Punk Monk Press/Magazine

  kvrv isn't a fan of u's, but they are a huge fan of creativity.  Described as "Bowie goes Goth", this four-piece features glam rock, grindcore, and gothic influences.  They reminisce on the ups and downs of the production process:  "We recorded our first album  during one of the UK's periodic covid lockdowns, which occasionally proved tricky as we weren't always in the same part of the country, or the same country, even. But we somehow managed to finish, only to find our former manager was threatening to sue us... Which was inconvenient, to say the least."  They persevered, finding a much nicer manager:  "(Our new manager) sent us away on a lovely yacht... We floated around for a couple of weeks, writing new songs and being very naughty under the beautiful ink black sky."  The result: bvmp n grind, their second, and latest, work.  "It's down and dirty and rocky and the strings buzz and we go hoarse every now and then but you know...

--Rachel Bere  

red and blue in a sweaty dance Skin glistening in three dimensions,  fingers stretched towards them pick and choose A thumb rubs the smooth nubs of the tv remote and I’m supposed to want my limbs to lift from the screen exposed to filmy eyes behind paper glasses paper that came from a redwood tree older than a great-great-grandmother’s birth I am watched through the ground-up valves, the flattened pulp of a heart. -- E.E. Jacobs

Will landed in Hanoi, Vietnam—coming from Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The first vivisection of streets and alleyway exploded with sights and noises, unlike anything he’d seen or heard. There were motorbikes revving by, people were shouting, selling things like dead chickens and peanuts. The air was bad. He knew he was near the walking district. He went there. He found himself enraptured by the dark sky covering Hanoi like a blanket. A city of nine million people came to life within the hum of traffic echoing from conversations in Vietnamese. People spat out the shells of sunflower seeds. They drank yellow tea. Talking, laughing, they slammed their fists down. They ordered more cans of beer. Tourists flocked nearby. Beer was fifty cents USD. After drinking two cans and walking in circles, Will came across a taxi driver. “Hey, where you going?” “Nowhere." “Where you from?” In a few minutes the young Vietnamese man was video chatting with his wife. He turned the phone to show Will. Will w...

  She’s corgi.    Mom had her since a puppy.   My mom, Willett went into Cresthaven, she couldn’t keep her.    Is there a newsletter? Oh, a webpage. If you could put up Lady’s picture. She is a sweetie. I think Lady was the only one Willett knew towards the end. Cresthaven didn’t allow dogs, but Willett couldn’t have her. We have her in a crate     in the foyer off the kitchen. Sam and I,   we have two teens, we’re out all day and Lady’s fine. She’s seventeen.    Oh, a place in Weatherford takes seniors. That’s a drive from Ozona. Like you, I’m out showing  properties. Sam’s on call with Texas Power.   The kids with their activities, Michelle’s in band. Maybe your webpage. Lady’s   a sweetheart. Willett, people used to say, She is just like your child. We had dogs growing up in Witchita Falls. No, we can’t   keep her. That’s out of the question. A shelter here in Ozona.    I hadn’t known. That would be ...