Check out interviews with the organizers of Aklasan Fest — a Bay Area-based punk festival featuring all Pinoy bands, Manila infoshop Etniko Bandido, DIY […]
Below you will find content listings for every issue of MRR ever. There are links to download some issues (just search this page for the word “download”) with more to come in the future. If you are here doing academic research, you may also want to contact Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Popular Music, […]
The very first time readers got their hands ink-stained with the pages of Maximum Rocknroll, it was through the zine insert for the now-classic Cali punk/HC compilation Not So Quiet on the Western Front. Right from the beginning, MRR wanted to have its hands in everything DIY punk: zines, records, radio, show spaces, politics, and […]
Maximum Rocknroll is a widely distributed monthly fanzine dedicated to supporting the underground punk rock scene. MRR’s long history and large, obsessed, all-volunteer staff makes its punk rock coverage the most consistently up-to-date and reliable around. MRR maintains the values of the punk underground by remaining independent, DIY and not-for-profit. “Maximum Rock & Roll” started […]
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Maximum Rocknroll #406, the March 2017 issue, is here! Philadelphia hardcore band S-21 tell us the history behind their name, BETON give us their take on a Brazil tour, ZERODENT get us dancing in Perth, PELUQUERÍA CANINA play melodic punk in Madrid, SECOND COMBAT keep straightedge hardcore alive in Malaysia, PALBERTA gets weird in New […]
Here it is: the September 2016 issue, Maximum Rocknroll #400. It’s hard to believe we’ve been at it for this long, so this time we’re turning back to reflect on the people that make it happen every month: our shitworkers. Every band featured in this issue features at least one volunteer or contributor to the […]
SPECIAL ISSUE ALERT: Maximum Rocknroll #396 is here, the May 2016 issue, the zines special edition! We’ve got over a dozen features on zines from all over planet Earth, each of them revealing a living print culture that is truly killer, absolutely vital and undeniably punk. Emmy Ramone talks about their zines Cretins of Distortion […]
HEX – “Poison In The System: The Demos” CD If you liked your punk, the UK in the early to mid ’80s was a good place to be. Not only were all kinds of genres flourishing within said rubric, but there was a significant community of like-minded souls, putting on gigs, writing (and distributing) fanzines, […]
This originally ran in MRR #291/Aug ’07. The 25th Anniversary Issue which you can order here All photos courtesy of Martin Sprouse. OK, Martin, why don’t you start off by talking a little about yourself—tell me who you are and how you first got into punk. My very first exposure to punk was in 1977. […]
A Wailing Of A Town: An Oral History of Early San Pedro Punk and More Craig Ibarra 344 pgs • $20 End Fwy Press endfwypress.bigcartel.com Yet another punk related oral history. Can the collective punk bookshelves take another addition to the seeming endless array of “I was there” sprawl? Has punk overtaken the hippie nostalgia […]
You may have heard the name Stuart Schrader before, as he did Game of the Arseholes zine. This was a highly respected zine in the “rawer” punk scene which you may have inferred from the title which references ANTI-CIMEX. He has done countless interviews, some of which have appeared in MRR such as MISSBRUKARNA and […]
Travis Fristoe was a friend to punks everywhere, whether you hung out with him in Gainesville, or were friends with him through his thoughtful, kind, perceptive, funny, poetic writing via his long running and incredible fanzine, America?, or his music, or were his pen pal. I met him when I was a teenager in college in […]
Incoming: Maximum Rocknroll #389, the October 2015 issue! On the cover we’ve got SICK THOUGHTS, teen punk and the man behind the most prolific one-man-band du jour. Robert Collins of CONQUEST FOR DEATH takes us on the band’s recent tour of Mongolia, South Korea, China, and Japan (lots of his patented fukks included!) and […]
I met Beau Patrick Coulon in passing in many places over the years. He gets around the USA punk scene and documents it well by camera. I feel like I run into him everywhere. Since I keep seeing his photos published (even in MRR!) I thought I would interview him as to break a bit […]
This originally ran in MRR #296/Jan ’08, which you can grab here. Even in this modern age, it took about a year after their first LP was released for word about Eddy Current Suppression Ring to really hit the shores of the North America and Europe. They’re a band Aussies clamor about, throwing around heavy […]
this ran originally in MRR #339 by Andy “Shesk” Thompson I’m listening to the Beating the Meat LP from 1984 to get me self in the mood, but it really pisses me off every time I hear it… It was a great compilation, a culmination of the stuff I’d done to date, all the excitement […]
This ran in MRR #307/Dec ’08. OUT OF PRINT A few months back Luk Haas visited Maximum Rocknroll for the first time in his long history of writing for the magazine. We were lucky enough to sit him down for an interview. Interview by Cissie Scurlock, Layla Gibbon and Justin Briggs. MRR: How did you […]
