Dedicated to “The Rise & Fall of Safari Sam’s,” Chairman Ralph’s Desperate Times is back with issue number two, which is a whopping ninety-five pages. What readers get with the heft is a hearty tribute to the legendary Huntington Beach, Calif., live music venue that saw a stunning parade of bands in its brief, but intense, two-year existence (1984-1986). Just some of the bands that played Sam’s were The Jesus & Mary Chain (making their U.S. debut), the Meat Puppets, the Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Social Distortion, Black Flag, the Pandoras, Beat Poets, Red Kross, and Jane’s Addiction. Through vibrant oral histories with musicians and poets who performed at the venue, and in interviews with co-owners Gil Fuhrer and Sam Lanni, Chairman Ralph paints a vivid portrait of the storied venue that’s especially vital for those of us who weren’t there. Though “the doors slam shut, and the lights go out,” says Chairman Ralph, Safari Sam’s “lives on in people’s memories.” And in this zine. –Gina Murrell (Chairman Ralph, chairmanralph.com)