I have no rants this time around. There's no telling you how much cooler I am than you. No making fun of skins, straight-edgers, or vegans. Nope. There will be none of that. It's the all website edition of Netpunk, because I'm out of things to scream about right now. Consider yourselves lucky.
AK Press has a super cool online site where you can buy all kinds of cool anarcho/left/alternative press books. They also have a section called "Alternative Resources" that is a list of organizations that have leftist political leanings. If you are looking for a hard to find book, this is an excellent resource, especially if you live somewhere without access to an "alternative" bookstore. You'll find AK Press at http://www.akpress.org/default.html .
See Hear bookstore is now online, and they have a ton of good stuff to read and all of it is available for you to spend your hard earned cash on. See Hear carries magazines, books, videos, trading cards, and other independently produced stuff like that. You can read a review/description of the item, and then click on the title to order if you have a credit card. You can also read excerpts from publications in the area called "The Fanzine Reader." Once again, this is an excellent place to get good reading materials for those of you with nowhere else to turn. You'll find See Hear at http://www.zinemart.com .
Don't know why I haven't discovered this until now, but there is an amazing web site known as BURN! that (in their words) "is an Artist/Activist World Wide Web site dedicated to the art of social change and cultural democracy." This site has an archive of protest art by various artists, links to hundreds of socially conscious organizations, information on home remedies, pages for various politically active home pages, portraits of anarchists from around the world, and more and more and more. If you are the least bit interested in politics you owe it to yourself to spend some time with BURN!, if you aren't interested in politics, at least check out the Citizen Fish pages. You'll find BURN! at http://burn.ucsd.edu/ .
There is quite a bit to look at on the UNITY web page - there's an anti-Nine Inch Nails page, a large list of links to other punk resources, a page where Keeve, the owner of the site, rants about a myriad of topics, the Baltimore scene report, and a few semi-interesting pictures. The links are the most worthwhile thing it has going for it, but some of the other stuff is worth browsing on a rainy day. You'll find UNITY (I still don't understand what the name has to do with anything) at http://jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu/~samhain/punk.html .
Inter-punk (http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/1936/inter.htm) is a fairly new site, but what Eric has put together is better than most. He has the usual links to other pages, but with a twist. As I do with this column, Eric doesn't bother listing another page as a link unless he feels it has something worthwhile. He only gives you the good stuff, under the theory that there are plenty of places that have links to everywhere. I think he's right. In addition, he has a user submittable (!) record review page, stuff on the Cincinnati music scene, rants, and (but this isn't why I like his site so much) the newest copy of this Netpunk column. I think the record review thing is the coolest, so go there and do some writing for him.
If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to check out Aunt Mary's website (http://www.mindspring.com/~acheslow/AuntMary/ ). This site bills itself as "the resource pages for San Francisco independent music" where it features bands, radio stations, small press and fanzines, and stores and mail-order distributors. They also have the latest version of the List (a sheet that tells you what music is coming up at many bay area venues) online, and have a few other links to other non-SF punk sites, and an area called "Faster Pussycat" for online girls/women who have created their own websites. On second thought, even if you aren't going to SF, check it out.
The band Swedish band Nepente! have a site they've put together not only to showcase the stuff that they are doing (lyrics, sound samples, photos, etc) but also the Swedish punk scene. They have a huge list of Swedish punk bands, gigs in Stockholm, stories, links, and advice on how to put together web pages. Lots a stuff here, so spend some time checking it out. The URL for Nepente! is http://www.algonet.se/~nepente/ .
Rocket Fuel online zine has a good start, but needs some more work. By the time you read this, though, it'll probably be chock full o' good stuff. There are interviews with J Church, Mineral, and Hand to Mouth in Issue #1, a few pictures, an editorial, and an area called Kids Stories that didn't work when I tried it. The site looks good though, so here's hoping they get their shit together. Find it at http://www.ilstu.edu/~ddreed/ .
I stumbled across Hi-tech Punk (http://www.ionet.net/~mikec/ ) one night by accident, and I'm not sorry I did. This thing truly is Hi-tech. Don't even bother checking this page out unless you are running the latest and greatest java-enabled web browser, cuz half the shit won't work without it. There's a ton of cool stuff here. Of course, the usual links are present, but there are also chat rooms, virtual reality 3d chat rooms, a page dedicated to meat, musical stuff, and more. One of those places to visit when you have a few hours to kill.
Lupo's Punx Page is reported to be the biggest list of links on the net -- and Lupo is a high school kid from Torrance, California once again proving that age doesn't mean shit when it comes to creativity and/or ambition. This is the place to look for a specific punk band or site, because if it exists, you can probably get there from Lupo's one way or the other. In addition, he has a list of Southern California shows, and will soon be doing record reviews. You could spend a year surfing the internet with the links that Lupo provides, so check it out and enjoy. Lupo's is at http://www.punx.net/lupo/ .
The first band to "send in" their site for review was Lipmonger, a band from Connecticut who has released a couple of cassettes and a 7". I got e-mail from the band defending their naked picture of Jenny McCarthy on their web site. Whatever. Other than that, which is outta place in my opinion, this site is a perfect example of the right way to set up a band web site. Lyrics, bios, photos, song clips, upcoming shows, and links to other pages are all easily accessible from each page, which makes for easy browsing. Quite a bit of information here too. The only problem with the page is a lack of material that would make me want to return to the site a second time. Everything could remain the same for months, other than their upcoming shows, which holds limited interest to me. They should throw in a rant page by one of the members or something, just to keep the material fresh. You'll find the Lipmonger home page at http://www.moonsite.com/lipmonger/ . Remember, if you're in a band, send me the address of your website, and I'll review it here.
That's gonna do it for this month. Hopefully next month I'll have information on how you can scam a free AOL account, but it depends on if someone comes through with that information. Until then, read this column and all past and future columns at http://www.primenet.com/~hanford/maximum.html or e-mail me at hanford@primenet.com. You can, of course, write me at PO Box 752; Boise ID 83701
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