The band Souled American was a creature of Chicago’s heady music ecosystem of the late ’80s and early ’90s, releasing half a dozen albums between 1988 and 1995, each one capturing a sluggish and deeply secretive beauty. Although occasionally celebrated in the alt-country realm, the band was ultimately one of those genre-of-one entities: It subsisted outside the boundaries, doomed to flourish for the benefit of the few. Yet this band has a weird habit of wiggling out of hibernation. Perhaps its strangest turn of events came back in 1997, when the music novelist Camden Joy launched “Fifty Posters About Souled American.” Herein, a posse of enthusiasts (among them Jonathan Lethem and Richard Gehr) obliquely raved of Souled American’s music on posters that were pasted, guerilla-fashion, on the unsuspecting streets of New York.

Since then, the band, while never broken up, has popped up only intermittingly. Now comes Souled American’s grandest reemergence. Next week, Jealous Butcher Records will release Sanctions, the group’s absurdly belated seventh album. The record is time in a bottle—the core duo Chris Grigoroff and Joe Adducci seem untouched by the years. They’re as slow as ever, 33 1/3 creatures in a world set at 45. Again, Joy (the writer, if not the sentiment) is on hand, as the group’s personal Jon Landau. We heartily recommend seeking out this record! Just as cool? Souled American may be coming to your town: Starting on April 18 up in Catskill, New York, the duo rolls through the States, including a stop at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn on April 19. Get thee out of the house to soothe your Souled. Check out Souled American pronto!

The wonderful journal Cometbus was hatched in the Bay Area punk world of the early ’80s and continues to flourish from its perch in New York, unleashed on a deliciously sphinxlike publication schedule. Its most recent numbered issue (#59!) an excellent “post-mortem” investigation of the underground, came out a few years ago. We have been craving more ever since.

In a sense, the Cometbus drought ends here. The publication’s proprietor, Aaron Cometbus, recently issued a quartet of mini-zines, divided thematically, largely culling previously published pieces that had been scattered to the winds. While not formal issues, the tiny publications bear all the charm readers have come to expect: Monsieur Cometbus’s meticulous writing, his truly independent pearls of wisdom, his casual intellectual swerves, and, for a few pages, his familiar handwritten text. The publications are miniscule in size, but there’s a ton to enjoy. One theme covertly weaving through the zines involves the role of such publications themselves. “It may be hard to believe that in 1989 there was nothing in the small press about how its participants lived,” the editor writes in “Cometbus Mail,” which gathers some letters written to the magazine in the ’80s and ’90s. “The personal was submerged…The gulf between real life and how we expressed ourselves in print was massive, and I wanted to bridge the gap.” (He notes how the independent press has since overcompensated, stressing autobiographies “to the exclusion of all else.”)

Meanwhile, in “Let’s Talk About the Mainstream,” Cometbus writes of print publications morphing into the depressing world of online-only. “Without print, a publication isn’t truly public and can’t maintain its moral authority,” he writes. “It ceases to be a pleasure and becomes just part of the nervous electronic feed that we should all get away from rather than increase.” Cheers. Get thee to a bookstore to find Cometbus’s latest salvos! (In New York? Brave the snow this week and try Codex Books, right across from CBGB and the lovely Bad Brains mural.)

Sound Collector went through periods of extended hiatuses, but recently has enjoyed a welcome return to print. This season brings a handsome new edition: Sound Collector Audio Review issue #8! Freshly available at the entrances of the nation’s better record stores and orderable online, the issue features a slew of sharp essays on varied musical topics. As always, there’s an impressive array of contributing writers (Bob Nickas, Lowbrow alum Michaelangelo Matos) as well as visual artists: Essays are illustrated by enlightened hotshots of the Chelsea gallery ecosystem (Hope Gangloff!) and underground press (Galactic Zoo Dossier’s Steve Krakow!) alike. In a publisher’s note, longtime honcho Laris Kreslins claims this will be the last Sound Collector Audio Review issue. Here’s hoping that it returns yet again in the near future. In the meantime, do whatever is humanly possible to get your hands on Sound Collector Audio Review #8!

The Portland, Oregon zine Basic Paper Airplane was born in 2005. In the ensuing years, it has issued a series of issues varying by topic but united by the exquisite prose of its editor, Joshua James Amberson. Now, Basic Paper Airplane celebrates its run with a super sharp 20^th anniversary edition, “Mailbag.” The issue, #16, features a cluster of writers contributing short essays springing from a few prompts, including 20 (age, stretch of time) and a postcard written to their clueless younger selves back in ’05. Abutting these pieces are essays by Amberson, mostly around on the topic of the mighty, embattled United States Postal Service—that wonderful engine of small publications everywhere.

