I admit it sounds stupid to give something a “high ten,” as in a double high five, but that’s what I feel like saying. The brainchild of Mitch Clem, he coupled four top-shelf Slow Death tracks to a forty-page comic book, featuring a preamble about Mitch mistaking The Dead Kennedys’ “Moon over Marin” for Flipper (“Sex Bomb,” perhaps?) two tour stories, an intermission mock advertisement, and a guest appearance by fellow independent cartoonist Liz Prince. The format took me back to my childhood, when the record would go “ding!” and you’d turn the page to follow along to the story. Fact #1: Punks—sorry, punx—will never rule the world if they can’t fix their own vehicles. Subfact #1: Your vehicle knows when it is the furthest from possible repair and it will break down there, especially if you’re traveling with an upright bass. Fact #2: I have a lot of first-hand experience with piss pants-ers and roaming, drunk, “that’s not the toilet!” pissers. But I’ve never read a story that had those two elements, plus an added twist. Nice. Fact #3: The secret ingredient to peppermint Rumple Minze is despair. This package—vinyl and comic combo—is a testament to how beautiful and competent DIY punk can be on its best days.
–todd (Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club, silversprocket.net)