REVIEW: Wasted Opportunities: Spring 2012

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Uncle Critic

The new issue of Wasted Opportunities out and I’m ready to read. There’s still the plain blank backgrounds for the pages which I’m actually starting to like, it weirdly helps it stand out after reading pretty much any other zine however there is also still that annoying slanted font for some of the pages that I really wish would change. In this issue we’ve got an Undead Apes interview (and a pretty long one at that!). Then there’s a pretty great write up about spotify and streaming music, this may be my favorite thing in this issue. Then there’s a pretty good interview with Ginger from Good Luck, some pretty rad reviews and closing it out is the always present quick rants and a page comic. I really like these at the end; it always leaves me closing the issue with a smile. Wasted Opportunities manages to churn out another great issue, I really look forward to the new issue coming out each time, and it’s still a pretty new zine but its shot up really high on my list of favorites.

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REVIEW: Wasted Opportunities Zine (first four issues)

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Uncle Critic

Wasted Opportunities is a pretty new zine, it’s just four issues in so I figure I’ll cover all four issues here. It’s pretty good, I’ve enjoyed each issue and they just seem to get better and better. Every issue has a nice hand drawn cover which you don’t see too often, though the weirdest thing I find is the layout. There are not really any backgrounds or borders on the pages, everything is very clean, it’s different but I like it. Its way better than trying to read against a horrible background, I’ll say that much. The only real complaint I have about any of these is the font that are used is kind of annoying, I hope that gets changed. Every issue has some reviews (of all types but mostly music), rants, ramblings and stories. These all range a lot covering things like eating burritos, downloading, shows and back surgery (which sounds like it sucks a lot). The reviews are pretty good (mostly because I agree with most of them) so you can bet if they say something is good, chances are its pretty good. On the last page or so of each issue there’s a little one page comic which I like a lot. The Summer 2012 issue also has a ‘Best of 2011′ and 2011 in review, both of which are things I always enjoy. Each issue also has a couple of interviews; most of them from bands I know and like, all the interviews are pretty good. Though the Masked Intruder is by far the best one. The interviews are the bread and butter of this zine for sure. It’s pretty simple when it comes to this one, if you like punk/pop punk and zines, then check out Wasted Opportunities.

Interviews in each issue:

Spring 2011
Elway
Poison City Records

Summer 2012
Teenage Bottlerocket
Bridge and Tunnel

Autumn 2012
Menzingers
Banner Pilot

Winter 2012
Masked Intruder (with full color pictures!)

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REVIEW: Jerk Store # 11

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Uncle Critic

jerk-store-11Jerk Store is back with issue eleven and it’s still maintaining its high quality and stands as my favorite zine out there. This comes with a City Mouse post card record courtesy of It’s Alive Records. What that is exactly is a Flexi disc printed on an actual postcard; it’s got the song ‘Bad Weather’ which is a great song but the delivery method of the song leaves a lot to be desired. First off love It’s Alive Records and Jerk Store fanzine, but I’m starting to really hate these Flexi’s, then print it on paper instead of plastic and it’s even worse. It’s a nice novelty but nothing really more than that, this actually plays the song but you get a weird cardboard scrape sound the entire time the whole thing is just kind of, ugh. But at least it’s not a tape I guess. I don’t mean to sound negative about it, it’s actually pretty cool that they included this in here; it’s just not a practical music playing device, but still kind of cool. Inside the actual issue of the zine there’s some cool stuff (as always) including a write up about getting older as a punk, feeling unmotivated to go to shows even though there’s not an excuse to skip them and just feeling old about the age of kids in the scene today. This thing I can totally relate to, being 30 I’m not the 45 year old punk rock dude in the back but it weird’s me out sometimes at the sheer number of seemingly young kids hanging out too, oh well what the fuck ever. I enjoyed this a bunch. There’s also a pretty cool thing on the band Jolt and an awesome section on microbrews, Alex gets together with some friends and drinks some microbrews, it’s pretty cool but I also like that before he gets into this there’s a bit piece pointing out how odd it is for all the punk rock kids to be drinking the big mainstream brewed beers while ignoring the more DIY microbrews. This is pretty counter to the whole punk rock idea. After that there’s a pretty good Terrible Feelings interview and a bit of a rant that I have to agree with about the website punk news. Then there’s a part that’s a very small piece of this issue but probably entertained me more than anything else, it’s a rant about an annoying co-worker, and it’s pretty fucking great. We’ve also got a City Mouse tour diary that’s really cool, some show reviews followed by another tour diary this time by Unfun. Then finally the standard pages of reviews that are at the end of every issue. This issue, much like the rest is really rad. There’s some real standout stuff here, especially the growing older as a bunk bit, the City Mouse tour diary and the aforementioned co-worker rant. Don’t sleep on Jerk Store #11, the newest issue of my favorite zine.

Get it HERE

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REVIEW: Punxelated Photo Zine

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Uncle Critic

Simply put, this guy takes the best live band photos I’ve ever seen, they’re just fucking amazing. In 2012 Marc (the photographer) decided to put some of them together in a photo zine, I was stoked and picked it up at Insub Fest. This thing is pretty awesome; it’s twenty five or thirty pages of nice thick paper with these great full color photos. It’s got pictures from tons of bands Descendents, Hammerhead, Cock Sparrer, Municipal Waste, Propagandhi, Bad Religion, Hanson Brothers, The Queers, Punch, The Ergs!, The Dopamines, and Paint It Black just to name a few. Another great thing about this is Marc takes the time to write about what it’s like going to all these punk shows and taking photos at all of them. It’s a great combination of personal experience and great photos. If you like punk rock and enjoy looking at photos of said bands and even like to hear what it’s like being in the mix then you’ve got to check out Punxelated. I really hope there are more issues to come because this one is great. Coincidently I’m also wearing the Mikey Erg shirt featured in here as I write this.

Get it HERE

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REVIEW: SHOGANAI

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Uncle Critic

This has only one issue, which is a real shame because it might be THE BEST zine I have ever read. It’s a forty page one filled with the tales of one man and his move to Japan. The man is Servo, he moved to Japan to teach English, and soon he found out that the company he works for is more interested in scamming people out of money than teaching them English. On top of that he lives with his seemingly insane supervisor until he can get a better living situation. There are also stories about the punk rock community there, having a chance at romance and just hanging out and how someone might spend their days and nights in Japan. This zine really made me want to go to Japan, it sounds fantastic without romanizing it too much, because he speaks about the downers of being there too. I really wish this was more than forty pages because I tore through it pretty fast. I feel like I could read a novel written by this man. I hope he continues to write more, because I will eagerly read it.

Get it from John Wilkes Booth Records HERE

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