Basic Paper Airplane is available in smart stores and through Amberson’s lovely distro, Antiquated Future. Buy it today, then buy a second copy tomorrow! Happen to be in the Pacific Northwest? Then, you’re in luck! On Saturday, December 6^th, head over to Portland’s own Grover’s Curiosity Shop for a release event, featuring readings by some of the issue’s contributors and music from Ontembaar. Not in Portland? Check out Antiquated Future and snag a copy for your friendly mail carrier to bring, right to your door!

“Gabba Gabba We Accept You: The Wondrous Tale of Joey Ramone” is a picture-book biography of our beloved Joey, written by Lowbrow editor Jay Ruttenberg and illustrated by Lucinda Schreiber. It was published earlier this year by Drag City. Buy it today straight through Drag City or even that website that owns Whole Foods! Actually, why don’t you buy a few and give them out to neighborhood children over the holidays?

Except, that is, if you happen to live in Philadelphia! If such is the case, On Saturday, November 29, head directly to the amazing Partners and Son, where the author will be hanging out and signing books. Partners and Son is a fabulous store, and you can pick up a comic, print, or even a T-shirt while you’re there! In fact, the signing falls on Small Business Saturday, and the store will be having a massive kid’s book sale throughout the day. And check this out: the event is being presented by Sound Collector, the wonderful Philadelphia-based music magazine. (We’re pretty sure this is one of the first publications that gave proper, lengthy coverage to the White Stripes.) And do note, Sound Collector Audio Review issue #8 is currently being prepared. Businesses of the world, be on alert: There is still time to purchase ad space in this handsome independent print publication! You can also donate funds. Do check it out—and get thee to Partners and Son on November 29, for all your Gabba Gabba needs.

Dougherty’s lively film has everything you might desire in a Friedman documentary, including a flow of art popping up on screen, funny talking head testimonials, and, especially, tales from the raconteur subject himself. (It also may be the first time the Lowbrow Reader has been mentioned in a movie—will the Spaceballs sequel follow suit?) Now that the wild World Series is over, return thee to your TV! Screen Drew Friedman: Vermeer of the Borscht Belt—via Amazon, Apple, and other such benevolent companies—and marvel at its wit and wisdom!

But, never fear! This month, the publisher introduces an affordable paperback edition. In fact, this book is a bona fide bargain! Edited by Fashion Projects founder Francesca Granata, the book features interviews from way back in 2005 through 2022, including work from all five Fashion Projects issues as well as its website. Dig into Q&As with Harold Koda, Robin Givhan, Guy Trebay, Suzy Menkes, Stefano Tonchi and other hotshots. Let us proudly note here that Fashion Projects was born in the same Chelsea apartment that coughed out the Lowbrow Reader. 

A New York book event should be rolled out in due time. For now, only those fashionistas of Norway are covered: On October 14, Oslo’s Stasjonsmesterboligen International Library of Fashion Research hosts a conversation with Dr. Granata about the book. The conversation will be moderated by the fashion critic and archivist Elise By Olsen and introduced by Hanne Eide, curator of contemporary fashion at the National Museum of Norway.

In the meantime, those unfortunates who cannot make it to Oslo must buy Fashion Projects: 15 Years of Fashion in Dialogue, pronto! Pick the book up at once through Intellect, the publisher’s U.S. arm University of Chicago Press, or other outlets!

The children’s book “Gabba Gabba We Accept You: The Wondrous Tale of Joey Ramone” was unleashed on the known universe earlier this summer by Drag City. Written by Lowbrow editor Jay Ruttenberg and illustrated by Lucinda Schreiber, the book has met with some lovely praise—do check out these kind write-ups in Moonbuilding and the Kirkus Review.

Since its publication, “Gabba Gabba We Accept You” has been celebrated with events in New York and London. Now, it hits the other great city of the world: Chicago, home to the book’s mighty publisher. On Saturday morning, August 16, City Lit Books hosts a story time with the “Gabba” writer. Kids are encouraged; all are very much welcome. Come on down to City Lit Books in Chicago’s beautiful Logan Square—and maybe even buy a book!

The Joey Ramone picture-book biography “Gabba Gabba We Accept You” was brought into the world last month by Drag City Books—and, really, what could the world want more than a children’s book about Joey Ramone? Written by Lowbrow editor Jay Ruttenberg and illustrated by Lucinda Schreiber, the book is making smart fans of all ages: Please do check out this School Library Journal article by A Fuse #8 Production’s incomparable Betsy Bird.

