Notes From The Flip Side: 12.12.1999
DATELINE: Del Taco, Laguna Niguel
If I had any remaining doubts that the symbols of punk have been completely co-opted and commodified, the kids on the patio dispelled them. They look like punks packaged by department stores - conceived by marketers, birthed by MTV, and baptised in Blink-182. This is Orange County - the epitome of conservative suburban inbreeding and conspicuous consumption. God must have turned His back on this place. It's the only rationale for all the fucking strip malls. And in the meantime, I'm watching kids dressed in the same outfit try to build a semblance of an identity for themselves. I can see the marketing slogan now: Identity - only at Wal-Mart/Mervyn's/Macys. It'll be a brand soon enough. Mark my words.
All of the reviews from Issue #1 have been added. So have interviews with Chris Cougar, Ray Dahmer, Jay Flounder, Chad Heinous, Kenny Leek, Dave Quinn, Brian Ready, Monica Sierras, Colin Smith, Mike Spent, Mike Stax, Larry Livermore, Elliott Sharp and Kevin Wasserman. I also added interviews with A Minor Forest and Team Dresch that never saw print.