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| 4 MINUTE WARNING #8 Summer 2005 **** Has it really been a year since we last set eyes on Blackpool’s premier punk zine? Well by the amount of punky rants, dissenting anarcho baggage and general tokens of acidic innuendo squeezed into this massive 30 page issue, you can almost imagine why. However the major delay for 4MW not hitting our punk rock shelves earlier, is that familiar old bone of contention amongst the zine hierarchy…waiting for bands to reply to interviews! 4MW suffers like most zines do from this incredulous disease that seems rampant amongst the apathetic punk legions of today. Anybody would think these punk ‘rock stars’ have an annual diary of events to pre occupy their crusades as they globetrot the toilets playing 365 days a year. When in reality they probably only have a fortnightly appointment down to the jobcentre. Maybe apathy is a kickback from e-zines who reach a bigger audience? Or as I suspect where the real blame lies is, they just don’t have nothing of interest to say!!! This along with sucking up attitudes, politically correct dogma and practically no talent is the reason why bands today have no real opinion on anything thats worth printing. But it’s good that zines like this still bother asking, even when 5 out of 10 bands don’t even muster a reply. Fortunately for us though, the bands that did reply to 4 Minute Warning are the exception to the rule with a fucking boatload of opinions. First up giving us their 15 minutes worth of no compromise, are the now defunct Active Slaughter from North London. Followed closely by Bristol’s Disorder who tell us “were just a punk band with some serious lyrics, and some which are complete bollox! Ha! Scouse punks MDM reveal the delights of using insect spray to keep Mandy’s spikes erect! While Cockney rockers Superyob admit to being big Killing Joke fans. Also along for the ride are local school kid punks Outlaw whose average age is just 13! And last but by no means least, Mitch pins down fellow Blackpool zine writer, label boss and one man entertainer Andy Higgins ++ who gives us possibly the longest answer to a question I think I’ve ever read in any publication since maybe War And Peace. All this is interspersed with current protest topics like the ‘anti hunt punk’ campaign which Mitch the editor is spearheading. Plus we get newspapers cuttings, news and a massive section of reviews spanning all the available media...gigs, books, videos, CD’S and of course zines. Yeah 4 Minute Warning builds up into a fucking big juicy read every issue and should accommodate punks from all walks of life. £1.60 & A4 S.A.E. from Mitch Elsden 31 Fir Grove, Marton, Blackpool, Lancs, FY16PJ, U.K. |
| POGO TILL I DIE! #8 2005 **** Continuing the Northwest of England’s high quality punk in print, comes Pogo Till I Die from the salubrious municipality of Preston. Sadly PTID #8 is gonna be the last issue of the UK’s sexiest fanzine for a very long time, as Roy the editor has joined the public sector with a REAL job! Let’s hope he comes outta it all unscathed and is ready to pogo once more some dsay soon. This issue is also dedicated to the recently departed British DJ John Peel who was the catalyst for a generation discovering punk nationwide, and rightly so. However PTID loses credibility by having 3CR on the front cover who also get a further probing inside. But suprise suprise their credibility ratings zoomed when answering questions on their gigging regime lead singer Boggy replied succinctly…‘I don’t even know where we are playing most of the time. They pick us up in the van and I sit in the back ‘n’ get blasted‘ tee hee. Alongside 3CR we get a short but healthy stab at the Briefs who rate Deadline as one of the better UK bands. Blood And Whiskey from Dublin at long last tells us some home truths regarding the new resurgence of so called Irish/punk bands which are springing up from some strange places. Their latest album ‘Cashed Out On Culture’ rams this home as Beano vox/bassist explains “the titles basically a comment on the fact that a lot of bands use irishness as a commodity especially when they’re not even Irish in the first place!” I'll drink to that! Along side the international array of punks we get young local outfits like the Phlegm Fatales who seem to be trying to incorporate too many styles all at once. While vet punks Boredom on the other hand, tell us tales of dodgy London labels. Well what do you expect if Alan Parker was the middleman? There’s a good piece on the Genocides who were one of the great under exposed punk rock talents from the early 80’s preston/Blackpool scene. Whilst Ska-Billy Rebels and Sadie Hawkins Dance were included just to make up the numbers me thinks. We also had to endure a tired looking Tony James and Mick Jones of their dodgy Carbon/Silicon outfit in the centrespread, which should’ve been binned in favour of the explosive Briefs, but that was a minor gripe as there’s a boatload of gig reviews with selected images, and talking of pix you get some splendid colour shots of Sham 69 and Crashed Out adorning the inside jackets of this slick issue. Pogo Till I Die may not be pogoing for a long time so with all the plagiarism going on in the punk scene lets hope someone takes a leaf out this zine and brings a new publication out in its high quality wake. Highly recommended. £2.00 P.O. Box 514, Preston Central, PR2 9WY, UK. |
