Rag Mag 31
What's up rag mag? Creature here, and its a heavy time in Providence with the shooting at Brown and our hearts break for the victims, their families and the community at large. So many thoughts swirling in my mind, but the biggest one is what the fuck will it take to stop the endless need for consumption for one day. Noise shows being cancelled in Olneyville while the city goes on holding the Boston Pops to an audience completely unaware of an active shooter a mile away. That raggedy bitch telling us to go to church, go Christmas shopping and go to school, while simultaneously telling us they had no clue as to who the perpetrator was and to consider him armed and dangerous, let alone that there was actually another murder committed after this announcement. The community defends itself and we have to take care of each other cause they showed again exactly what they value about us.
It feels a little crass to promote right now, but it's our one year anniversary and Rag Mag is throwing a party. Coco threw together a fun day from 12-5 at at Myrtle in East Providence on January 3rd with performances by Gossip Collar, Ken Baby, Whyte Lipstick and Tigers on Vaseline as well as a flea market with local vendors and artists. Rag Mag is printing up a physical zine for the party and will also have records, posters, etc... available for a donation to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. Should be a fun time for a good cause.
This week we have the premier of The Fight Report by Chessy Renee, Splinters by Leela Corman, a new one by everyone's favorite Wasteland Chick, hooked on Sonic's with Velvet Deluxxx and Creature's Double Feature.
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.
Splinters by Leela Corman
The Fight Report by Chessy Renee
Sup rage mag– OH sorry rag mag.
I’ve got rage on the brain. There’s nothing like the holiday season to make you wanna start a fight, am i right? Or just me? I’ll speak for myself. I am in the depths of my holiday rage, but I feel like there is an upside to it.
I’ll tell you about a couple of fights I thrust myself into in the past few weeks: 1. I confronted a coworker who I’ve been fed up with for about 6 months the other day. I had tried to tell him what was frustrating me back in May and he just blew me off man! But! turns out he’s been pissed at me too, so I guess we’ve both got shit to work on! 2. I told my bosses it seems pretty rude and exclusionary to choose to have a holiday party that begins and ends before our establishment closes - so a whole bunch of employees can’t go without ditching work. That didn’t really amount to anything, but what can ya do, eh? At least I tried.
And that brings me to my point - whether we are winning or losing, I think we all need to be fighting more. Many people I know tell me that they are conflict averse - WHY? STOP IT!! I think it’s indoctrination. I think it’s the result of being in such a militaristic society - it tells us that it’s better to fall in line and not cause a ruckus in any given situation. It tells us that it’s better to keep our heads down than to raise our voices and try to make some sort of change.
For me, part of the reality of the times we are living through right now is this feeling of tightness - often in therapy and talking to friends I realize a lot of that tightness comes from both feeling scared AND feeling really pissed off and powerless. It seems unavoidable these days, especially if you’re watching the global news, the national news, or even the local news. I don’t keep up enough with the news, but when it’s as depressing as it is, sometimes I just have to focus on getting through the day. So much is going to shit. Obviously. And that’s what brings me to my charge to you, punk: Start a fight!
Fight the urge to go with the flow; Fight your own insecurities and doubts; Fight your boss; Fight for your rights; Fight for the rights of the people in your neighborhood, or on your bus, or for your coworkers, or fight your coworkers?; Fight the government; FIGHT BABY JESUS! Haaa! That one was just for me, but you get the idea.
If you are truly conflict averse, it can be hard at first, or it can be hard every time, but each of us has a unique and particular perspective and voice, and we need to recognize how necessary each of our perspectives are. Be ready for people to disagree with you - and let them! Hear them out too!! Convince them of something they don’t get if you need to!! We can all learn from each other if we actually start the conversations that scare us.
There is so much to be fearful of these days. Don’t let that make you afraid to speak up for what you believe in. There is power in community, so build it up and use it wisely.
If you’re still shy, find some fights to get involved with:
Boston Jewish Voices for Peace
Come back to fight report if you are looking for more fights to join, we’ll keep the info coming - you get out there!!!!