This originally ran in MRR #326/July ’10, which you can grab here Deep South Punk Legends from Ozone City: U-Ron from Really Red! By David Ensminger While flying home from Portland last weekend, where I lectured about the need for a greater understanding of Mexican-American gravesite traditions (no, they are not landscapes of trinkets, […]
This originally ran in MRR #323/Apr ’10, which you can grab here It’s Not Just Entertainment: The Legacy of Really Red Although well admired during the 1980s, Really Red seemed to slip into the dustbins of punk history while Texas acts like the Dicks, MDC, Big Boys, and others maintained steady appeal. The Houston […]
“New Blood” is our weekly feature spotlighting new bands from around the world! See below for info on how to submit. Now, check out some killer new shit… Band name: MOOR MOTHER GODDESS Date & location formed: Philadelphia, December 2013/2014. Reason for forming: Wanted to start a solo project different from my band The Mighty Paradocs. What […]
This originally ran in MRR #329 theOct/Fall ’10 issue, which is out of print For those of you who have been long-time readers of Maximum Rocknroll, you may remember the cover of issue #204 which featured the seminal English punk band Cock SParrer. Well it’s been ten years since that issue and interview by the […]
This originally ran in MRR #301/June ’08, which you can grab here Interview By Tim Scott MRR: Where/when was Straightjacket Nation born? Listening to your music it becomes quite obvious that your mother was smoking a lot of meth during her pregnancy. Emily: The band started in early 2004 as a project between me and […]
This interview originally ran in MRR #324/May 2010, now sold out There’s no sense in hiding the fact that Kleenex/LiLiPut (K/L) are my favorite girl punk band. There’s hardly even a reason to qualify them with “girl” and “punk”, as they made more amazing, wild songs than most bands ever will. In just a few […]
This originally ran in MRR #317, October 2009, that issue is sold out but you can download it here The Younger Lovers is Brontez Purnell’s solo project. Me, Brontez and Ramdasha sat together in Central Park to do this interview while the Younger Lovers played shows in NYC this past May. That was me & […]
This originally ran in MRR #317, October 2009, the Queer issue. That issue is sold out but you can download it here “G.B. Jones has an uneasy fascination with authority and uses her gender and sexual preference to exploit fantasies of rock & roll, sex, groupies, booze, drugs, money, leather, torn jeans, motorcycles and stardom […]
This originally ran in MRR #307, December 2008, this issue is sold out In the few years the Homostupids have been around, they’ve grabbed the harrowing task of deconstructing rock ’n’ roll by the balls, diving head first into a tiff with our venerated verse/chorus/verse conservatism, asserting themselves as perhaps the best purveyors of an […]
This originally ran in MRR 329, Oct 2010, which is now sold out. The UV Race is a punk band from Melbourne, Australia. This September they are going to the United States of America to play some shows, including Goner Fest in Memphis, Tennessee with a shitload of other bands like fellow Melbournians Super Wild […]
This originally ran in MRR #324, May 2010 which is out of print. Necro Hippies bring angsty middle school notebook scrawlings to life, blasting the dust off your snotty hardcore records into the eyes of the Internet Age. Stinging proof that not only did punk never die, it was born again yesterday, fully formed as […]
This originally ran in MRR #304/Sept 2008 which you can pick up here The interview started with me walking into his studio and realizing I had left my question sheet in my bag in the kitchen. I was intimidated already and felt super under prepared so I just started rambling about the magazine. Maybe if […]
This originally ran in MRR #301, June 2008 which you can pick up here Interview by Paco La Vida en Mus MRR: Red Dons is the continuation of The Observers. Doug wrote most songs for The Observers and now does in Red Dons. Can you explain how The Observers came to an end and how […]
“New Blood” is our weekly feature spotlighting new bands from around the world! See below for info on how to submit. Now, check out some killer new shit… Band name: VOIDED SOCIAL CONTRACT Date & location formed: August 2014, San Francisco Bay Area. Reason for forming: We grew up together in Redwood City playing in various punk/grind/noise […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Juarma López from Deifontes, Spain. What are your main publishing projects? I have published many fanzines and comics, as ¡Viva Rumanía!, Lo Pitbull, Libertad para lo mío, Amor y Policía, […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Julien Dupont from Lyon, France. What are your main publishing projects? I’ve been doing visuals for the past ten years for underground shows and bands. I recently did the […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Tara Bursey from Ontario, Canada. What are the main things you’ve published, including comics, record covers, band shirts, anthologies, etc.? I did the art for all the School Jerks’ […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Rudy Leowe. What are the main things you’ve published, including comics, record covers, band shirts, anthologies, etc.? I just finished a commissioned project about the queer black writer […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Mar Estrama