Rude International
(#1 $3 PO Box 1302 Cambridge, MA 02139)
by Scott Hefflon
The premiere issue of Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Tim Burton’s Rude International, a 68-page, full glossy quarterly devoted to ska, Oi!, reggae, and skapunk is out and lookin’ good! Especially for a first issue, Rude did a commendable job overcoming some of the hurdles many ‘zines continuously smack into. With the contacts (not to mention the cash) of a Bosstone behind ’em (to whatever extent), Rude had the resources to do what so many other’s can only dream of: cool fashion shoots, photo spreads from around the world, articles and columns from a variety of people from a variety of backgrounds on a variety of subjects… And that’s a lot of variety! Aside from the requisite record reviews (mostly Moon Ska, natch, but with enough else to not look completely ridiculous), there’s a current events column, an interview with Hepcat, a couple praises of the Southern California scene, an on-the-road with Reel Big Fish, Taang!’s Curtis Casella’s first-hand account of the Oi!/skins riots in London in ’81, a story on The Dropkick Murphys, one on Rude Bones, and bit of info about the Ska Against Racism tour. As mentioned, there are live photos, Punters Pages (photos of fans), and promo photos, all laid out nicely, artistically, and legibly. Without looking too slick or flashy, Rude looks respectable enough for the supermarkets, yet independent enough to be worth reading. But that, unfortunately, is Rude‘s one substantial drawback: the writing. While 50% of it is informative or enthusiastic (but not both), some of it is just plain bad. Like, “Give little Johnny a B for effort, but let’s not encourage him to pursue this any further” bad. I don’t mean to be overly critical of Rude (especially because it’s their first outing) because it’s an overall dilemma: the majority of people into ska music can’t write an I.O.U. without a few spelling mistakes. Happy people do not make good writers. Bottom line. But with Rude‘s resources, perhaps they can build something that, to my knowledge, doesn’t exist: a cool, fun, sharp-looking, information-packed, knowledgeable, , well-written magazine covering all things ska-related. Hell, they’ve made a damn good start.
