Neil Boyd started and wrote the Big Muff fanzine, named after the Mudhoney LP, in the early ’90’s. He was originally based in Fleet, before moving up to London. The fanzine ran to 10 issues, if you count the halves and renamed releases, and often included a flexidisc or cassette. Each included interviews and reviews which are listed below with a link to the .PDF version hosted on the www.BigMuff.org website – so you can read the whole thing or choice morsels at your leisure.
Big Muff
At a time when cut & paste meant scissors and glue and word processing was a typewriter or very early Brother WP, Boyd knocked out a 24 pages banger of pure fanzinery. It featured articles and interviews with Clare Grogan, Fat Tulips, Motorcycle Boy, Parachute Men, Patsy Cline, PO!, Popguns, Shop Assistants, and Spinning Jennys. The Flexidisc carried Fat Tulips’ A Girl Called Suicide and Spinning Jenny’s Splendid.
Big Muff No.2
Boosted to 36-pages Big Muff No.2 hits a broad swathe of indie and unsigned bands from ’90: Bleach, Blur, Lush, Mayomberos Alive, Screaming Custard, The Bollweevils, The Charlottes, Th’ Faith Healers, The Fat Tulips, The Groove Farm, The Joyce McKinney Experience, The KLF, The Love Buttons, The Popinjays, Vicious Kiss, Who Moved the Ground?. The attached Flixidisc carried Th’ Faith Healers’ Domehead, Who Moved the Ground?’s Pretentious, The Love Buttons Banging My Head and Screaming Custard’s Ashtray.
Big Muff No.3
A rather condensed 16 pages, but it did come with a 22-track compilation tape. There were interviews with The Butterflies, Bubble-Eyed Dog Boys and Daisy Chainsaw; and articles on Heavenly and Babes in Toyland. It also carried a short review of Pretty Green and Frayed Edge‘s gig on 28 March ’91 at The George, Ash Vale by none other than Sid Stovold of Who Moved the Ground? It’s also the first-time reviews appear for releases by A.C. Temple, The Infant God, Ruth’s Refrigerator, Love Dolls, Shlonk, Hush Palace, The Chemistry Set, Nautical William, plus a look at some other fanzines.
Big Muff No. 3 1/2
Boyd himself states that there “must have been in a lull when there were less bands around. It’s kind of half-sized.” It’s still 8 pages bigger that No.3 but didn’t come with a compilation cassette or flexidisc. It still packs a punch with interviews with The Primitives, Whipped Cream, Hole, A.C. Temple and Ween. The review section is much expanded, covering releases from Flood, Tonyall, Phobia, Orzic Tenticles, Some Have Fins, Thin White Rope, Our American Cousins, Jello Biafra, Spitfire, Dead Allison, Trotsky Icepick, Poopshovel, SKAW, Skin Yard, Big Drill Car, No Man, The Cranberries, Chemical People, Flower, The Frames, Great Northern Electrics, Nine Inch Nails, Upsidedown Cross, Young Fresh Fellows, Basinger, Ramblin’ Johnny Stomachpump and The Village Idiots, Big Sun, Pop Am Good, Beat Happening, Hayfoot Strawfoot, Blind Justice, Imaginery, and Spasmodics, as well as a couple of compilations including the Guilford band focused Parafornia ’91.