Wasteland Chick
Seriously. I will fight to the death for Futurama. Greetings and salutations, fellow Wasteland Chicks. Welcome back after a short break. But, good news everyone! This chick is finally on her holiday break, so now I can write and relax to my heart’s content! Anyway, let’s get into one of my freaking favorites: “This is a Love Song” by the great Rebecca Sugar. Let’s start with the rhythm and melody, which I give a 9 out of ten. Firstly, it’s a bit pop-punk and grunge at the same time, which I love. Plus, I adore the mix of striking guitar and gentle piano, adding to the overall venting tone of the song. Next, let’s review the lyrics, which I give a screaming ten out of ten! I firstly love the bridge/chorus of after awesome edgy guitar beat venting with a gentle piano and “~oh yes, this is a love song~”. Pure gold. And, I want to shove so many of these lyrics into my soul (this is praise ‘cuz I ran out of phrase…s), especially ones like “You knew I needed your help, you swept right in, Please keep your hands to yourself, that's not okay, You're putting words in my mouth, I didn't say!” It just perfectly captures that feeling of arguing with a toxic friend. I also really savor the chorus lyric “Oh, I wanna beg your forgiveness”, simply because it encapsulates that conflicting feeling of standing up to a person because of their terrible actions, but still feeling guilty for doing so. Anyway, time for my final review: I give this song a ten out of ten, the rhythm and melody are a beautiful mix of roaring guitar and gentle piano, and the lyrics are raw yet truthful. That’s it for today’s issue, fellow Wasteland Chicks. Enjoy your winter holidays and don’t let the corps beam ads directly into your dreams. Bye!
Sincerely, Wasteland Chick (Happy Holidays!)
hooked on Sonic's
Recently a bunch of us were hanging out and our friends Uncontrollable Frank and Jeannie were talking about how they introduced the Bay City Rollers to their young daughter. When supposedly asleep they heard S-A-T coming from her room. If you know their kid you know she’s the sweetest and a total delight. I loved that music was helping her spell and she didn’t even know it. We then started talking about all these songs where they spell out the chorus and it made me wanna write about it. Frank said the name “Hooked on Sonics” and I liked it too much to change it so gotta give credit where credit's due - Thanks Uncontrollable Frank!
Thinking of their daughter singing and learning her words brought up a ton of memories from when I was a kid and my relationship to music and reading. Some of my earliest memories are music related - driving to work with my Dad listening to the B-52’s, the Smithereens , anything on WBCN. I LOVED the B-52’s . I didn’t know what they looked like yet but I remember singing all the words imagining the weirdest, coolest people in a giant car and their image did not disappoint when I finally saw a photo. My Dad had a hardware store , so I would go to work with him and sit behind the counter and draw ,listening to the radio. Music and art were always where I felt the most comfortable , the most like me. Then came school. WOOF , ha.
I don’t know when kids start to read but whenever it was, I felt very late to the game. I was 8 ( 2nd grade) and getting pulled out of class to go to reading help with other kids and felt so embarrassed and stupid. It didn’t help that some of the kids would announce to the class that I was “ too dumb to read out loud” if called upon or just simply was too stupid. I vividly remember taking a “ test” around this time of year where it was 4 squares, each with a word on top ( the teacher said the words out loud) and we had to draw what the word said. The problem was I couldn’t read any of them. So, I just went for it. I just remember drawing a reindeer under Wreath and vice versa. I failed the test and remember bringing it home and my parents laughing that I was SO wrong. Needless to say it didn’t help my self esteem very much and made me feel even more alienated. But on the bonus side I’ve always been someone that if told I can’t achieve something I have to go and do it no matter what. So, I was determined to figure out this reading thing.
Eventually I learned to read. It just clicked one day and I became a voracious reader. Determined to prove I wasn’t stupid I would get out the biggest fattest books from the library to be like hey see motherfuckers!!! I can do it !!! But honestly lets be real , NO kid was impressed I was reading all these adult books that were wildly inappropriate but hey at least I was reading! It was a total 180 for me. Reading used to be a massive source of stress then became a great source of comfort like music and art. So, this is where I talk about music again ( I know get on with it right??)
