Estrus uber alles!

 

Wanted to put the preorder link for this sure-to-be-amazing forthcoming book, the glory and the story of Estrus Records told for the first time in a deluxe, full color art book from well-known publisher Korero Books in the UK. The bands, the art, the festivals, it's all here! Lots of work by legendary artists like Art Chantry and Coop, plus I'm in there too, sneaky little weasel that I am. If you like lowbrow trash in all its many and wondrous forms, you should nab a copy of this book! Still up for preorder as I pen these deathless words, you can reserve your copy here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/estrus/estrus-shovelin-the-shit-since-87?fbclid=IwAR1JBdxFRdi9uh2hhCHod4illOjP3NgjOwVwOh2N1EZf-3CX1HLCwabW1oU Stay tuned more MORE HIGH-FALUTIN' LITERARY TYPE ACTION!

Flashing back to the very beginning of my professional (?) career (??), here are the 4 covers I drew for the esteemed Canadian rock'n'roll fanzine What Wave. Drawn in my grim teenage bedroom on a farm lost somewhere on the vast prairies, they represent a dim first attempt at grappling with commercial art, rock'n'roll art and all the stuff my life ended up being filled with. Thanks to Dave and Rena for publishing my stuff and making it possible for me to live this bizarre and unnatural lifestyle, and for introducing me to most of my favorite bands. What Wave forever! Stay tuned for MORE ARCHAIC ACTION!

Number of the Beat

Poster for an upcoming night of rockin' rootsy countrified hicksville twang and such happening right here in my benighted home town. Yeah, a show worth going to in this day and age. It's kinda crazy. This was an old pencil drawing that I had done years ago in hopes of having a cool show such as this to make it into the poster for, and lo, in the fullness of time it came to be, just as it was foreseen. Stay tuned for MORE HI-OCTANE HICK ACTION!

Hangin' 5 and Walkin' the Nose...

New poster art for one of the upcoming Mexican shows by Italian guitar whiz Surfer Joe. Wish I could make it to this show, looks like it should be a blast! Ah, well... Stay tuned for MORE BIG BLEACHED BLONDIE ACTION!

Surfer Ghoul

New surf monster art for hip New Joisey monster/rock'n'roll store Groovy Graveyard. They have T-shirts of this art available now! Sorry for the lack of recent posts; mo' new stuff coming soon. STAY TUNED FOR MORE ACTION!

Posterama

 Coupla recent poster gigs: Above, a hip rock'n'roll show coming up next month in scenic Kingston, Ontario; Below the tour poster for the upcoming European shows by super-cool fuzz-laden garage punk combo the Omens. Nice to see rock'n'roll happening someplace in the world cuz it mostly ain't happening here anymore. Anyway, stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Monster Mash Party

Just scanned from the original art for the first time, here's a poster I did in 1993 for a 2 day garage rock fest put on by German label Screaming Apple Records. There used to be a Screaming Apple logo pasted to this art but I guess it fell off sometime in the 24 years since I drew this thing. I was trying to make a name for myself as a monster/rock'n'roll artist at the time so I was packing as much detail as I could into each piece. Looking back on work I was doing back then, a lot of it seems overly cluttered but this one holds up fairly well I think. Nice lineup of bands, wish I'd been able to make it over and see these shows. New stuff coming soon, so... Stay tuned for MORE GRAVEYARD SMASHIN' ACTION!

Rockin' Weird

Got a backlog of stuff to post but first the big news: Rockin' Weird, the first ever book collection of my work is on it's way! With 216 big pages and more than 440 drawings spanning the last 25 years, RW features the best record sleeves, rock'n'roll posters, zine illustrations, comic strips and miscellaneous ephemera of my career, plus a bunch of previously unpublished stuff as well. You can preorder a copy of this majestic tome, surely the most significant book since the Bible, here. Buy two copies in case you drop one in the mashed potatoes. Stay tuned for MORE GIVE A HOOT, READ A BOOK ACTION!

Surf Party Tonight!

Or sometime in November anyway... Poster for an upcoming surf/garage fest in our nation's capital. If you're one of those soulless government bureaucrats bent on destroying everything good about our society or just a regular human, you should go to this if you're in the Ottawa area. I don't fit into either of those categories so ya won't see me there but my old pal Pat put this show together and he's a cat who knows his rock'n'roll so it's sure to be a blast! Stay tuned for MORE SURFIN' IS THE ONLY LIFE, THE ONLY WAY FOR ME ACTION!