| SUCK TILL I SAG #3 2005 *** “The cheap zine for skint unemployed fat cunts, made by rich self employed thin cunts!” eh. Well the truth hurts sometimes, don’t it? I think this zine is geared up for skint unemployed fat cunts who still have UK Subs painted on their leathers and the remnants of a hair thinning Mohican planted on their skulls. Didn’t realise I resembled the target audience when it was thrust into my clammy paws by the sultry co editor Scarlet at a recent gig! Now I’ve recovered from this blatant character assassination Suck Till I Sag it has to be said has greatly improved by its A5 resize, but the compression does get nullified in comparison to the exceptional print quality of the previous issue. Issue #3 lets just say has been sabotaged by a fade to grey cheapo copy job. And like I say if you peer closely and I mean very closely, this is a more substantial read and actually looks like a real zine this issue. They actually do themselves a favour for once, by interviewing a current top band of the moment...Seattles the Briefs. However the interest level starts to diminish rapidly as we tread water through a jaded session with Red Flag 77 who seems to have really lost their grit these days. Maybe Rikki's online punk emporium has sucked all his spare energy? We finally hit the real shit with the inbred Barnyard Masturbator who are in this issue coz apparently no-one else will interview em….ahhh de dums! The best bit in here though was a 2 page year in the lives of our two zine writing super heroes Tom Foolery and Scarlet Da Harlot. We read and squirm as they stagger from Discharge (the band) in Notts. to Paul Weller in Blackpool!! No arrests, no aggro, no sex and not much fun it seems for a pair of swingers such as these. Maybe our editors are letting this rag down themselves? The CD reviews in this issue were pretty much on the ball although like so many of the freebie hunters in these cheapo zine circles, Captain Oi! And Cherry Red records all get a resounding arse licking thumbs up from the greedy reviewer. The other highlight was probably the Academy In The UK gig review. Or should that read 8 hours of light deprivation, aural assault and muggings by the bar staff. Which reminded me why I never bothered going to that overpriced bash. We also get attacks on Chav’s which was really a few gripes about the UK elections, the doss goss, and of course Scarlet’s sexy stories which this time round features lesbian bondage oh la la. Better than last issues dismal display so getting there slowly. 50P from tomfoolery@fsmail.net |
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| FAST 'N' LOUD #4 2005 ***1/2 Brand new zine to the Wolfs Lair punk library and I like it’s name and presentation in it's strictly early 80’s cut ‘n’ paste mode. But 28 pages of leopard skin print backgrounds can be a bit of an eye opener. Bet the editor don’t eat meat either? I was also disturbed by the ‘punk and proud’ slogan on the front cover. I mean c’mon ‘punk and proud’, it’s like announcing some gay pride statement. That ‘proud to be punk’ mentality I never really got??? It certainly never entered my realm of thought then or since, and when it was first coined during the early 80’s it was always from bands who weren’t that good anyway, and makes yer think…do I really wanna be part of this punk tribe with cunts like that in our midst? However I just got sidetracked, so let’s get back to the zine itself. Despite some finicky taste issues, Fast ‘N’ Loud gives us a wide ranging across the board mix or punk themes and bands. D’Corner Bois from Brum gets the reality ball rolling with some honest opinions from Rich Lard. We are then entertained by Cornish Goff band Mothburner who have been together 9 years, and have played a maximum of one gig to date! (snigger) In total contrast to the Goff comedy, there’s a look back at dub cult band Basement 5 with some long lost interviews in reduced print. So get yer binoculars out! We then get a boring snapshot of Bad Blood from Bristol, who sound about as enticing as a dose of the crabs. And talking of damp squids, they are followed by pop punks the Scrub who feature an ex member of Busted in their ranks golly gee! There’s a small piece with uniformly tiny print on the Dropkick Murphy’s. While Cheltenham punks Burnside smoulder in its rear. The reviews are equally cosmopolitan but are overshadowed by a massive section from the Captain Oi! stable. And in case you ain’t already guessed, doesn’t have a bad word to say about any of their latest releases. Even Sham's ‘The Game‘ is applauded! I’m still waiting to read a UK zine that has enough bottle to say “naaah thought that was shit!” There’s a lotta space wasted in this zine which indicates a shortage of ideas or maybe content? So maybe if it was reduced to an A5 format, the printing costs would be lowered and there would be fewer ads to splash over those vacant corners, just a thought. Nevertheless for interesting features and diversity Fast 'N' Loud is one of the better UK zines around at the moment. £1.50 postpaid fastnloud@bushinternet.com |