Big Muff No.4
Boyd had moved to London by the time No.4 was [published and this may be the reason it focused on a number of American bands who’d visited the UK in the proceeding months. It continued the expanding trend with 32 pages dedicated to interviews with Action Swingers, Blake Babies, The Wedding Present, Our American Cousins, Sunshot, Dharma Bums, Young Fresh Fellows and Zu-Zu’s Petals; and articles about Nina Hagen and The Emotionals. But it was once again Flexidisc free…but the review section literally covers everything Boyd was sent after No.3 1/2 – it’s exhaustive – with his assessment of releases from: The Hair & Skin Trading Company, The Leaving Trains, Fairfield Parlour, Big Wheel, Gobblehoof, Main, Headcleaner, The Death Folk, Sun Dial, Love Battery, Afghan Wigs, theMonkeywrench, Robin Casinader, This is Serious Mum, Jack Brewer Man, The Bedflowers, Endino, Chemical People, All, King Missile, Ed Kuepper, Sproton Layer, Cod, This Replica, Rollins Band, Spitfire, Swans, Jellystone Park, The Marmite Sisters, Trains and Boats and Planes, Love Blobs, Sun Dial, Lydia Lunch, Buffalo Tom, Chicken Scratch, The Daytrippers, Terminal Power Company, Jacobs Mouse, Spinners, 100 Days Like This, Chainsaw Kittens, Dillan Dance, Godflesh, Band of Susans, Moist, Float, Cruel Frederick, The Spectrum Zero, Machines of Loving Grace, Calamity Jane, Roachmill, No FX, The Tony Head Experience, The Hypnotics, The Dylans, Slunk, Passing Clouds, The Mabuses, Nikki Sudden, Moonflowers, The Aints, Hungry I, Pray TV, Dash Rip Rock, Gallon Drunk, Hard-Ons, Daisy Chainsaw, The Bollweevils, The Would Be’s, The God Machine, The Fish John West Reject, Maria Anjelica, Violet Town, American Music Club, Edsel Auctioneer, Darkside, Green Magnet School, Six Finger Satellite, Come, Ozric Tenticles, and Melting Eskimos; plus a number of compilations, of course. Then there are gig reviews for Blowfish and Huggy Bear.
Big Muff No.5
A ‘mediocre issue’ according to Boyd, but the Flexidisc was back with tracks from the Action Swingers and Love Blobs. The cover featured the London home of Big Muff, Boyd’s bedroom in Clapham. But Big Muff was getting the attention of labels press agents, and this saw a number of interviews with Headcleaner, Heavenly, The Scum Pups, Ed Kuepper, Henry Rollins, Milk, Pavement, Senseless Things, All and Antenna, some of which were perhaps were pushed by these PR pros. There is also an interesting piece on The College Music Journal seminar in New York with God Is My Co-Pilot, Velocity Girl, Best Kissers in the World, Holy Rollers and Th’ Faith Healers. But it’s the seven pages of often acerbic one-liner reviews that really take you on a time trip and test your memory and have you undertaking quick Google, covering releases from: Bettie Serveert, Poverty Stinks, The Wanadies, Bad Actors, Tabitha Zu, The Flesh Eaters, Pat Snear, Chainsaw Kittens, Tumbleweed, Polyphenus, Whipping Boy, Blowfish, Beat Happening, Vertigo, Weird Sex, Lovehappy, Lunachicks, Dillon Fence, Naked Truth, Presents of Mind, Buffalo Tom, Carter USM, Sunshot, Poppinjays, Sprinkler, Codeine, Mercury Rev, Scissormen, Monster Zero, Supersuckers, Crazy Alice, Headcleaner, Billy Childish, Passing Clouds, Earwig, Rubicon, Buffalo Tom, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Whipped Cream, Eggstone, Freefalling, Peach, Mint 400, Strangelove, Bark Psychosis, Come, China Drum, Neurosis, Daisy Chainsaw, Antenna, No Man, The Haywains, Space Cowboys, Whipped Cream, This Perfect Day, Rein Sanction, Smashing Pumpkins, Cudgels, Young Gods, Hyperhead, Walt Mink, Seconds Out Round One, Mudhoney, Naked i, Juliana Hatfield, Overwelming Colorfast, Afghan Wigs, Poverty Stinks, Eggstone, Ultraviolence, Big Ray, Throwing Muses, Strangelove, Razorblade Smile, Gorgeous Space Virus, James T Rao, Nevertheless, Musical Chairs, Her Tears, Parasites, Our American Cousins, Chainsaw Kittens, Action Swingers, Wat Tyler, The Chameleons, Sunshot, Foam, Sun Dial, Tumblweed, Belly, Radiohead, Seaweed, Cerebral Corps, Hypnolovewheel, X-Tal, The Beastie Boys, This Perfect Day, Freefalling, Cats Pav, Blind Mr Jones, Surgery, Alice Donut, Swineherd, Bel Canto, Flop, Drop Nineteens, Juliana Hatfield, and Antenna.
