Jimmy Eat World remember when 'MRR' threw their record away
On Monday, legendary punk zine Maximum Rocknroll announced it was ceasing its print publication after 37 years, as reported by BrooklynVegan. Now, it looks like some veteran rock acts are sharing their own stories of MRR‘s past, not the least of which has to be Jimmy Eat World recalling how the zine threw their first-ever submission in the trash.
That’s right, read below as members of the longtime Arizona-based quartet recount a story via Twitter from almost a quarter-century ago, wherein they submitted their debut seven-inch release, entitled One, Two, Three, Four, to the hallowed pages of MRR for a review. Unfortunately, upon receipt, it looks like someone quickly tossed it in the bin.
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Almost 25 years ago we put out our first 7” titled 1,2,3,4. Like any young punk band at the time we sent it into Maximum RocknRoll to be reviewed. A guy named Ray Lujan who wrote for MRR at the time found the 7” thrown away in a trash can.
— Jimmy Eat World (@jimmyeatworld) January 14, 2019
“Almost 25 years ago we put out our first 7″,” they write. “Like any young punk band at the time we sent it into Maximum RocknRoll to be reviewed. A guy named Ray Lujan who wrote for MRR at the time found the 7″ thrown away in a trash can.”
Thankfully, as Jimmy Eat World illustrate in ensuing tweets, some facet of the record compelled this MRR writer recover the disc from the refuse. And it all worked out in the end. The trash-digging journalist got the band in the magazine.
Something about the artwork or the name made Ray dig it out of the trash and give it a listen. He ended up writing a review that was way to generous and when we saw our names in the magazine after getting our copy at @stinkweeds we totally freaked out.
— Jimmy Eat World (@jimmyeatworld) January 14, 2019
That one review opened a lot of doors for us and for that we are forever grateful. Ray, to this day, still comes to every show of ours in the Bay Area, always wearing an A’s hat and a smile. Thanks to @maxrnr for keeping the light on all these years for so many music fans. ???
— Jimmy Eat World (@jimmyeatworld) January 14, 2019
It’s the kind of serendipitous story you might hear from rock and punk bands who thrived on early issues of the iconic punk music and subculture zine—budding garage groups vying to be featured in the pages of the rag that documented their lifestyle.
In a statement on the zine’s website this week, MRR said there would be “three more issues of the fanzine in its current format; later in 2019 we will begin publishing record reviews online alongside our weekly radio show.”
What do you think about the shuttering punk zine? Did you ever pick up a copy of Maximum Rocknroll? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts on the legendary rag.
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