In honor of those of us that had trouble learning those early years but felt the most connected to music I wanted to start sending a collection of songs to Rag Mag that have a spelling element. I couldn’t decide what to start with so I’m showing you guys two! That's right baby so enjoy.
First, is one of my favorites by Dead Moon called “ Dead Moon Night”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to this song , it never gets old. Toody is THE COOLEST and I fucking love her vocals yelling out DEAD MOON layered over Fred’s in the chorus.
D for disaster
E for my eyes
A for my anger
D before I die
M for Mona
O oh good
O oh good
N for the night
Dead Moon Night
Dead Moon Night
Heres the song so you can hear it in all its glory
Ok, so round two. My next song is from 1966 by the Belles called “ Melvin”. Its the girl group's take on Gloria. The Belles rule and just exude that bad girl with a guitar attitude accompanied with catchy riffs. I just love how they were like oh you like Gloria? Well, you're gonna looooooove MELVIN. And ya know they were right because I’ve listened to this way more than Gloria ( sorry hun)
Well that wraps it up for now! You’ve learned to spell “ Melvin” and “ Dead Moon” great job! Also things are rough these days so if you have a little one in your life play them a song, read them a book or just be silly with them.
Happy Holidaze - Velvet Deluxxx
What a couple of weeks and they have Creature wiped out. The Body returned to Providence and played another Wednesday night show at Machines with Magnets and it was such a fun night. Mixed Bill with shorter sets by all the acts, kept the night moving and the energy up on a rainy Wednesday night. Ben Eberle opened with a drone piece using what looked like a chord organ and a casio keyboard with no or minimal effects, but created a powerful meditative mood. I was told by a friend earlier in the night that Ben had a voice like an angel, but damn, when I heard it, voice like an angel. Really set the room into a trance which was the perfect way for Peace Test's heavy hardcore punk to change it up. Cool set and I love when a band looks like they are having the best time playing together. The Body closed out the night and crushed it as usual. So damn heavy. That he still has that same guitar set up is wild.
Ben Eberle, Peace Test, The Body - Live at Machines with Magnets, photos by Creature
We've been hard at work at Rag Mag HQ to get cool records and posters (and hopefully some mix tapes) together for the anniversary party. We know people are really struggling this year, so we are donating some good stuff for a good cause. Check out some of the stuff in the picture below available for food or monetary donation for the food bank. Hope to see you there!
Records of the Week
I've been a fan of Clevo punk/hc and their peculiar brand of chaos since I saw 9 shocks terror and their associated acts back in the 90s, and its nice to see that Lean Steve is still putting out punk records all these years later, albeit this time with a little more post in the punk. We All Dissolve by Applejuice (I love this name) follows in a similar vibe to some of his other more recent projects like Fashion Pimps and the Glamazons and Peer Pressure Zombies. Poppier than some of his other projects, but his almost spoken vocal style and heavy, repetitive basslines allow for the synthesizers and guitar to get weird with it. Really stretches out on side 2 and ends with my fave track Freeware.
emmatonkss
Next up is a new 45 by Chilean raw punks Ignorantes - las promesas que hacemos te las puedes meter por el culo 2 song 45. Similar to applejuice, this finds them in a poppier mood than I was expecting, with two bouncy punk tracks making you want to pogo. A nice change up and its nice to hear the catchy songwriting under the normal distortion til deafness.
Soul Song of the Day
Soul song of the day is this 1960's girl group/soul sound by Bernadette Castro, a former child actress in national television commercials for her family's furniture company. In classic novelty style, one song is about forgiving the guy and the other is about getting rid of him. Naturally, Get Rid of Him is the hit, ya never want to stay with the dud.
That's it for this week Rag Mag. Here's some flyers and keep sending stuff in (ragmagclub@proton.me)
Member discussion