In June, “Gabba Gabba We Accept You” was welcomed with a trio of fun-filled events throughout New York (at 192 Books in Chelsea, Codex Bookstore near CBGB, and Queens’ own Kew and Willow, near the Ramones’ original Forest Hills stomping ground). Punk, of course, originated in New York before blowing eastward to London. Now, the “Gabba” book charts the same course! This July brings a pair of readings in London, and we urge all punk-inclined Londoners to join us there.

On Wednesday, July 23, Mr. Ruttenberg appears at the Denmark Street location of the fabled Rough Trade Shop.

On Thursday, July 24, “Gabba” heads to the lovely Artwords Bookshop at noon (or, for you Englishmen, “midday”).

Come on down! You can buy a book at the shops—or, of course, through Drag City itself!

A bird flew into a window but its reflection kept on going. Its reflection tried to live the life that the bird would have lived, but it could only fly in a straight line. In fact, this is what always happens with birds. The bird-reflection flew back into the window, then flew into another window and rescued itself—“almost!,” said the bird’s reflection.

All of the blurbs for my plagiarized book are pretty much predictable—enraged (e.g., “Hey, I can’t believe you did this!!”), or indignant (“I don’t get where you get off; you just took my whole book and copy-pasted it”)—but, on the other hand, look at some of the big names I got: Ernest Hemingway, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jack Kerouac, Jane Austen, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Oh, wait: those are just the names of the authors I plagiarized. No wonder they aren’t even more upset: in a way, they are credited on the back of the book! Still, I think I deserve full credit for the work, and for the blurbs—“Hey, I think I should step in here; I did not write a blurb only so that you could”—all right, all right: that’s also in the book, Jack Kerouac! Remember?!! And blurb part is over! And what’s with the tone of that blurb; that is not your best writing! I am questioning whether you even wrote that superstar blurb. “Hey! I am writing this right now and I am Jack Kerouac—no, I am writing this, and it is my work!” I guess anyone can write an outraged blurb. Hey, wait! What if I just remove the authors’ names from the back blurbs? And, also, huh? Isn’t the book already published?!! “No”??!!

Lucky for me, the driver’s education teacher drew a mirage instead of an overpass, when teaching overhead clearance. Now, the overpass thinks I have a diagonal flying-car.

What if after they mated, male salmon didn’t die, they were tortured?

And here I am on Easy Street. I got here just fine, thank you very much. O.K., well, the directions were a bit challenging to follow. But now that I’ve driven down Difficult Course, the Detours! Detours! Detours! Bumper-to-Bumper Traffic “Interstate Highway” System, and Back Where You Started Circle—and, by the way, what were they thinking building Heavy Construction Drive, All Cobblestones Racetrack, Sure to One Day Have Congestion Tiny Lane, Two Ways at Once Street, Half-a-Drawbridge (“I didn’t think my drawbridge would kill anybody,” said Hetch Car-Accidents, creator of all of the streets listed. “Turns out when the drawbridge goes down,” Car-Accidents continued, sheepishly,” there’s still no other half of a bridge there. They thought I was saying only half of the bridge should be ‘draw’… I meant the whole bridge. It just seemed like a different kind of drawbridge that would be awesome to have,” he continued. “I mean, not with no other half! Not with no other half! Pssssh! Pssssh! One of these days I’ll write half of the whole thing down in an autobiography. You know, I’m listed as one of Car and Driver’s “100 Most Compelling People.” They have me on there as an honorable mention.”), and Just Parking Abandoned Tow Road? Well, now that I’m here, the directions are easy (Whew, that Hetch Car-Accidents digression was a doozy; I’m exhausted!): just stay on Easy Street! Oh, wait, wait, what’s this? Stay on Easy Street until it becomes Rough Go Dead End? Oh well. I guess I should have stayed on Infinite Tolls Expressway.

Some ideas for e-mail: out-of-office replies block, contacts trash (I know, but just for the contacts), “Sent or Received?” folder scramble, no-out-of-office reply, “Let It Go” random daily e-mail delete (it’s in your contacts trash—but for how long?), out-of-contacts e-mail block, send out-of-office reply without a subject, out-of-office undo, and improved spam.

“You’re fired! This is the boss. Uh-oh. Oh, wait, it isn’t bad for the person being fired to know it’s the boss. Well, wait, maybe it is bad. Well, either way, I hope they didn’t hear me. Yeah. O.K. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. What? I’m fired! O.K.!”