Lollypop Shoved Up My Ass

While not every page of this zine was heinous, I resisted the trash bin on this one only to make a general point about independent zine culture. Some zines work brilliantly, some don’t. Lollypop goes beyond both of those categories to simply work against. The “thing” against which I speak is the spirit of indie culture itself. Categorically speaking, I’ll allow that working in the circle of independence allows for wide interpretation of what fits and what doesn’t. Hence, it’s inherent appeal. Still, I feel I must single out this confection in particular to illustrate what I feel is inappropriate subject matter and the application thereof. This zine has a strong popular music focus and practically every band reviewed in this zine (and others I’ve seen in previous issues of Lollypop) is supported by a major record label. And while I disagree with the notion that the only good band is an indie band, riddle me this: How does one validate giving further nods in an independent zine to something that is already so heavily promoted? In this case, I am not questioning the author’s taste in music (I don’t have enough space). Only that she thinks it prudent to include bands like Billy Talent and singers like Christina Aguilera in a photocopied, hand-bound piece of work. Therein lies the descrepancy between that and the spirit of indie culture itself. Therefore, it works against. While I’d never dismiss the notion of covering something already popular in a zine, this author has to be more aware of the value of independent culture and the possibilities of what it can promote. In practice, it is able to employ any medium, including hand-made publications for the sake of bringing for that which is not often noticed, or simply overlooked. Most importantly, one can discover the dire need to provide an alternative to mainstream culture at its heart. In Lollypop, this point was not only missed entirely, but seemed to never be initial target. (carolyn tripp)

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