from Barcelona. What are the main things you’ve published, including comics, record covers, band shirts, anthologies, etc.? I’ve mostly published covers for my bands (Crosta’s LP, Las […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Łukasz Kowalczuk from Rumia, Poland. What are the main things you’ve published, including comics, record covers, band shirts, anthologies, etc.? Since June 2011 I have been self-publishing my comics […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from JM Bertoyas from Lyon, France. What are your main publishing projects? Anthologies: L’Horreur est Humaine, Hopital Brut, Rock Strip n°2; Ducon (published by l’Association), and so many things…. Pfff, […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Lisa Czech — the artist who created the back cover artwork for the Comics & Art Issue (also available as a limited edition poster with this issue). Who […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Emma Kohlmann from Northampton, Mass. What are your main publishing projects? I’ve self-published over 25 different zines. Album art and T-shirts for Hoax (first 7” insert and poster […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Heather Benjamin from Providence, Rhode Island. What are your main publishing projects? I’ve mostly put out my own zines, but have also made some shirts and prints […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Annie Mok from Philadelphia, PA. What are your main publishing projects? I publish Swim Thru Fire drawn by Sophia Foster-Dimino on Hazlitt, and I make things for […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Anna Vo. What are your main publishing projects? My two zines that have been going for about three years, Fix My Head (punk, politix, QPOC, interview/theme-based), The […]
I met artist/illustrator/cartoonist Avi Spivak when Andy Animal took me hostage one night after the premier of the Lemmy doc…I think I crashed his birthday party in Brooklyn? He was very hospitable and we’ve stayed in touch since. Since then, Avi has continuously caught my eye from his work twice appearing on the cover of […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Luiz Berger from São Paulo, Brazil. What are your main publishing projects? I contributed with comics and illustrations to the following zines: GibiGibi #1 and #2 (Brazil) […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Laura PallMall from Los Angeles. What are your main publishing projects? I’ve done a lot of punk merch type stuff—record covers and shirt designs and all that, […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Luca Retraite from Strasbourg, France. What are your main publishing projects? I have a comic called Poupy out. It’s a split comic with Pierre Ferrero’s Isaac Neutron. It’s […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Jyrki Nissinen from Helsinki, Finland. What are your main publishing projects? From 2001-2003 my first zines were Vainajan Velat (Liabilities of the Dead) issues 1-3, and Vierailuni […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Mathieu, aka Freak City, from Bordeaux, France. What are your main publishing projects? I started drawing for bands around 2007, when friends asked me to design their […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Dustin McChesney, aka Dusty Cadena, from Minneapolis. What are your main publishing projects? I have made countless zines, small runs usually. I make them to hand out […]
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Chico Felix from the great city of Curitiba, in Brazil’s south. What are your main publishing projects? My main comix are: GFNTV which stands for Gente Feia […]
MRR #383 is so jam-packed with comics and art that there was no room for all of the artists’ biographical information. So here we present, complete with links, the artists of the MRR special Comics and Art Issue! You can also read Q&As with many of these artists by clicking here. Abraham Díaz is a […]
I know Justin Briggs through MRR. He is one of the characters in San Francisco punk that is still going strong. He has released top-notch local bands here and is an all-around good man with the cutest dogs in the world. Here is Justin on his label and distro Warthog Speak… Do you love hardcore? […]
Maximum Rocknroll #382, the March 2015 issue, features our annual Year-End Top Tens! MRR reviewers, columnists, and coordinators get to have their say about their favorite records, tapes, and zines of 2014. As always, we asked some of our friends to contribute lists too—see what Ralph from Not Normal Records and Tapes, Paco from […]
I met Larry Livermore through Mike Berdan in Brooklyn right before I moved to the MRR HQ to be the distribution coordinator. It was one of those, “Oh, you have to meet Larry”-type meetings. He had some funny stories about what it was like living in the old MRR HQ with Tim Yo and was […]
I know Yeap from him fronting PISSCHRIST and KROMOSOM as well as his killer label Hardcore Victim. Here is Melbourne, Australia’s Yeap for Create to Destroy… What is Hardcore Victim? A DIY HC punk label, to put out local bands and friends’ bands from the overseas. Where are you located? Do you think being in […]
I knew of Saira Huff because of DETESTATION but I met first interacted with Saira when I booked her old band FAGGOT at ABC No Rio. Since then she moved from Minneapolis to NYC. While in NYC I watched her continue to be in solid fucking bands, like QUESTION, but I also got to see […]
