While in Austin for South By Southwest, I had thrust into my hands a copy of Misprint magazine’s March 2006 issue. The zine’s catchphrase immediately hooked me: Hyperliterate Smut for the Disaffected. Misprint’s editors had also hung a banner on the Flamingo Cantina club that bore the zine’s logo and the proclamation Predictably Ironic Since 2005. This has potential, I figured. I was right.

I immediately began reading Misprint and didn’t stop laughing for the entire issue (it’s a slim book, but still, this hardly ever happens with any publication, especially free ones you chance upon). Misprint’s writers hold nothing sacred and poke caustic, satirical, and sometimes scatological fun at the Austin music scene (and the music industry in general) with an acuity that reminds me of the defunct Spy and The Onion.

I enjoyed Misprint so much I asked its creators to start writing for The Stranger. Look for their contributions in the near future. In the meantime, peruse Misprint’s mission statement:

Our vapid lives are trite and meaningless. Misprint Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to exposing our hobbies and pastimes for what they are: a complete and utter waste of time. Pathetic Austin activities we tend to cover include: live music, outsider art, art openings, bands, tatoos, nightclubs, boutiques, thriftstores, retro and kitsch culture, piercings, skateboarding, expensive natural food, record stores, independent cinema, DJ’s, comedians, guns, smoking, gentrification, getting laid, publishing, graphic design, typography and any other bullshit you pretend to enjoy.