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PART TIME PUNK #16
November 2005 **** I gotta say the quality of zine reading material that’s come into the Wolf's Lair this winter is of a very high standard given its DIY realm, and that’s even without a sniff of illegal substances! It certainly gives us new hope that the zine writing neighbourhood of the UK is still very much alive ‘n’ kicking on all fronts, despite an early prognosis of fatality’s in other less adventurous publications. And the latest issue from Southampton’s Part Time Punk ain’t a bad place to look for a pulse. This zine is probably the best read to come out the shadow of the Dell since Ged Baby retired his pen in the pursuit of Post Punk obscurities. Editor Ian’s a bit of a punk scholar or maybe even an anorak in the way he analyses his punk. But that attention to detail don’t half make for a better read. His tastes are also pretty adventurous but never sinks to ostracise his audience, coz there’s always at least a few bands that will get yer curiosity primed. This zine justifies it’s inclusion in your Christmas hamper for the sheer diversity of the coverage that shines out from its non-descript pages like police beacons after dark. The Cravats crawl out their Redditch slum once more with threats of live appearances. And there’s probably the first interview with the Tights in probably 25 years, who you may remember from the ‘Business Unusual’ album that came out in '78. Then it’s time for Rob Lloyd better known to you as the lead singer in the Prefects. The Brummie premier DIY punk band till the Killjoys stole their thunder. Rob went onto form the more experimental Indie darlings the Nightingales who are currently on tour in the UK. There’s also a rare zine appearance with Ruefrex from Belfast who’ve just released the ‘Capital Letters’ compilation. On a way less inspiring section we get The Count Bishops who count for nothing but the drab pub rock punk was trying to escape from in its infancy. Of the newer bands we get the Scottish Clash soundalikes Hateful and a rare zine appearance of London’s Anoraks. We also get space fillers like ‘Why You Should Sell Yer Records’. Mind you if I owned a Chester record id sell it! To wind things up we get a Brigandage history lesson from Michelle herself. And as always PTP comes with a comprehensive review section featuring gigs, dvd’s, records, books and zines. A great read even with the shittier parts and opinions taken into consideration. So do yourself a favour and inform yourself with some serious punk rock dogma! Next issue due out in February. www.oocities.org/iancanty/index.html |
| RIOT ON YOUR OWN #21 October 2005 **** You get a natty kinda self satisfaction to find a drunken camera shot you took in the backstreets of Birmingham one night earlier this year getting splashed across the front cover of Belfast’s latest punk zine Riot On Your Own. Now I know Riot On Your Own ain’t exactly MRR or has the pro-gloss sass of something like Plastic Bomb, but it still makes me feel all warm inside this Christmas. So Jenny Lens, Glenn E. Friedman and Dennis Morris…eat yer hearts out! The front cover star and the new woman in Billy Riots life is none other than Scarlet Da Harlot from Derby’s Barnyard Masturbator. Who I have to admit brings a bit of Poly Styrene back into the UK punk scene. Especially with her dark, sultry Californian looks and zany stage wear. Just a pity her band ain’t as motivated music wise, but we can’t have it all can we? And like other editions of this, the best zine in Belfast (although I’ve yet to read a copy of the highly rated You Can't Polish A Turd). ROYO never fails to keep me glued to its scruffy pages before I’ve sucked in every last bit of snide innuendo. This issue kicks off with some wise words in the short but succinct editorial… “keep enjoying being punk rockers coz it’s the best lifestyle in the world!” And you know what, that’s fuckin’ bang on!!! Also looks like Bill’s been dipping into his Christmas bonus coz there’s a glut of reviews in this ‘ish! From DVD’s, CD’s, records and zines as well as his roving penchant for capturing local gigs, which all get duly caught on film and documented for our photo static needs. Bill’s taste in music may sometimes leave a lot to be desired (he give Torcha Shed (8) fer fux sake!), but its all sold to us in an amusing honest kinda way, which we quite like here at Nihilism central. The two bands featured in this issue are both pretty new. Belfast’s Hypocrites (ex-Noodles) do the honours but will probably splinter next week and the already mentioned cover stars Barnyard Masturbator, who Bill fornicates over with unashamed glee. Alongside the regular spiky photo centrespread we finish off with a massive NI punk scene report, which apparently got rejected by the snooty Trackmarx website! Well what do you expect from Tractor nerds I reckon they need a friendly visit from Billy Junior who looks set to be taking care of business very soon. So just give Bill senior the key to the door by ordering this from him, coz you know you won’t be disappointed and you might even learn something! billyriot@hotmail.com |