Blindead Productions in Sweden has been a serious supporter of punk, and continues to distro the best releases throughout Europe. You may know Krogh from SEX DWARF tours, Distortion Faith zine, his label, or maybe you had a beer with him at the last Varning from Montreal fest. Here is Krogh of Blindead Productions… What […]
Here is the Spanish-language version of part three of our three-part history “Notes on the Peruvian Underground.” This originally appeared in English in MRR #359. You can read part one in English in MRR #353 (parte uno en español aquí) and part two in English in MRR #356 (parte tres en español aquí). Autor: shane g.g. Traducción: Julio “el chibolo” Durán con aportes de P.J. Lucas …Y luego viene un culo de otras huevadas Hay […]
Here is the Spanish-language version of part two of our three-part history “Notes on the Peruvian Underground.” This originally appeared in English in MRR #356. You can read part one in English in MRR #353 (parte uno en español aquí) and part three in English in MRR #359 (parte tres en español aquí próximamente). Autor: Shane “Gang” Greene* Traducción: Julio “el chibolo” Durán con aportes de P.J. Lucas No se trata solo de la música, […]
MRR started as a radio show but is mostly known as a written publication. I’m unsure if many of its contributors who write often or periodically consider themselves writers, but I consider Sam Lefebvre a writer. In addition to MRR, Sam has been published everywhere from our local papers to major magazines. I wanted to know more […]
Greg Harvester is a punk I met at the MRR HQ when I first moved to SF. I had no idea he did a tape blog or what he describes as “a barely functioning record label” until I saw an ad he’s put in Mothers News, a rag out of Providence, RI. So, I thought after […]
DOES PUNK SUCK??? Well, does it? We now travel back in time to 1984 to hear what Doc Dart, Tim Yo, Pushead, Allison Raine, and Frank Discussion have to say about punk’s future… Also included in this discussion from Maximum Rocknroll issue #13 — now available to download in its entirety here — are Glen E Friedman, Rev Nørb and many other punks from […]
MRR: When did you start Floridas Dying? Rich Evans: It will be 10 years this coming January, and I’ve been doing Total Punk for about 3 1/2 years now. What internet mediums do you use to do “business”? The usual. My website, Discogs, the holy trinity of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I also advertise on […]
Bill Cashman is an all around great guy (like, give you his last dollar and make you smile kind of guy) who also painstakingly creates very dense and elaborate zines filled with collage and intensity. This time the project was obsessively focused on the history of the squat-gone-homestead-co-op where he lives, C-Squat in Manhattan’s Lower […]
This interview is not to shame anyone who consumes animal products (it’s your life, your choice), but as punks, we have a higher level of consciousness as a collective movement (or I’d like to think so!) so this Create to Destroy is more to raise awareness about conscious consuming and some of the very big […]
This week, a lazy Sunday messy bedroom broadcast with Francesca. Heavy demo vibez & bad energy, for real. Intro: THE PARTICLES – Remington Rand Sleeping on top of letters and zines SIZE – Tonight ANIMALS & MEN – Don’t Misbehave in the New Age DOG FACED HERMANS – Calley HEAVENS TO BETSY – Firefly BLACK […]
Teo Hernández lives in Spain currently and is in CIEMO, OTAN and FIRMEZA 10 and does Eskupe al Alkalde zine and Alta Intensidaz Tapes. Teo and I share many friends internationally and our paths have always cross from my randomly being assigned to review a zine he submitted to MRR or just exchanging lovely DIY punk […]
We have a particularly awesome Monday Photo Blog for you this week.Pat Blashill, who some of you may remember seeing his work in the classic zines, and on records from over the years, has sent over some killer photos of killer bands from killer times. Maybe you were around, maybe you were not. Either way, stare at these […]
I first met Sarja Hasan (aka Sarja Ann) in Richmond, VA, a few years back, before she moved to Brooklyn. She was one of the crazy punks I got to know over the years — always up front taking pictures at gigs in her hometown and in NYC. MRR has run some of her photos on our […]
This is being posted just in time for the New York’s Alright Fest. In anticipation of the fest and to let everyone know some happenings there over this next weekend, I thought I’d interview my old friend and fellow New Yorker Billy Bombs for Create to Destroy. I met Billy on St. Mark’s back when it was […]
Happy May Day! Spring has one foot through the door, and thank goodness for that! We’re super excited about the newest MRR, as it’s packed with punk goodness. In this month’s issue — Maximum Rocknroll #372, May 2014 — two MRR shitworkers hang out with fellow zinesters from Razorcake at the LA Zine Fest […]
Alex Ratcharge first got on my radar due to his columns in MRR that reeked of too many cigarettes and a version of reality I could get behehind. He’s done a slew of art for MRR, his comics are on the money with their punk commentary, and a bunch of rad zines including a split […]
