Yeastie Girlz Saved My Life: How Punk Made Me Less Of An Asshole
Colin Burrowes
24 Pages
https://chachionacid.bandcamp.com
https://microcosmpublishing.com/
Yeastie Girlz Saved My Life: How Punk Made Me Less Of An Asshole is a ~10.5cm x ~18cm, black and white perzine about how the punk group Yeastie Girlz had a huge impact on Colin’s life and “made a kid from a small, southern Ontario town think deeply about racism, homosexuality, feminism… [and] anthems that have set the tone for the choices I have made since.”
Yeastie Girlz opens with Microcosm Publishing details for learning more about the publisher of this zine. From there, we get into the zine of the zine, and how could we not start with lyrics?
“So you’d better not listen to us if you’re a prude
‘Cause we’re gonna get dirty, and we’re gonna get rude”
– Yeastie Girlz, “Talkin’ Shit”
Talk about setting a tone! But where opening with those lyrics definitely caught my attention, Colin then introduces Yeastie Girlz a bit, and I read these three words put together for the first time: vaginacore acapella rap. Three words, and I was beyond intrigued.
Colin writes about having the opportunity to interview Yeastie Girlz in 2023, and how that interview lead to this zine:
“I was ready to ask the questions, but when Toloui turned the question around on me, I was taken off guard. I was not satisfied with my answer and so this zine is the reply I wish I had given.”
What a beautiful reason to make a zine.
Colin goes on to write about the impact of punk music and how there is more to it than people often think. (I feel the same about metal.) Colin then gets more firmly into perzine territory by writing about early life in a small, agricultural community always behind in the times. From the eye-opening impact from ‘Ovary Action’ to the seriousness of HIV/AIDS awareness that fed into ‘Put A Lid On It’.
The layering of the lyrics within the perzine is excellent. Everything feels smooth from writing, to lyrics, and back to Colin’s writing again. Yeastie Girlz explores topics of sexuality within relationships as well as self-exploration set against the contrasting backgrounds of punk music and small town religion.
As someone who has also grown up with music that impacted me deeply and songs that act like time machines to certain points in my life, I didn’t need to know the specific songs to enjoy this zine. (If anything, discovering new-to-me music makes it all the more fun.) There’s even a small reference section, which I always appreciate.
All up, Yeastie Girlz Saved My Life: How Punk Made Me Less Of An Asshole was a very interesting read. The fact that I also grew up in a fairly small agricultural place with plenty of churches around made the comparisons and contrasts all the more interesting for me. I almost feel like this zine could be a ‘taster’ and there’s even more to explore.
But, of course, I’ll leave that up to Colin.