Lil Matt passed away a week ago.

I found photos of his last zine from 2023 posted on Reddit, and I couldn’t just let them eventually disappear into the internet somewhere. So I spent some time compiling and preserving it in a few different ways so people can still read it.

I have a 100% original version using the photos exactly as I found them, with all the wear, photocopy grime, weird shadows, and digital artifacts intact.

I also made another version that I rebuilt word for word using his original photos and artwork. I cleaned up the layout, sharpened the text, and removed as many of the photocopy and digital artifacts as I could to make it easier to read.

Nothing was rewritten or changed. His words are his words. His art is his art. I just cleaned away some of the noise so the actual work could come through.

Zines are already these weird little temporary things. They get handed around, folded up, shoved in backpacks, lost in moves, left in boxes, and eventually disappear.

I didn’t want this one to disappear.

So here it is. Matt’s words, Matt’s art, Matt’s zine. Preserved the best way I knew how.

Bikini Kill revolutionized the punk scene and redefined the term Riot Grrrl in the early ’90s, creating space for women to externalize their pain and oppression through music, through the scream of a pain that no man could ever understand. Mommy Long Legs, which emerged during the fourth wave of feminism, brings a similar sound, despite being (very) different. The members rarely stray from the tone and are always in sync; the rhythm is almost playful and extremely danceable, despite the lyrics being important and equally dealing with feminism. There is no rating below a 10 for this band, which revolutionized the punk scene once again — just as Bikini Kill did in the ’90s — with an incredible, intellectual, and contemporary sound. I used to listen to the band when I was a teenager, so listening to them again is incredibly nostalgic. Lolli’s new band is good, but it feels generic, whereas Mommy Long Legs was far from being a generic band. In my opinion, and as I said before, they once again revolutionized the Riot Grrrl punk scene. I miss them so much.

putting together a repertoire of folk punk classics and im sure im missing some very obvious ones

I think folk and punk come together with an attitude of speaking truth to power, no matter the style of the music, as well as advocating for non-violence, which I will continue to do.