UPDATE: Please read the comments section below. PORK and I have interviewed a few of the same punks of interest, including Weird Luke and WHO KILLED SPIKEY JACKET? Since great minds think alike, and rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic and lifestyle are my thing, I thought I’d interview the person behind this dirty rocker rag for […]
Max and I crossed paths somehow around 2010. I always liked the mix tapes he mailed me on the reg, and we’ve done a few mail trades (yes, punks still do that). His zines, label, and devotion to punk have an idealist quality that is refreshing and inspiring. His attitude about releasing punk and supporting […]
(Lea esta entrevista en español después de la versión en Inglés de abajo.) xCarlos El Pasox, MRR web shitworker extraordinaire from London via New Zealand via Colombia, gives us this interview with his friend Marco from Colombia who runs La Valija de Fuego, a really cool publishing company/book shop in Bogotá. xCarlosx caught up with him […]
Phil Chokeword and I crossed paths when he reached out to me after a column I wrote in a recent MRR. He struck me as an interesting punk who has put a lot of time and thought into his podcast endeavor. I am grateful for the wide array of readers that MRR attracts, and how […]
Tony is a poorly behaved man who sends inappropriate mail to the MRR HQ. His zine was a labor of love encapsulating the pure sounds of deafness until the movement collapsed, leaving us tired with a shadow of incessant ringing in our ears. More Noize is no longer printed for mass consumption, but a mere […]
This month I accidentally caught a screening of a new documentary about ’70s English punks called Basically, Johnny Moped. Johnny Moped might not be quite the “lost band of punk” that the promotional material suggests, but their brief brush with fame and suburban glory story is the perfectly bittersweet subject matter for this great punk […]
What to say about a man who for the past 20 years runs one of the most active labels in Europe and who has had a more than 90 releases, including Seein Red, FxPxOx, Vitamin X, I Shot Cyrus, Betercore, Catharsis, and Coke Bust; and non-stop organizing shows, tours, etc. Not a lot of philosophy […]
Aback Distro is run by Pet’a in the Czech Republic. Here is some solid Eastern European DIY spirit for all you punkers out there—read on! Interview by Amelia Anok for the Create to Destroy series. How did you start doing a label? I started to distribute records and that led to form a label. At […]
Nevin of IFB Records first got on my radar through John Fahy? I can’t remember how we met! But we’ve been friends for years and he’s always been a stable punk in my community. I buy records from his at least once or twice a year as he buys and sells collections and has a […]
Another illustrious issue of Maximum Rocknroll hits the streets! In MRR #363, the August 2013 issue, we have tons of great interviews including SUDOR from Toledo, Spain, discussing their recent US tour and punk in their corner of the world. The epic TERVEET KÄDET from Finland gives us the details on the band’s evolution […]
Kelly got on my radar due to being in solid bands and having solid mutual friends in Portland, Oregon. If you’ve been living under a rock, PDX is home of one of the strongest punk renaissances we have seen in the past few decades in the USA. Currently, Kelly is in PEROXIDE and doing Aseptic […]
MRR is contributor-driven, which means that we rely on punks like you for content. You don’t need an invitation to be a part of what we do. MUSIC For review and radio play consideration, send two copies of vinyl or one copy of CD-only or cassette-only releases to PO Box 3852, Oakland, CA 94609, USA. […]
Since I already interviewed Jeremy Hush for MRR in print, I thought I’d give our readers an update over a year later. In case you live under a rock and never saw a Slug & Lettuce or missed the interview with Jeremy in MRR #340, Jeremy’s art has been featured in Slug & Lettuce, Profane […]
Here is a special MRR Radio episode which features over an hour of classic punk rock, hardcore and new wave South American bands from the ’80s. Songs from classic albums and compilation to demo versions and live performances. Some photographs, videos, fanzines and posters produced for these groups were shown at an exhibition called Perder […]
Everlasting Love is a DIY artist co-op in San Francisco’s Mission District. I thought the concept was so interesting, and there are some respectable punkers involved, so I interviewed Ami LawLess and co. for your pleasure. (Click here to read more in our Create to Destroy series!) MRR: How many people are in your co-op? […]
I met artist Sean Slaney in 2007 when he was living in East Harlem. He has lived in Manhattan since 1990 and has watched New York transform rapidly in the last few decades. Sean has a thick New England accent, a sharp sarcastic wit and good stories of old CBGB’s. We had mutual friends from […]
Interview by Amelia I reviewed your zine Fire & Ice for MRR a year or so ago. Can you speak a little about that zine? Have you done any since? That little guy is mostly spicy recipes, with some alcoholic beverages and vegan ice creams and sorbets. Essentially I did it so that Microcosm would […]
BLUE CROSS is a two-piece post punk band from Ottawa. They formed before the semi-recent goth trend and have had several releases over the past few years. I thought I’d shed some light on this mysterious band. You may know Jo mainly from GERM ATTACK or him booking your band a show the last time […]
