Rag Mag 23 - "Utah, get me two"
What's up rag mag. Getting it out a bit later than usual due to labor day and leaving substack. We are now hosting this on the ghost platform, which gives us more control on privacy and allows us to opt out of analytics and tracking of our subscribers. Oh cool, we can shape our "content" to encourage more clicking, get fucked with that shit. Make what you want to make because you want to make it, not to gain an audience or get likes. With the new platform, we are going to start archiving some of our regular columns on the site (rag-mag.ghost.io) for easier searching, so look for that in the coming weeks.
Summer is nearing an end, school is back in session, and we have another jam packed issue of Rag Mag ready to hit the streets. Up this week: Wasteland Chick reviewing Casual by Chappell Roan and the 1991 film Point Break, new art from Sarah Heggan and Coco A Go-Go, Splinters by Leela Corman, and Creature's Double Feature.
Hit us up at ragmagclub @ proton.me with flyers, art, feedback, column ideas, or just to say hi. It's casual.
Splinters by Leela Corman
Sarah Heggan's Dracula
Element Cape by Coco A Go-Go
Filth Elder by Coco A Go-Go 27 x 40 felt n hot glue
"It's time for lunch." "Angelo, it's 10:30" "Right around that corner there is a sandwich shop. They sell meatball sandwiches. Best I've ever tasted. Would you go get me two? C'mon partner, two....Thank you....Utah, get me two."
Yr' ol' pal Creature here with another double feature. Watched Point Break the other night outside with a group of friends under the stars and it was fun watching it with a few people who had never seen it. The above scene of FBI agent Gary Busey reading the comics in the paper point and order two meatball sandwiches has always been my favorite scene. So ridiculous. Imagine demanding and eating two meatball subs at 10:30 in morning. Unfortunately for us, as all 80s and 90s movies seem to be doing with more regularity, these scenes are becoming more and more prescient, as disgusting untalented greedy brain dead fucks like Kash Patel and Dan Bognino lead the FBI with their only experience probably watching this movie on a plane. Gluttonous morons trying to implement authoritarian control while probably complaining that they dont get why Busey didnt get it from the cheesecake factory or something. At least we have noted transphobe Gavin Newsom and nepo-baby JB Pritzker as our saviors (well Newsom's social media team is having fun with our wannabe dictator I guess. I do like the "Just Dance" Vance nickname, spineless fucking thiel puppet. We may not have power, but ridiculing these thin skinned fascist piss babies is at least something.
Club Wig One D b/w D-N-A - Photos by Creature
That brings us to "Club Wig". A few weeks back I was looking through the records at the Savers in Warwick and found this handpainted/handglued record sleeve at the bottom of their small record bin under a bunch of scratched to shit easy listening and pop rock 45s. No clue what this was at all, but no way I am going to pass on a self-released DIY record from mid-80s Alabama sitting in a thrift store bin. Took this home for a spin and this rules. Sloppy, fun DIY B-52s meets Suburban Lawns energy makes for an instant dance party. They also have an LP on the short-lived Alabama based Mustang records label (someone want to trade me a copy? all the ones online are in Europe, lol). Only a handful of releases on that label including Boston Powerpoppers The Neighborhoods first LP Fire is Coming, so maybe that's the connection to this record ending up here.
Not much is available to hear from this band, but a quick google search led to an active social media group with people sharing lots of pictures and stories about these weirdos from Club Chukker back in the day.
"Club Wig was a hyphenated band (rock-jazz-country-metal-polka-etc.) active in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, from 1984-1987, and left a legacy of adoring fans and broken guitar strings. This is a forum for folks to share memories of those halcyon days of yore in a nonjudgemental fashion. So if you ever were in Club Wig, heard Club Wig, or heard about Club Wig, or if you're just curious to see what the mania was all about, come aboard!"
All in all, seems like Club Chukker was the place to be for a weirdo dance party in 1980s Alabama and this band rules. I can't find this record streaming online anywhere, but here is a clip from a reunion show of them playing "One D" and looks like they are still having fun!
Club Wig One D b/w D-N-A - Photos by Creature
Records of the week - Demo Tape Edition. Got some new batteries for my fake walkman, so blasted some demo tapes over the last week. I missed seeing Uniformed Service last month as I was outta town and bummed I didnt catch em. Early skitslickers/anti-cimex vibes with a nice blown out recording by EZ at Active-8 studios with Brian from Savageheads on guitar/vox. Shit rules.
