Lights Go Out
Lights Go Out is a round-up of everything new in the punk scene and then some. This issue can boast more interviews than you’ve had hot dinners (The Like, Rolo Tomassi, Failsafe, The Summer Set, Counterpunch, Lungs, The Social Club, Martin Carr. . .) as well as record reviews, live reviews, zine listings and band profiles. Apparently the small font size has been bewailed, but it makes sense to keep things compact with this much content to gorge on. One particularly nice feature of Lights Go Out is the Columns section, where the editor’s friends and acquaintances are invited to air their views in short, humorous pieces dealing with a wide array of subject matter from spam to the Smiths. My favourite was the teenage recollection of downing a bottle of gin so out of date it had imperial measurements on the label. Not for the fainthearted. There are some nice drawings as well, including the back page where different punk stereotypes are gingerly adopted, one by one. (Moral: “I went home, drank a nice cuppa and listened to the Blue Album — I liked that much better.”) Mr T. the editor, also sent us a copy of a zine made by his young daughter, which was just lovely.
