25 Nov 2025 11 min read

Rag Mag 29

What's up rag mag? Hope we're all hanging in there with the never ending chaos of this fascist takeover. Planning our annual friendsgiving/national day of mourning in honor of the indigenous peoples of America has taken up a lot of my time this week, but we have also been busy planning a show/fundraiser (for the local food bank) for our rag mag 1st year anniversary party this January, but more on that later. The absurdity of America is dragging me down, but the strength of our community keeps me going. Let's dive right into another issue, featuring an amazing painting by Leela Corman based on her Splinters series, a new Wasteland Chick, part 3 of Mr. Mittens' Creature on the Road - the Elizabeth's run, and Creature's Double Feature.

Also rag mag faves cigarette camp and Whyte lipstick both have new releases coming out in the next 2 weeks so be on the lookout for those (and maybe check out the flyers below and go see them live punk).

Hit us up at ragmagclub @ proton.me with flyers, art, feedback, column ideas, or just to say hi. We archived columns and music reviews on the new site (rag-mag.ghost.io), so check it out.

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Splinters by Leela Corman

Creature on the Road - The Elizabeth's Run Part 3 by Mr. Mittens

Bug huffed and bent his back low as he slowly “pushed” the large box of cargo towards the back of my van. It was all for show, the Elizabeth’s only ever ordered one thing through our service and it was so light that Bug could’ve pushed that box clear across his garage floor, scoliosis or not. Still, he was the kind of middle man who liked to make light of every interaction, and damn if he didn’t make things slow for you unless you treated him like a show pony. I clapped my hands and bowed as the box made its way to the lip of my bumper.

“Hey creature” Bug said as he lifted the box up onto his knees and then into the back of my van “what’s the news, what’s been going on in your world?” He looked at me pleadingly with large black eyes hidden behind a solid wall of corrective lenses. He didn’t really want me to answer, Bug spent most of his time day and night wilting inside a square of plexiglass and dry wall that he called his command center. He was so starved for attention that you could feel it humming around him like a static charge. What he wanted was to desperately talk at someone, and if you didn’t feign interest he would never let you leave the tiny kingdom that was his garage. Honestly, he annoyed the living hell out of me. It wasn’t his fault that his eyes and his back made him unable to be a driver or even a procurer of goods, but Christ the least he could do was be an efficient middle. There’s no shame in the job, but fuck man at least be cognizant that you’re just a link in chain.

“I saw Melvin the other day”, he blurted before I could even finish taking a breath. “They got a brand new camper van all customized to hide cargo in. Well I mean, not NEW new, because that’s just impossible right. They don't even make a camper anymore that isn’t the size of a city bus, but you know it’s new to them is what I mean.”

I nodded my head and smiled hoping that Melvin’s adventure tale was as short as my patience.

“Yeah it’s really cool, cuz normally I’d say you shouldn’t hide cargo because those fuckers are gonna find it anyways, so it makes no sense to waste time and credits trying it out, but damn I have to say, Melvin really made it work.”

“Oh yeah”, I said, my smile stretching tighter and tighter. “Where’s Melvin got the secret stash holes?”

Bug, who was vibrating at this point, high off of this tiny sliver of human interaction smiled and pushed his left index finger to his lips. “I can’t tell you that Creature and you know it, but I will say it’s not where you’d expect, that’s for sure.”

“Well knowing Melvin, they’ve probably removed an integral part of the engine just so they can make some extra cash running rock salt and whatever cocktail of cooked down and stepped on opioid they could get their hands on.”

Bug lowered his head in disappointment, and scuffed his shoes against the garage floor. I’d come too close to the right answer without even trying and now the clock was winding down for Bug. I’m sure he’d have made me stay here for the next month until I got it, fuck I think he was even hoping I might be stumped just so he could keep me as his captive audience for the Bug show.

“It’s not an integral part”, Bug said, stressing the last word like it was made of taffy.

“Yeah well what Melvin knows about engines is fuck all, so you might want to ask
him in a couple weeks how that campers running.”

Bug’s smile returned as quickly as it had fallen, he was really creepy that way. It was like watching a sunset in reverse. “Oh yeah, Melvin will probably be in lock up or down at the chip plant in no time once his camper breaks down or the red shirts find rock salt splattered all over his engine block.” he laughed and nudged my side with his boney fingers.

“Bug you got that sign in page loaded for me?” I said, still smiling. I was trying to keep everything so light that Bug wouldn’t even realize that I’d shooed him away from my van and back into his office.

Bug smiled eagerly and like a little crooked puppy he raced towards his office. I took the few seconds I had of peace to lock the back doors, climb back up front into my seat and press the engine button in quick succession. By the time he returned, his tablet clutched between his fingers, I was already locked inside with the window halfway down. He couldn’t keep you once the vehicle had started, even Bug had his limits. It’s what made him likable, and what kept him from being punched in the face on a regular basis. Bug would never fuck with you once the clock was running.

“Alright”, he said his voice had switched to all business now. “You’ve got three hours to get this big box of hair to the ladies, don’t let them fuck you over Creature.”

