| NEGATIVE REACTION #6 Summer 2006 **** Negative Reaction's latest dose hit's the fan and Punks love struck writing duo seems to be staying on course, despite New Model Army manoeuvres and stingy behaviour from our editor in chief. They say there's nothing like a woman's scorn to keep its nosey readership informed. But this pair is still on their honeymoon and she's at it already! Trev's filthy habits are being exposed each issue in microscopic detail. It must be like living with a private eye on yer case, and I bet he's scared to take a crap in case it gets featured in the next issue! Im wondering whether Mr Hagl's secretly regretting letting his bird run free with the hilarious 'Trev Watch!' column. Now I dunno about you, but I prefer surveying the more amorous delights of the female species than some middle aged skinhead going about his daily rituals. But Dawn (his Mrs) ain't missed a fuckin' trick with no stone left unturned! However I think a gagging order (naaahh not in that sense you letcherous cretins) might be implemented on her by next issue. Coz I can see Mr Hagl cringing in the background with embarrassment as she exposes even more cracks in the Tyneside's hacks body armour. Hope he realises he won't be safe to walk in any bar in the North East again without someone sniggering "theres the tightwad who meassures his envelopes". We await the fallout with intrepidation. Negative Reaction #6 ain't quite as visually enticing or as interesting to read as the last, but there's still plenty in here that will keep you amused. The 'Defending The Realm' - 'Inside MI5 and The War On Terrorism' book review rams home the fact that no matter how many phone taps or files MI5 put on so-called terrorist threats such as Garry Bushell, Crass and even the Sex Pistols once upon a time! There's still supposedly 1600 terrorists plotting and scheming and those are just the cunts in Parliament. Bands in this issue vary from the growing in confidence Holy Racket outta Sunderland, who have joined a long queue of Gene October haters. To Fish from the Skeptix who is now a busy producer on the punk circuit as well as playing. But we all know his real love is for his new outfit Head Clinic who have by a strange coincidence just sacked their singer. So I wonder what Cal from Discharge is doing these days? In the rear comes Canadian punks The Fallout. Who seem deadly serious, but apparently sound similar to nihilist faves Forgotten Rebels? There's some amusing tales about how Trev was dumb struck when faced with a BBC interview at a recent Academy in The UK bash. Missing perhaps his only chance to flog his distro on National TV. Along with greetings from Chav central which seems to be Scunthorpe these days? Plus a 2 page Wasted festival review. All this comes in amongst 8 pages of records, books and zine reviews. So well worth a gander and still cheaper than a pint of extra cold Carling! £1 & 56p S.A.E. from Rosehill, 20 Front St, Tanfield Lea, Stanley, Co. Durham, DH9 9LY, UK. trevhagl@hotmail.com |
| HAIRSTYLES OF THE POOR AND CONTAGIOUS #5 September 2006 **** Now this is more like it! A keen improvement on last issue with a jam packed 48 page issue from the Australian city of Melbourne. HOTPAC is eager, hungry and passionate about its multicoloured spiky punk rock, and that alone is half the battle in a zines success. This fanatical attitude feedbacks from its cut 'n' paste pages with gusto. I think Flea must've been reading my mind? Coz everything lacking in the last issue is excitedly modified and escalated in this one, and done with such energy. From the orange studded Beki Bondage front cover to the ads on the back, this is the kinda zine Anarchoi could learn a thing or two from regarding delivery. The interviews are its biggest draw and feature an international crew. We discover what's lifes like in The Scarred. Currently one of LA's more intriguing hardcore outfits, who have got one of the snazziest looking touring vans I've ever laid eyes on. When they're gigging you'll certainly know about it. There's a brief one to one with Pat Reek from Aussie outfit Wot Rot who explains how to escape pepper spray attacks from the local old Bill. HOTPAC then head over to Sweden for more fantails and this time we have Emma from Disconvenience telling us all about the European quadrant. Have you sussed the running theme in HOTPAC yet? Then were back to the States for an in depth interview with the Director of that punk flick 'Punks Not Dead' which I've yet to see myself? So this interview made an interesting piece for the uninformed amongst us. But from what Director Susan Dynner (tee hee) had to say, I ain't expecting a plateful of Oscars. But the footage she mentioned looks to be worth checking out. There are some good live pix of the Wasted festival in Australia with an array of Mohawks and bands. Alongside some scummy shots from the Sydney punks picnic featuring the Homicides. Who is apparently Australia's answer to the Dead Boys? The reviews are scattered so maybe a few more wouldn't go a miss, especially some zine reviews coz Australia seems to be having a welcome new lease of Punk life from what Im picking up on the jungle drums. The 2006 Pub Crawl edition is due out next im reliably informed. One last note. Flea deserves your support coz this girl actually writes this, prints this off and posts you a copy if you want one all for absolutely sweet FA! Now that is dedication to duty, so there's no EXCUSE...punks, Trojans, clergymen and labels get it touch Now! Trades are most definitely welcome! FREE! (no longer in print) |