| THAT'S NOT SKANKING #13 Halloween 2005 *** A Halloween freebie from the rainy city Manchester, but this zine is done with attention to detail and covers a lotta stuff in its 36 pages, both in reviews and interviews. It even boasts a free CD with the next issue! So fair due to the editor for pampering his readership with offers like that. Luckily for punters like meself with unshakeable brass allergy, this issue don’t feature predominantly skanking outfits with trombones ablazing and inferior Specials routines, as its name would suggest. The ones it does cover however are probably an acquired taste. Especially with bands like 3dbs Down who are more Indie orientated than out and out punk. But the punk input is underlined by Austrian hardcore outfit, the squeaky clean Red Lights Flash.who sound about as snotty as Cliff Richards snotrag. Closer to home we get a consultation with gnarly punks and attrocious chancers the Arthritic Foot Soldiers. So maybe the leaning of this zine is pretty suspect to a certain degree, especially with the inclusion of poetry, but even that was acceptable due to the accompanying story. So forgot all that, coz they certainly get around it by the intensive gigging regime that gets covered in the review section. And TNS do give bands decent review coverage instead of the usual couple of lines some of the more established zines can only muster. They even have a comic strip which boasts some nifty artwork, pity about the storyline? It was also interesting to hear about that ‘Punk’ exhibition they held in Manchester recently, if only to justify why I never bothered going. This is a student orientated zine coz you can smell em a mile off, but thankfully it don’t get too self righteous or pander significantly to Political Correctness, giving all walks of punk life a sniff of the action in its easy to read format. For more info contact thatsnotskanking@hotmail.com |
| NEGATIVE REACTION #2 2005 **** Now this is more like it, a zine that’s getting into its stride with a return to the snotty, lewd and side cracking world of HAGL dressed in the emperors new clothing of Negative Reaction. And even when you’re carrying dead weight like inferior collaborators, its surprising how entertaining this zine can be. All the most memorable items seem to emanate from the Newcastle boy wonder Trev Hagl, who sits in control over this zine like some Geordie Buddha with a sensa yuma. And to think that poseur who won Big Brother comes from the same estate as Hagl, is fuckin' unbelievable! In this issue even his two sidekicks are now adopting his attitude on their output which has gotta be good for this zines longevity. This issue boasts Fat Bob of Hardskin as the star interviewee, but from reading his answers im sure the hype surrounding this band ain’t justified one little bit. Emergency from Canada don’t exactly fill us with glee either. So its left to the collaborators to earn their keep by rising to the bait interview wise. Just a pity some of their prey like overweight skinheads Argy Bargy and Micky Fitz’s new band called imaginatively Fitz (who are gonna play old Business tunes fer fucks sake) get the lions share. From the punkier side of life we get peroxide portions with Liverpool’s MDM plus an inoffensive scratch with all girl punk band the Itchy Tits from Guildford, who should change their name to Scabies I reckon. Plus another pot shot with the popular Deadline who despite creating a powerful mix of street punk power on record, have about as much personality as Jack Straw without his autocue. Best interview this issue fell to the unlikely European sector with the Stage Bottles from Germany giving some hilarious broken English comments and an interesting insight with street punkers the Razors Bois from Moscow. These red Ruski’s paint a pretty grim portrayal of Russian life as some bonehead infested fascist state. Oh how the times they are a changin' eh! There was also a bang on ‘8 Million Voices’ column which hit’s the Government’s petty bureaucracy and out and out lieing right between the eyes. And what a way to get back at the burglars as some local crack head gets named ‘n’ shamed for burgling one of the editors residence. Hilarious Free Sun stickers and ‘Things To Do Now Hunting Is Banned’ are priceless bits of comic observation, which is why we buy this zine. All this alongside some decent record, gig and zine reviews makes for very entertaining read. As a footnote it seems Gareth one of the sub-editors is fucking off, so it will be interesting to see who steps into his boots. I nominate Paul Raggity! £1.00 plus 50p SAE trevhagl@hotmail.com |
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| PROVOKED #6 October 2005 **** Slash ‘n’ epoxy all the way here from Glasgow central. Its good to discover newer zines although this one has been lurking around for decades in one shape or form. So it was well overdue we had a perspective from "Glesga" and Provoked which is written by a fellow Sex Pistols maniac Bill G., does it with conviction. Provoked fills the Scottish gap between the high tech wizardry but appalling quality control of Runnin Feart and the dyslexic space wasting blandness of Anarchoi. Coz lets not forget there’s room in punk and especially in Scotland for all walks of punk print, So it makes perfect sense to read a zine that appreciates the original ethics of this thing we call punk rock! A motivated name and a jagged look is half the battle in zine presentation and Provoked comes armed with both. This zine spits out in big blackmail letters it’s a punk zine and from what gets covered inside, it keeps its classic zine presence on course through most of its 24 pages. However we do get a disappointing interview which like Puke ain’t through the editors incompetence but due to the lazzzzzy uninspiring answers from bands such as Argy Bargy. But thankfully that was the only low point as a really