Big Muff No.6
Described by Boyd as the riot grrl issue, he’d also reportedly stopped letting press agents influence him. No.6 carried interviews with Velocity Girl, Even as We Speak, and Credit to the Nation; an article about Huggy Bear; and the flexidisc gave us tracks by Drugstore and Ventilator. The review section still stretched to six pages, but with fewer one line disses and a little more mainstream, giving us Boyd’s impression of releases from: Hole, Lois, Revolver, Sugar Shack, Mother Goose, Thin White Rope, Mega City Four, PJ Harvey, Cows, Fastbacks, Radial Spangle, Pavement, Antenna, The Fall, Hearts Throbs, Truly, Solace, Lighthouse, Ice-T, Laurels, Hazel, Rocket from the Crypt, Furnace Face, Nice, Gallon Drunk, Animals That Swim, Swineherd, Creaming Jesus, Molly Half Head, Bridget, Maxine, Common Language, DOA, Seefeel, Th’ Faith Healers, Ringmaster, Skyscraper, Sunshot, Young Fresh Fellows, Vanilla Traintrack, Steroid, American Music Club, Blood Sausage, Sudanese Witch Hunt, Dreamscape, Avocado Baby, Capital Wow, Witchdocters, Junk Orange, Sandira, Sloan, Superchunk, Earth, Walkabouts, Crane, Madder Rose, Gumball, Scaredycat, Flinch, Trumens Water, God Machine, ZuZu’s Petals, Osmium, Mint 400, G.W. McLennan, Fastbacks, Chia Pet, Janitor Joe, Delicious Monster, Waking Hours, Pram, Belly, Lovechild, Unsane, Lovechild, Grenadine, Fifth Column, and Lois. Plus there were a smattering of compilations reviews, that included Snakebite City Vol.1.
One of Us Should Remove the Shades No.8
There was no No.7, although technically No.6 was No.7, and Boyd changed the fanzines name to One of Us Should Remove the Shades, taken from the French film Subway. There were also changes in style in an attempt to get away from what he described as ‘a factory-produced image.’ The record reviews were now the “pull out and throw away” centre pages called “the shit” section – A dig at the agents who were sending records his way. There were interviews with Pram, Luscious Jackson, Madder Rose, Drugstore, Trumans Water and The Muffs. The attached flexidisc carried tracks by Peach and Flinch. The shit covered, with often just a star rating, way too many releases to list. There was also a letter from Andrea of Garden of Delights.
One of Us Should Remove the Shades No.9
The double flexidisc issue, was only 16-pages, but was packed with gig reviews, forgoing the interviews of prior issues, covering Madder Rose at Dingwalls, Camden on 24 June ’94, Tripmaster Monkey, Helium at Dublin Castle on 11 July ’94, Cuckooland and Xerox Girls at the West End Centre, Aldershot on 9 July ’94; God Is My Co-Pilot; and Emperor Julian and 18th Dye at Russell Arms on 22 July ’94; and a very long record review section, that does include a rather nice synopsis of Aldershot’s Who Moved the Ground?’s The Chase / What’s That single; and once again as a centre pullout.
Dog Eared No.10
There was a considerable gap between No.9 and No.10, Dog Eared, Boyd’s latest moniker for his ‘zine, and a return to form, crammed into 14 pages, rekindled by the Go-Go’s!!! In addition to the Go-Go’s, he looked at Persecution Complex, Pink Kross, Yummy Fur, there’s an interview with Butterfingers by Clive Gedge, he of the Waaaah! fanzine, a review of the Slampt label’s Electric Jet Mission compilation, The Muffs, Sky Cries Mary, and Cub.
During the height of Big Muff and at the point where the name changed, Boyd was interviewed for Xerox Heaven, the fanzine for fanzines, in which he admits to starting Big Muff in the hopes of ‘speaking’ with Alex Taylor, vocalist with The Motorcycle Boys and formerly of Shop Assistants. Boyd also spent some time writing for early ’90s music magazine Siren.
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