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PROVOKED #5 May 2005 **** A previous instalment that I’ve only just gotten round to reading from the best looking punk zine that crawled outta Scotland since Kill Your Pet Puppy. Provoked continues in it’s cut ‘n’ paste rampage throughout its 24 pages of shiny almost slick punk rock and ‘77 inspired decadence. The layout alone in this baby is enough for it to get a spot in the archives of the Victoria and Albert museum had it come out 25 years previous. But what creates great fanzines or kings of the road as I like to call em, is their ability to create a scene on a page and have enough intelligence, intrigue or just plain scandal to make you wanna read it. Luckily for Provoked and us this ain’t just an art school exercise in exit-stencialism and blackmailed ransoms, coz Bill the editor covers old and new and also delivers enough serious information regarding the current state of punk rock without it feeling too nostalgic. This issues cover girl whose bending over backwards to please us is Glasgow punk designer Pam Hogg and inside we get some rather nifty interviews with those decrepit looking Vibrators. Talking of death warmed up, we get the last known Dave Goodman interview before he vacated the mixing booth which was so good it was even purloined and featured on the high brow Sex Pistols website. We then get a less appealing dialogue with that old pleasure beach waltzer and straight edger John Robb outta Goldblade. The local scene don’t get overlooked either, coz the Zips unzip themselves in the centrespread while the Red Eyes look on in disbelief and Fire Exit bolt for the door! Or was that bolt the door!? There’s an interesting profile on the Straps in their heyday when they didn’t look like a second rate ANL while Arturo Bassick of the Lurkers puts in his down to earth commentary and the Amphetameanies bring up the rear. All this is set amongst a montage of news clippings, reviews and trivial punk rock news bulletins that you didn’t wanna know or thought you didn’t know. However you may need your glasses on to read the smaller print in this razor sharp, entertaining and often chaotic read. provokedzine@yahoo.co.uk |
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| NEGATIVE REACTION #3 Late 2005 **** ‘The fanzine that’s better than sex (*with Anne Widdecombe)’, or so the banner reads. Well considering Anne’s battleaxe status and bowl cut mane, I can see their point. Negative Reaction seems to be reaching for that positive spark that HAGL (its former self) had in the 90’s. And you can’t go far wrong with the no bullshit approach to punk, life and existence in the grim north can ya? This zine has enough suss and motivation to deliver a brand spanking new issh that’s already out on the streets as we speak! So it’s neat to see the lust ‘n’ hunger finally recaptured by Trev and co. It certainly ain’t stopped em from leering at bands like Dirty Love from London. They bring us their own take on glam punk, as they make their first tentative zine appearance south of Watford gap. The female fronted band seem to approach Trev’s bawdy questions with enough front to make him beat a hasty retreat, pardon the pun. We then get a BIG interview with Tony Martin (naah not the farmer who turned gunslinger) but the Durham cobbler who morphed into author and local vigilante. Leather bound crusaders don’t exactly sound like prime time punk reading, unless your into S&M. This geezers written a book about his run in with the corrupt local council, dodgy police forces and baseball bat wielding thugs, who paid him a visit to silence him. They failed of course, and it’s now become a one man obsession to defeat fraudulent officialdom and in all its ugly forms. We then get some clued up reviews from the record and print world followed by a severe and applaudable dissin’ of ‘Charvers’ or ‘Chavs’ to the rest of us media slackers. Christians and working class Tories don’t escape the Reaction wrath either. There’s a massive 4-page round up of last years Wasted festival which didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. Apart from Toyah trouncing the Avengers to the best band slot….which is definitely a misssstewy!? And yet another half arsed Test Tube Babies interview gets rolled out, which begs the question, why do zines bother? But we do get a healthier response from the smouldering NY Relix. Latest member of the Negative Reaction crew is Joe Diamond from Belfast’s ‘You Cant Polish A Turd’ infamy, and bass player in the promising Hypocrites. He fires off a comical insight into punk promotions at Belfast University. Plus a no punches pulled one to one with big Colin outta Runnin Riot who makes it evidently clear over a couple of gallon of Buckfast that GBH’s Colin and Pedro (the roadie) won’t be on his Christmas list this year. Reason being, the heinous crime of greedy malpractice after a local gig. So definitely something for everyone in here, and it’s all done with enough snot and intelligence to justify its position in the top 3 British PUNK zines of the current climate. trevhagl@hotmail.com |
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