Corpse Gas - Music for Scum, a 4 song promo tape of crasher crust out of LA. Completely over the top gloom worship from LA, probably playing the same riffs as Uniformed Service but to different ends of the same proposition. This is for the freaks that live for the feedback. Brutal.
Fittz
Last up is B.A.D.G.E. - What's Not to Love demo. No clue what B.A.D.G.E. is an acronym for, but the tape conveys their live energy. More straightforward early Boston style hardcore, but noisy as fuck giving it the energy I need to dig this kind of music. Reminds of that first think I care 7" that Molinari put out. Rippin'!
vlock1
Soul song of the day is a nice slow one from the legendary Johnnie Mae Matthews, the godmother of detroit soul and one of the first black women to own their own record label. She cut a few records, but my fave song of hers is My Man (Sweetest Man in the World). Slow, bluesy, and just the power of her voice. Beautiful.
Wasteland Chick
MY AIM IS GETTIN’ BETTER! Somebody please get that joke. Salutations, fellow Wasteland Chicks. Welcome back. Did you miss me? Admit it, you missed me! Sorry for my lack of entries, I’ve been pretty tired with school startin’. Glad to be back to reviewing my favorite songs and movies, ‘cuz this W.C. has made this section her own. Hells yeah! Anyway, today we’ll be reviewing a new-ish favorite of mine, “Casual” by the gay gorgus great Chappell Roan. And for starters, I’ll review the general rhythm and melody, which I give a 8 out of ten. I like the subtle what I want to call vocal thumping that starts at the intro and continues as a beat throughout the rest of the song, as well as the piano/keyboard and violin stings between lyrics. It’s very pleasing to the ears. Next I’ll tackle with a ten pound metal door the lyrics, which I give a 9 out of ten. The chorus is a little…ahem, provocative, but the rest of the lyrics really do show the singer/Chappell’s anger and frustration at being in a “casual” relationship and trying to be the chill girl despite the other partner’s lack of effort or understanding. I really like the lyric “I fucked you in the bathroom when we went to dinner, your parents at the table, you wonder why I’m bitter!”, which shows the singer/Chappell’s frustration at literally meeting the other partner’s parents and having sex with them IN THE RESTAURANT BATHROOM and the other partner still saying it’s casual. Anywho, time for the overall review: I give this song a 9 out of ten, the rhythm and melody are sad, drawn-out perfectly, and vocally spread, and the lyrics are sad yet understandable and angry. This song is great for a vent session in your car, doing homework, karaoke, drawings comics with dog OC’s, or getting the job done (hint hint!). It’s never casual with how much I love writing these columns, fellow W.C.’s. See ya!
Sincerely, Wasteland Chick!
Probably swim into waves with a JFK mask and never come back. Salutations, fellow Wasteland Chicks. Welcome back to another W.C. Double Feature. Today we’ll be reviewing the movie “Point Break”, which I have just recently seen in a backyard showing with Catie and Creature, which is awesome! Anyway, I give this movie a 8 out of ten. For starters, I really love Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayzee, and Lori Petty’s acting in this film! Keanu Reeves is his excellent self, Patrick Swayzee is very good as the mysterious bro villain, and Lori Petty is very good as the surfing teacher love interest. Also, I love the assistant older detective guy working with Keanu, and I really laughed at the “Calvin and Hobbes Meatball Sandwiches” part. If you know, you know! I also love the part where Johnny Utah (hilarious name, by the by) is chasing Bodhi, and straight up FIRES THE GUN INTO THE AIR while Bodhi’s climbing a fence. What?! I can just picture the news headline, “Local broken windows thought to be caused by bullets fired into air. Cop blamed.” Anyway, I like the kind of spooky mysterious ending where we don’t really know what’s going to happen to Bodhi. It adds a mysterious yet satisfying element to the ending. But I do have one question: HOW THE FREAKING HELL DID THEY END UP IN AUSTRALIA?! THEY LANDED IN MEXICO! WHAT? Also, what happened to Lori Petty’s character? Is she in Australia, did she die, what? Anyway, this was a fun watch. Slight warning since there’s a lot of blood and swears, but it’s very funny and action-packed. Perfect to watch in a backyard with all of your friends 😁. See ya later with two meatball sandwiches, fellow W.C.’s! See ya!
Sincerely, Wasteland Chick
That's it for this week Rag Mag. Here's some flyers and keep sending stuff in (ragmagclub @ proton.me)
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