| FAST 'N' LOUD #6 September 2006 **** Good to get reaqainted with this Gloucester zine which i aint read for a couple of years. I gotta say the improvement in layout and visuals is vast! From the eye-catching Johnny Rotten colour cover to the almost professional silk screened zerox pages that this A4 baby is laid on, shows it has a touch of class. Zines out of Fred West old haunts shouldn't be looking quite so sharp and sexy for their own well being (remember Shadow?), but this fucker does. Fast 'N' Loud is cut 'n' paste done with an eye for detail. Punk zines these days despite popular misconceptions do need to look authentic as well as inform their readers I've always thought. And this chunky 32 page read really will meet all your requirements. It's backed up with a massive 9 page interview with Beki Bondage from Vice Squad. Who gets a deep probing and tells us everything that's worth knowing. Including how she overcomes rejection (which I find hard to believe with her sultry looks) and depression to bring us the modern version of Vice Squad. We then get to grips with Southampton punks Whole In The Head who describe themselves as "a blend of fast, heavy crusty anarcho hardcore with d-beat and blast beat tunes and an outside toilet". A description which certainly fits the bill from what I've heard. And finally a dose of Indie punk! The duo in question are 2 Sick Monkeys from Swindon who give us drum and bass but from a strictly DIY angle. There's a 4 page look back at the dodgiest band in the World, namely the 4' B 2's. Who are bought back to life from our editor's impressive collection of punk cuttings, which was good to see once more? Plus a piece nicked from a recent tabloid titled 'When We Were Punks' which shows us some startling changes as one snarling punk grew up to become a cop fer fux sake! While Noel from Menace is pictured looking very salubrious in his health And Safety whistle 'n' flute. There's a gigantic amount of reviews from the Captain Oi and Cooking Vinyl stables. Which are now getting interesting as our brave editor is starting to emit descent regarding some of their output, mainly the Motors amongst others. And there's a decent array of zine reviews which for once portray the covers which is a nice touch. And I even spotted in one review that Punk Rocker is tainted with an Oxford Educated ha! Hmmm hate to disappoint you but the only education I've had from the city of Steeples is probably a few episodes of Inspector Morse and a live Banshees bootleg from 1979. Despite my schooling assumption, Fast 'N' Loud is a very well put together zine and John the editor tells me there's gonna be a website coming soon featuring all the back issues that have run out of print. Issue #7 is already looming on the punk horizon. £1.50 + 66p sae john@fastnloudzine.orangehome.co.uk or write to 88 Overbrook Road, Hardwicke, Gloucester, GL2 4RZ UK |
| WORST #14 September 2006 **** From photocopied DIY to the high tech magazine sheen. Punk in print rarely reaches this kinda exuberance without sacrificing something, be it vast advertising campaigns on every other page or shitty dialogue preening over the pop punk circuit. Worst has none of the above and seems to be thriving on just delivering flamboyant spiky punk. First time I set eyes on a copy was when I bumped into its web presence via myspace (don't knock it coz it does have some use y'know). Worst editor Marc kindly sent me a copy after I enquired whether there is a English version available? Sadly for Philistines like me and maybe you, there ain't! This is utterly and purely written in French. I know we sometimes ridicule the French punk scene because musically they still ain't produced a top class worldwide punk band, but as far as this mag goes they certainly show us English speaking twats how to put out a decent punk magazine without losing that initial punk appeal. Worst reminds me of what Punk Lives would've looked like had it come out 20 years later. Full colour glossy pages of punks with dayglo haircuts and studded jackets are the order of the day. And it ain't just a cosmetic thing either. You get loads of reading matter inside that keeps the adventurous layouts and professional decor company. Like I say highly recommended if you can read French, and this ranks easily alongside other Euro big high end publications such as Plastic Bomb and Ox both from Germany, which are also printed in their native tongue. What goes around comes around I spose? We've had 30 years of punk in a predominantly English form so now we know what it must feel like to be into punk bands who don't talk your lingo. Front cover stars The Epoxy's do talk our lingo and dominate this issue plus we get pieces on the Brixton Cats (French), Drongos For Europe (UK), Street Dogs (USA), CRI D'Alerte (French) and Frontkick (Germany). So its definitely an international vibe. There's also a massive review section plus some books and zine reviews get dusted off too. I dunno if Marc is sitting on a pile of Euro's coz this must cost a fucking packet to print up and put out? But he thankfully has kept to his early 80's street punk vibe throughout. If it actually does read as well as it looks this can't lose. Which begs the question can someone in England give us something similar to brag about? We wait with bated breath? Next issue due out now! 3 Euro's www.worst.propagande.org/ |