Continuing with our MRR Archives Series in celebration of our 30th Anniversary, here is the complete download of our second photozine, a special All-European issue produced in collaboration with Germany’s TRUST fanzine, Welcome to Cruise Country (see below for link). For this archive post, we sent some questions to our friends Dolf Hermannstädter and Jan Roehlk at […]
Here is the Spanish-language version of part one of our three-part history “Notes on the Peruvian Underground.” This originally appeared in English in MRR #353. You can read part two in English in MRR #356 (parte uno en español aquí) and part three in English in MRR #359 (parte tres en español aquí). Traducción por Sandro “Dogma” Casas y Sonia “la Perra” Serna* El punk no nació, el punk es. ¡Hijos de puta! Podría […]
It’s been over two and a half years since I made a post here on MRR, but I was inspired to digitally resurrect myself after getting in touch with one of the people who released a tape compilation that resides in the magazine’s archives. The Matrax cassette was assembled by two punks from Ottawa in 1985, […]
Continuing with our MRR Archives series in celebration of our 30th Anniversary, here is the complete download of Maximum Rocknroll issue #7! This issue is chock full of classic punk rock from the likes of YOUTH BRIGADE, WHIPPING BOY, BATTALION OF SAINTS, RED TIDE, and PEACE CORPSE. Scene reports are blowing up big time in […]
MRR Radio is a weekly radio show featuring the best DIY punk, garage rock and hardcore from the astounding, ever-growing Maximum Rocknroll record collection. You can find the MRR Radio podcast, as well as specials, archives, and more info at radio.maximumrocknroll.com. Thanks for listening, and stay tuned! THIS WEEK: All lady pizza party with Francesca […]
Primary Impulses and Liars: An Introduction I am inclined to satisfy my preoccupation with the supposed failures of man and the uniqueness of something’s entire existence as one saturated in discord and violence. I find these features constant throughout the history of humanity; every expression of man resonates with the next, there is no progress […]
This weekend San Francisco’s Roxie Theater is bringing to the big screen several super-obscure film documents of the late-70s/early 80s post-punk explosion. THIS MUST BE THE PLACE: POST-PUNK TRIBES 1978 – 1982 is a unique show featuring eight San Francisco premiere screenings that is not to be missed. We talked to Roxie Theater programmer Mike Keegan, […]
We’ll take a short break from all of the MRR history and dive into some cool shit happening in the here-and-now. This review of issue #3 of Richmond, VA, fanzine Excitement Level Zero written by Bob Goldie appears in Maximum Rocknroll #351. You can order Excitement Level Zero #3 from Grave Mistake Records — and […]
This month, for our 30th Anniversary Issue (MRR #351, August 2012) we surveyed a shitload of Maximum Rocknroll shitworkers about their favorite (and least favorite) things about MRR — memorable features and interviews in the magazine, and experiences working and hanging out at the MRR house. We didn’t have enough room in the zine for […]
Can you believe Maximum Rocknroll magazine is 30 years old? Now that we can no longer be trusted, we’re finally free to toot our own horn, wallow in the past, and shake our fists at you damn kids! This month we’re commemorating our birthday with a 30th anniversary issue, a special radio show celebrating not […]
In commemoration of our newest MRR Photo Issue, our Zine of the Month is a photo zine from noted zinester/illustrator/photographer Stéphane Delevacque. This review, by Julia Booze, appears in the latest issue as well — buy it now! The package I opened came with three thick photo zines and a one-page foldout! Not sure if that […]
That’s right! MRR has finally brought you another PHOTO ISSUE! Two years ago Maximum Rocknroll took on a photo issue that is still sought after today. The newest issue (MRR #350, July 2012) is packed with images by photographers from all over the world. With the help of guest coordinator Mateus Mondini we have interviews […]
By Dan Lactose Kindred McCune, aka Stinkweed Malone, has left our planet. Took the warp triple-six Doom Ryde straight through our galaxy. Stinkweed was best known to punx, thrashers, vandals and dank smokers as a founding member of the pioneering Redwood City, CA, political grindcore unit, Plutocracy. He was also a founding member and leader […]
We thought we’d pass along this letter from Garth Clifton in Fresno, CA, in hopes that you’ll lend some support and spread the world. Up the punx! Hello, I am writing this letter to bring to the attention of the worldwide DIY community something that has affected everyone in my hometown’s scene immensely. On Friday […]
White Riot: Punk Rock and the Politics of Race (on Verso Books, edited by Stephen Duncombe and Maxwell Tremblay) just hit the academic circuit claiming to be the “Ultimate Collection” of writings about punk and race. While many, and I mean many, many, many of us punks of color whom this book claims to be […]
MRR Radio is a weekly radio show featuring the best DIY punk, garage rock and hardcore from the astounding, ever-growing Maximum Rocknroll record collection. You can find the MRR Radio podcast, as well as specials, archives, and more info at radio.maximumrocknroll.com. Thanks for listening, and stay tuned! THIS EPISODE: New Issue Day! We take a […]