Buzzard Barf

Here's a new illustration for my Aussie surf/garage/punk pals the Molting Vultures. I designed this vulture character for 'em a few years back and had to relearn how to draw him to do this piece, but I reckon it turned out okay. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Crime Does So Pay

Did this sleeve a few months back for the second LP by Swedish crime rock supervillains Skurkarna. It took a nefarious conspiracy of no less than four Spanish labels (including previous purveyors of Merinuk "art" KOTJ Records and Ghost Highway Records) to unleash this longplayer but it'll all be worth it as the sinister instrumental sounds of Skurkarna make you hungry for a life of crime. Stay tuned for MORE WRONG SIDE O'THE LAW ACTION!

Twangin' In The Graveyard

More Halloween madness in today's post. Here's the sleeve art for the forthcoming 45 by Norwegian instro maniacs The Twang-O-Matics which will be hittin' the streets by Halloween 2013 courtesy of Hack Shack Records. Buy a bunch of 'em, they'll make swell treats for the hungry hordes on All Hallows Eve. Stay tuned for MORE EVEN A MAN WHO'S PURE AT HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT ACTION!

The Last Wave

 Here are the last of the older pieces that I revised for submission to the Surf Graphics book, both of which made it into print. Mainly minor cleanup and editing work done on these. I had to scan the Boyz Nex' Door art from the printed CD insert as the original art for that one is long gone. Thanks to the folks at Korero Books for inviting me to be a part of such a great collection of surf art. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Bikini Blast

 Here are a couple more reworked pieces that I submitted to the Surf Graphics book. Above is the poster I designed some years back for masked French surf instro combo The Bikini Men and below the front art for their subsequent picture disc LP. I didn't do any major revisions on these, just some general cleanup work and retouching. Neither of these made it into the book so they are making their public debut here. Stay tuned for MORE BIKINI BEACH ACTION!

Surfin' Wild!

Last year I was surprised and honored to be asked to contribute to an amazing art book called Surf Graphics. I was already a fan of the great series of full color hardcover books covering the worldwide Lowbrow Art scene put out by Korero Books over in the UK and eagerly culled all the best surf related work from my archives to send to them. Some of the older pieces needed a bit of touching up so I revised, added color and made various changes wherever I felt it necessary. Over the next few days I'm gonna post all the pieces that were reworked for Surf Graphics, including a few that didn't actually make it into the final version of the book. Some of these have been posted here before but all have been revised from their previous appearances and there are a few that have never been seen before. Starting off today with the unpublished Satan's Pilgrims drawing I did for Estrus Records back in 1998 which has been revised quite a bit and is seen here in color for the first time ever. Below is a quick but fun Xmas card I made a few years back. Neither of these made it into the book so you can consider these to be the cartoon equivalent of unissued bonus tracks. Surf Graphics is available from hip bookstores and websites everywhere so check it out for a wild blast of wave shreddin' action from a wide array of great artists hailing from here, there and everywhere. More of this stuff to come in the next day or two so... Stay tuned for MORE TOES TO THE NOSE ACTION!

Fuzz Fink

New 3 color T-shirt design for Costa Rican surf/garage swingers Los Cuchillos. This is the first work I've done for a band from Costa Rica. Yet another country falls before the mighty King Merinuk juggernaut! Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

$1.000,000 Worth Of Twang

Brand new cover art for the upcoming debut album by Norwegian instro tyrants the Twang-O-Matics. This will be out by the end of the year on 10" vinyl and CD from Hack Shack Records. Tried to get a swingin' late '50s/early '60s style into this one to go along with the Link Wray/Duane Eddy inspired musical stylings of these Twangsters, who include ex-members of the Basement Brats, Marsmen and Squareheads (Norwegian variety) in their illustrious lineup. This should be a great one so keep an eye out for it in your local rekkid shoppe. Stay tuned for MORE TWANGS THE THANG ACTION!

Thrash Zone

New poster design for one of my fave local combos, The Thrashers. These guys blast out a really cool surf/punk rock'n'roll kinda sound and will be releasing their first 7" at this here very show. Stay tuned for MORE TOTALLY RADICAL, DUDE ACTION!

Vulture Stew

A return engagement with Aussie surf/garage/punk monsters The Molting Vultures. This will be the cover of their next CD and probably be used for posters and T-shirts as well. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Los Reyes Del Surfing

Here's the cover art for the upcoming demo EP by kool Mexican surf combo Frankisia. Aside from a blast of Lucha Libre rock'n'roll action, this drawing features the debut of my new character creation that will soon be sweepin' the nation, the Smoking Kitten. Keep eyes peeled for a vast wave of tacky merchandise featuring this adorable feline nicotine addict. (Smoking Kitten © King Merinuk 2012, all rights of any kind reserved forever.) Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!