| RIOT ON YOUR OWN #25 December 2006 **** Billy Riot continues his quest to bring Belfast punk and the more younger exciting aspects of UK punk from a far wider scene successfully to his readers. And ROYO still maintains that snotty drive with this its 25th issue! The reason this decrepit riffy parchment ain't just another sloppy quickly thrown together knock up job, like so many other printed dirges out there. Is coz its full of that dry Belfast sensa yuma. And not many seasoned editors have the ability to mix it with the new bands as well as dragging the original punk inspiration to the party. When Bill ain't busy shooting footage of the bands running around fields trying to shag sheep, singing for his band the Violent Fuckwits or filling this zine up with those grainy but highly entertaining snap shots and afterthoughts he's spreading the disease to new users. It makes you wonder where he finds the time or energy? And talking of DVD's, if you wanna see all the bands and more that Billy gets excited about in this zine and previous issues you can catch em on his current DVD release 'A Riot Down The Lane', which is highly recommended and will be reviewed in full when I pull me finger out. But back to the zine. This is a zine that loves punk and its that enthusiasm which gives this that extra surge the others don't quite grasp. ROYO is always a pleasure to read even when the chaotic layout appears haphazard. If you like your punk rock down to earth with no egos or blinkered infatuation, then this is a good place to start. Actually the only thing Billy is infatuated about that needs to concern us (apart from young totty) is Punk Rock! Which thankfully for us covers most genres with an open perspective. He even reviews those pious Leeds zealots just to see what they've slagged him off about. I do have to say his loyalty to some bands in the scene can sometimes be swayed by over indulgence, but who exactly ain't guilty of that? He does take a well aimed pot shot at the "punkinafoodmixer" genre as he calls it. Which I must say I totally agree with, although even I was partial to some early Discharge and Disorder before the Swedes kicked in and took it to another level. However new young punks on the scene White Noise with their clockwork orange gear grab the centre page spread this issue. The featured band interviews come from Sunderland punks Holy Racket who lose credibility points by dropping their bottle and declining to mention Gene October's over active ego for fear of being blacklisted? And kiddie punk combo Outl4w from Fleetwood whose ages range from 17 - 12 get a deserved look in. Wonder what their rider consists of....coke 'n' Cadbury's cream eggs maybe? I gotta say the Belfast punk birds take some beating too, but don't just take my word for it, get this fucker now coz its a RIOT!!! FREE with an SAE to BILL, 5 GLEN ROAD, BELFAST BT5 7JH billyriot@hotmail.com |
| HAIRSTYLES OF THE POOR AND CONTAGIOUS #6 November 2006 **** Had this sent in very kindly by Mandy from MDM so cheers Mand. Your Stench promo is on its way. From what I gather on the HOTPAC myspace page Flea (the editor) is starting to have difficulty sending out FREE overseas copies which you can understand being all the way from Australia. So if your really gonna ask for a copy please send her a decent trade or add postage costs. This is a zine that captures the current moment in the comtemporary Aussie punk scene and one who thankfully chooses good covers shots over banal ones. Which is a must if your writing a zine and prefer to make some kinda impact. You can almost guarantee it will feature a fantail mohican or something equally as spiky. This edition of HOTPAC is the 'Melbourne Pub Crawl' issue, which from looking through the images inside strikes me as being on a par with the Belfast punk scene in many respects. Melbourne has a very young spiky scene with lots of colour and energy which is great to see if Neighbours was your only other reference point. The only old geezers you'll find in here are Anti Nowhere League, who actually look good on the shots taken from their Melbourne, Art House gig late last year. Of the new breed of punk the Intensives from Edmonton, Canada get the ball rolling and look like they just stepped outta a 'Burning Britain' chapter, and from what I can gather they sound like it too. Continuing the studded moody look we get a slightly more bunch called the Ghouls from Philadelphia,USA who are taking the 90's street punk thing and giving it a bit of horror, which could be interesting. Local drummer Joel from Bulldog Spirit gives us some drum techniques via interviews with other local drummers and Rat Scabies wannabes. And add to this some fleeting zine and record reviews to break up the impressive gallery of shots from the street, the stage and of course the bar and it makes for another contagious issue. Im sure issue 8 is due out any day. FREE for a trade! (no longer in print) |
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