The Encyclopedia of Doris Cindy Crabb Doris Press The long awaited Encyclopedia of Doris is here, and it is the so-very-special collection of all of Cindy Crabb’s zines that have come out since the Doris Anthology. If you somehow missed the past decade of Doris, Cindy has been organizing her writing within the framework of […]
With the the help and hard work of Mariel Acosta, one of the translators that helps out MRR, we bring you this synopsis in both English y español of this documentary that I came across a few months ago. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, use Mariel’s great article here, and the music and cool […]
This is one of those rare things that is simultaneously cute as hell and punk as fuck. Not much needs to be said about it, as not much is said in it. Just watch and enjoy… And it’s okay to giggle and clap your hands like I did while watching it… The “star” of this […]
Back in the ’90s I used to trade zines with a guy named Stéphane, from France. He did the awesome Rad Party zine (he also put out the translated Cometbus collections). I stopped doing my zine about ten years ago, but Stéphane has kept it up, with his 42nd issue due out this fall. All […]
I’ve been meaning to do a write-up about this website for a long time but every time I go to “research” it, I get caught up in all the cool shit there is to look at and listen to and I forget why I was there in the first place… I guess I’m a sucker […]
I first met Keli’i Beyer when my band flew to Oahu for a weekend of shows. He welcomed me, along with his roommates, into his home. I was struck by his intellect and passion towards Hawai’i. We spent a couple afternoons arguing and passionately debating ideas and we’ve become friends since then. When I was […]
Even if you are someone who fervently eschews nostalgia in favor of appreciating and participating in the here-and-now, there are probably still certain things that hone in on that particular region of your brain that makes those “good old days” chemicals flood your veins. And if your generation/demographic happens to be the mid-’80s/suburban punk, seeing […]
About a month ago Brazilian photographer Leonan Claro sent a few pics of the Alchemists (from Volta Redonda, Brazil). Nice, tight edit of pics: Shameless Plug Department: To coincide with a art show up at the Stevens Square Center for the Arts in Minneapolis (closing party on April 16th!), I have a new zine out, […]
Our comic blog this time around is written by the incredible Robert Kirby, who really should be covered in a another blog post himself (maybe someday soon)… Enjoy! Carrie McNinch might be the original punk dyke chick autobio cartoonist goddess. I remember I first encountered her work way back in the early ’90s when Roberta […]
Hi, everyone. Welcome to the first installment of “We Got Ways,” a new web-column that I hope to trot out with some regularity here at MRR’s digital incarnation. What is it exactly that I hope to do with this occasional online missive? Talk about my favorite thing and yours, of course — punk records! In […]
One of the things that I admire most about Jake Austen is that his own identity never supersedes the life of his projects. You may have heard of The Goblins (his band), Roctober magazine, or Chic-A-Go-Go (a children’s TV dance show) but his name is never conspicuously stamped at the forefront. He is almost literally […]
This record came out at the tail end of 2010 and made it onto my top ten list of the year, so you already know that I love it. Busy Days is everything I’ve ever wanted out of Chattanooga, Tennessee’s ADD/C in their ten (give or take) years of existence. Even though I loved every […]
Wow, what a show! is brought to you this week by Will Butler of To Live A Lie Records with photos by Sergio Amalfitano of Magnum XL Photos. If you take photos and like to write about punk shows (or if you and a friend wanna team up to do this) drop us a line […]
If you prefer to get your philosophy from inside a dead dog’s asshole like I do, then you need to know about Dennis Worden. In addition to contributing hilarious comics to anthologies like Weirdo or punk fanzines like Flipside in the early ’80s, he made a variety of minis about some old favorite things, like […]
You may have noticed that this decade has been continually sounding the death knell of print. From the dot-com boom, to the blogger revolution, and now the rise of slim digital readers. Well, Atomic Books has had enough, and has thrown down the gauntlet for 2011: The Revenge of Print!: “We are challenging everyone who’s […]
An Appreciation by Janelle Hessig from the Punk Comics Issue of MRR magazine… There are generally three revelations that people experience when first discovering Shawn Kerri: 1. The first one is that a lot of your favorite early punk art is all drawn by the same person. I had them safety-pinned to the back of […]
If you’ve ever had the fortune of stumbling upon the Kill Your Pet Puppy blog site, you know that it contains an almost overwhelming stockpile of rare and interesting ephemera from the early ’80s UK anarcho-punk diaspora. One does not skim KYPP but gets utterly lost in its myriad of downloads, interviews, photos, anecdotes, flyers […]
