Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Razorcake reviews The Stowaways Issues 11 & 12


Razorcake reviewed The Stowaways Issues 11 & 12
I still have 4 copies of issue 12 lying around. email me if you want one. (11/21/12)

I opened issue #11 to find Christopher personally thanking me for my criticizing his full-size, stapled layout in an earlier review. But he says he wants to stick to the size because he likes it and it’s easier to lay out every month. First of all, Christopher, it’s your zine and you can do whatever you want with it, I’m just here to say what I feel. Second, if you’re doing a zine by yourself every month it’s pretty ridiculous for me to critique whatever corners you choose to cut. That said, I’m glad to be witness to the beginnings of this zine (at issue twelve, it’s only a year old) and I hope to see where this one goes. Each issue is mostly reviews: show reviews, then record reviews, and zine reviews by the ever-enthusiastic Christopher. It’s an un-ironic, un-jaded breath of fresh air and although there’s nothing I am more uninterested in than show reviews (at least until I get that time machine working), he manages to offer a bit of personal insight and criticism to personalize them, such as commenting on the machismo attitude of one of the bands he sees and how it makes him feel uncomfortable. I’m most partial to his zine reviews, though. I have the same criticisms of his interview style (in #11 he interviews Wild Moth, in #12 Ten Thousand Leagues) as I had with earlier issues. The questions are dull and unchallenging; they’re about stuff like when the band got together and about their next record. I think interviews should be written as if the reader never heard of the band, because I haven’t. So I care very little about when their next record is coming out or why someone quit the band, and I’m left with no desire to seek to them out. Otherwise, The Stowaways is kicking ass in its twelfth issue and first year. -Craven Rock (The Stowaways, 5082 Wendover Rd., Yorba Linda, CA 92886)

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