#2 $3 (PO Box 5467, Evanston, IL 60204)
by Nik Rainey
Okay, let’s just set aside the fact that Lollipop gets slammed unmercifully in the ‘zine review section (opening line: “Wow, this one sucks real bad”), and that the word “AVOID” is superimposed on our cover, and that Markus Cols, the gentleman who wrote the review, appears to have the writing talent of a dead yak – objective journalism is our mandate here, and we are not given to egregious slander just because some little Chicago-area weenie doesn’t care for us. Tail Spins was, is, and prob’ly always will be a pretty damn fine read. Grab it and open right up to “Felix Navarro’s Bitter Corner,” the regular sprawl of unrestrained spleneticism that’s as viciously funny as a buzzsaw-wielding stand-up comic (and unafraid to praise folks like Randy Rhoads and the freakish dwarf formerly known as Prince, diminished “cool” status notwithstanding). The lengthy pieces on Pegboy, Stiff Little Fingers, and Fallouts/Mudhoney guitar dude Steve Turner are sharp ‘n’ chunky, the non-fiction (especially Brent Ritzel’s first-person account of being on the receiving end of a romantic obsession) is first-rate ‘zine fare, and the busier-than-ever layout is sheer eye sweetmeat. Tail Spins continues to comfortably straddle the line between self-indulgent underground twaddle and glossy rockmag velveeta, and is (as always) well worth your three bucks (or four if you live in, uh, “Canadia”). But maybe you shouldn’t take it from us – we do write from the “fawning fan perspective,” after all.