Since the early ’90s Erick Lyle (formerly know as Iggy Scam) has published Scam zine and played in tons of great bands, including Chickenhead, Allergic To Bullshit, The Horrible Odds, Onion Flavored Rings, and Black Rainbow. In recent years he has parlayed Scam and his many other DIY zine projects into a bona fide writing […]
Virtually Invisible Last week the New York Times Magazine published photographs by Pieter Hugo of foragers in Agbogbloshie, a slum in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Here human beings hunt for sellable computer components in a smoking wasteland of toxic waste and ash. The computers they’re picking through were sent as parts of foreign aid […]
Adventures in Nonfiction Mimi was in town. It had been three years. We went out for Indian food and then coffee. Her dashing girlfriend Fiona was there too, in a vintage vest and tie. I had forgotten that Mimi was left-handed and that she didn’t drink coffee. She still had asymmetrical hair but now she […]
Forgive my being “old dude” here for a minute, but back in the day local scenes had zines. I know zines still exist, but they don’t necessarily serve the same function as they used to. Xeroxed fanzines were a tangible way of keeping people connected when there was no internet to tell you exactly what […]
MRR #327 is out now! This month’s cover is graced by the amazing handiwork of Brazilian photographer Mateus Mondini, featuring Brazilian rippers OS ESTUDANTES with a killer interview inside! A revelation awaits you when you read about North America’s first all-female punk band THE CURSE from Toronto, Canada. Punk professor Conta of PEKINSKA PATKA delivers an […]
By now you should be familiar with Boston legend and monthly Maximum Rocknroll columnist Al Quint. The publisher of the long-running Boston fanzine Suburban Voice didn’t let the “death” of print media stop him. The paper version ended with issue #46 in 2003, but he’s since moved the zine to the web, where it lives […]
Having just reviewed issues number six, seven and eight of ANTIPATIA, a Spanish language zine from Barcelona, Spain, I immediately subscribed to their blog to read the issues I missed and to make sure I will never miss any again! The interviews and reports are some the best I have ever read seamlessly incorporating, music, […]
UPDATE July 2011: It appears that the Operation Phoenix website has shut down. We will let you know if it returns, or if we find somewhere else to download these amazing archives… —MRR Web Coordinator Straight outta Brookings, South Dakota — that punk rock mecca — comes a modestly presented yet invaluable treasure trove of punk […]
We’ve got a few kick-ass “Blog of the Week” posts in the works for you all, but while waiting for those to ripen I had to find something good to offer you this week… It’s nearly impossible to just google search for good punk shit these days, since a million lame poser piece of shit […]
In case you missed it in MRR #311, here’s… A Visit with the Editor of Punk or, How a Fanzine Changed the World by Aaron Cometbus News passed down the punk pipeline: a print media-themed issue of MRR! What better opportunity to sit down with the pioneer of punk himself, John Holmstrom? I’d admired his […]
We’ve got some killer interviews and scene reports this month from around the world. But Boston and DC are in the spotlight—we get the skinny on female-fronted Boston hardcore punks, THE LIBYANS. The current wave of DC straightedge hardcore bands is represented with COKE BUST, and we’ve got an interview with the raging, non-sxe, but […]
Spread the word… Goteblüd is now open for business! Located at 766 Valencia, in San Francisco’s Mission District, it’s store hours are 12-5pm, every weekend. Check out their website here: http://www.goteblud.com Goteblüd is a “vintage zine store and gallery”, as well as a home for a comic book. Here’s what they have to say for […]
One of the greatest things about volunteering at MRR is the access to our incredible archive of records, fanzines, tapes and assorted other weirdo stuff! Mentally Unstable zine came out in 1984, has reviews of THE COMES “No Side” 12″, the GISM “Detestation” 12″, KUKL and ULTIMO RESORTE records. I have tried to scan in […]
We got a big treat in the mailbox recently. From Daigo Oliva and Mateus Mondini, two of the best current photographers in the punk scene, it’s issues 8, 9 and 10 of Fodido e Xerocado photozine outta Brazil. Lovingly packaged in hand stamped and screen-printed envelopes, this fanzine is the perfect confluence of honed artistry […]
Print media is dead? Long live print media! In response to the allegations that print media is on its deathbed, we decided to put together an issue of the magazine focusing on fanzine culture and its significance in the punk community. In this month’s issue we have an interview with Erick Lyle of the long-running […]
As most of our readers already know, the MINUTEMEN have a very innovative sound that combines funk, jazziness, and disjointed semi-thrash. On this new EP, they add some atmospheric psychedelic guitar and other forms of weirdness. I like some of it a lot, especially “Cut,” but most of it is too experimental for my tastes.
Eight groups from the Berkeley area, all very young and in various states of existence or non-existence. The tape quality is very garagey, and the material includes some thrash and some pet rock or “mind rot.” The whole thing was recorded by Aaron and Jesse, those two youngsters who put out Tedium fanzine, and all […]