“I never do”, I said, running my thumb print across the tablet screen and giving Bug’s cheek a quick pinch. He smiled with his whole heart this time, god it looked like he was trying to eat the rest of his face. But, it made him happy to feel included, to be treated like a special baby brother. I figured since he hadn’t wasted nearly half as much of my time as he usually did, I owed him. I raised my window, honked my horn and left him to wallow in that little box until the next driver entered his web. At the edge of the boardwalk, the Elizabeths were waiting for me.

Wasteland Chick

GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! ~All is forgiven babyyyyy~ Greetings and Salutations, fellow Wasteland Chicks. Welcome back to yet another Heathers reference. I can not and will not be stopped damn it! Anyway, let’s fuck gently with a chainsaw the personal favorite of mine “Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)” from you-already-guessed-it. Now, let’s start with the rhythm and melody, which I give a 9 out of ten. The guitar is impeccable, and a nice, up-tempo hyped version of the original song. I also love how as Veronica’s voice gets stronger, so does the guitar, piquing almost to a sharp point at the climax! Next, let’s review my favorite part: The lyrics, which I give an eleven out of ten! Firstly, I love the lyric “His solution is a lie, no one here deserves to die!”, as it perfectly describes Veronica’s realization of J.D. as a person, and snapping out of her “one by one they will all fall” mentality. Secondly, and most memedly in the Heathers fandom, I adore the lyrics of “I wish grown-ups understood! I wish we’d met before they convinced you life is war! I wish you’d come with me!” because of how they really present Veronica’s original mentality in “Beautiful” (a song I weirdly haven’t listened to); That people can change, even slushie-addicted murders. Finally, this song has one of my FAVORITE Heathers lines/monologues ever: “People are gonna see the ashes of Westerburg high school and they’re gonna think ‘There’s a school that self-destructed not because society didn’t care, but because that school WAS SOCIETY!!’” This monologue/line really helps you understand J.D.’s character, and that he’s right. Not about the murder thing, but yeah, Westerburg really was/is society! Wow, antagonist sympathy! Time for the final review!: I give this song a ten out of ten, the rhythm and melody are guitar-lickin’ good (what?!), and the lyrics are amazing and true. Happy Thanksgiving fellow Wasteland Chicks 🦃 Bye!

Sincerely and dearly, Wasteland Chick

Creature here, my new noise/punk band Tigers on Vaseline is playing the hassleflea in Cambridge, MA on Sunday December 7th. It's a really cool independent art/makers mart/ flea market run by New England legend Dan Shea and tons of fun bands playing in the basement, so check it out if you're around. Dan also DJs as part of repeat offenders and I just saw a cool soul/r&b set from them at myrtle in east Providence. Love that dude.

Been a little quiet on the live punk front recently, but I checked out contributor Leela Corman's new noise rock band Insomnies (featuring members of tiny hawks and out of the blue) on a Sunday night show at the parlour. Tight 3 piece of guitar drums and vocals. She has a really powerful voice and the guitar player had a dual amp set up to play bass and guitar at same time (damn she shreds). Classic noise rock sounds and a devo cover to boot, check em out.

I'm still in record collector mania mode after the WFMU trip and spent the last week re-sorting and organizing all my 45s. Im a bit of a platter pak collector, so it was finally time to get my records out of the old long boxes and sorted into smaller groups. Always fun to genre/era/vibe match records and makes it so much easier to spin those little guys. Nerdy shit, but it's so satisfying to be able to grab a box of nothing but burning spirits hardcore without having to hunt through all the long boxes.

The speedshop had a really fun UK brunch this week with a local dj spinning a bunch of 90s UK electronic and ambient music I have no idea about, but made a great soundtrack to writing this issue and gave me an opportunity to check out the new exhibit "exhuming tessitura" by sara de araujo featuring incredible stained glass work and sculptures. Holy shit at the stained glass cassette case. Officially the best noise tape packaging Ive ever seen.

Records of the week

First up, a new LP by Jeff Burke's mighty Radioactivity with their 3rd LP - Time Won't Bring Me Down, the first in over ten years. He's been in so many great bands over the years (marked men, lost balloons, the reds, potential johns, etc...) and they've clearly lost no steps. I can't stop spinning this one. Catchy, but melancholy and a few songs show them really stretching out beyond the speedier poppy punk of their first 2 lps. Going to spend some time with this one, really fucking good.

Next up is a slam dunk sale to me, a live LP by the trip of Orcutt Shelley Miller (Bill Orcutt of harry pussy, Ethan Miller of comets on fire/heron oblivion/feral ohms), Steve Shelley (crucifucks/sonic youth). What a supergroup and bummed none of their shows came close to little Rhode Island. Recorded live at Zebulon in LA, it sounds surprisingly fantastic (and probably better than it did in person cuz the sound there sucks). Miller is on bass, giving Bill Orcutt the role of fuzz shredder and damn is this a a fun workout of fuzzed out bliss. They play well off each other and just a really solid LP. Let's hope they play more than just LA and New York in the future.

Soul song of the day

Another all time girl group classic with Merry Clayton's Usher Boy. My biggest score of the WFMU trip and it's girl group bliss from the former raelet who is probably best known for her vocals on gimme shelter and sweet home Alabama. Tops and makes you wanna dance.

That's it for this week Rag Mag. Here's some flyers and keep sending stuff in (ragmagclub @ proton.me)