Terminal Boredom, The Early Years, Vol. 2
Zine, Rich Kroneiss, 301 Tremaine Avenue Kenmore, NY 14217, USA, [email protected]
I’m a librarian in my day job, so I think it behooves me to take exception to the lack of bibliographic detail in this zine. The editor does not sign their name, and and it’s not explicitly clear that this is a collection of reprinted content from the zine’s past, which corresponded to the garage punk revival of the 00s. Plus, said reprinted content doesn’t even state which issue it came from. Most fans of punk are obsessed with specifics: which pressing? Which label? Which tour?
Lack of specifics aside, the cool cover with its high contrast black and white graphic, ample negative space, and rub-on letters got my inner punk fiend excited for what was in store. What I got was tiny typewritten text of band interviews, a fest diary, and a think-piece about punk and disco. Some of it was interesting and some of it was uninspired. The interview with Lili Z was out of sequence (apparently a pagination error) and the whole package was inconsistent thematically. Some of these interviews got a little bro-y for my tastes.
I appreciate the mission — to use print to reach folks that the internet might not, but I wonder if this would have had more impact if it were better curated and organized. But maybe I’m biased because I didn’t listen to most of these bands. (Chris Landry)