varied bunch of cut throats get covered in this issue including local veterans The Zips, The Square Peg from Edinburgh, The Saints from Brisbane, Holy Racket from Sunderland and Hateful from hell, or as its named on the map Clydebank. But the piece de resistance was a really neat one with Mensi out the Angelic Upstarts whose made more money on smaller labels than he ever got on EMI. The reviews if you can spot em are few and far between, but what I like best about this zine is you can discover little snippets of information no matter what angle you read the page. On the other hand Provoked can get hard to follow sometimes as you get lost in a sea of print and ripped up dialogue, but that’s what makes it way more individual. And it comes with a first class attention to detail and in a semi glossy print job too. So if you need provoking this will do the trick! For more details contact provokedzine@yahoo.co.uk |
| BLACKPOOL ROX II #8 August 2005 **** Ain‘t read a copy of Blackpool Rox II since 2003 but if your ever gonna get a copy of this North West of England fanzine then get this one coz it chucks in a FREE 27 track Blackpool punk compilation CD called ‘The Ugly Face Of Blackpool’. Which features bands from as far back as 1977 with Skrewdriver being ‘Antisocial’, and moving right up to the present day as hardcore hoodlums Sick 56 display their wares, plus everything else (well all the important bands) that came out over the last 27 years gets well documented. So it’s a great chance for you to take an audio snapshot of the local scene as well as read about it coz this zine is dominated by the CD’s shadow which casts a long 6 page biog of all the bands information and all their little discrepancies. Despite the regulation desktop format of this zine, it thankfully boasts an engaging writing style that’s informative without being too pompous. Although some of the book reviews read like a Mastermind candidates subject material on pan European politics maybe. I somehow don’t think the local punks are gonna be running out to the library to get some of these titles, but hey that’s education for ya. There’s an array of reviews plus a local scene editorial. Our editor, label boss, one man show and the Minister Of Reason Andy Higgins seems to have a lot to keep him busy these days, when he ain’t doing his one man promotion of punk in Blackpool or following his beloved Seasiders. Finally I noticed one of those little zine writing eccentricity’s we can sometimes spot if we look closes enough and that was on the front cover the date and time this zine was actually started and on the back page when it was finished right down to the actual minute! Yep clinical and methodical is what this zine is all about! For more info go here www.jsntgm.com |
| PUKE #9 Autumn 2005 **** So its time once more for the annual heave from Puke which is Birmingham’s only real punk fanzine! This is a jam packed to the gills, cut ‘n’ paste gag bag. We have to literally swim through a mass of typewriter frenzy from Miss Smirnoff herself, Becca Puke. However the zine reviews in this issue ain’t quite as detailed as we were previously accustomed too. They’re missing that caustic eye for detail as the Puke mobile rushes to meet deadlines or promotion schedules maybe? But you have to take yer hat off to the Aylesbury kid for the vast gigging regime that lurches forward us like some overweight spiky deity sucking up every punk gig on its radar and regurgitating the debris across its 56 pages. The Puke charabanc is stretching its ink sodden tentacles far and wide from its middle England web these days, which is always a good sign to see and read. I don’t think I’ve seen this many gig reviews in one zine since maybe Fear And Loathing. The 'Weird Shit' section is another must read that will keep you entertained, as we hear about Satanic Sailors and bloodsuckers in Birmingham. The interviews in this issue are as always from an array of styles garnered from punks underground. They combine the right on two-tone of the Ballistics to the snotty drivel of Stafford’s Nuclear Babies, while California’s Neon Maniacs grunt and groan lethargically as the Remnants from Sandbach service station bugger off to Uni! Most typify why bands today simply don’t have a lot to say to even the most inquiring of questions. This zine regains ground with an 'Asbo Crazy' page to make you ponder what new waste of space this government can dish out next? Alongside a fetching or should that read retching Gee Voucher styled Liberty centre spread. The last 'Urban Nightmare' tale spotlights dentists, which I can agree with whole heartedly after suffering a needle in the gum job earlier this week. It was also good to see Puke incorporating a few local shady punk characters input, with some snide review comments from the Puke squeeze, Dave Sputum, while Ardcore Andy (D'Corner Bois) attacks the punk rock elite. Finally Big Gray gives us a sussed personnel view on his 29 year career as a punk icon in Brum and how he’d defend that right to the death! And with over 6 pages of record reviews and not one from the Captain Oi stable, its good to see you can still get healthy zines that can review punk without freebie favour peering over their shoulder at every corner. Still one of the sickest UK zines around. Contact... germs90@hotmail.com 50P + SAE WITH 3 STAMPS |
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| 2005 ZINE REVIEWS |
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