|
When this little zine arrived with my review materials, I was taken aback. As I flipped through the pages and saw ads for "upcoming" full-lengths from Thursday and Q And Not U, it didn't take long to figure out that Action Man #2 dates back to early 2001. Further investigation of Action Man's web presence, which is in need of a bit of an update itself, informs us that they are awaiting adequate funds before putting issue #3 to print.
Editor's Note: In Action Man's defense, one of the reasons the mag is so old is that it was initially sent to us back in May, or thereabouts. At that time, we assigned it to a writer who turned out to be, shall we say, less than reliable, and it took us several months to get it back.
Despite the initial absurdity of reviewing a year and a half old zine, ActionMan proved to be quite an enjoyable read.
The articles and interviews range from mediocre to excellent, and feature everyone from MxPx to Slayer to The Faint. The MxPx interview is a notably shallow piece, offering all of the information you'd expect to find in any typical article on the band, but nothing unusual. The Slayer article, on the other hand, offers a good mix of standard information along with unique glimpses of the band's "backstage" personality. The writer sets the piece up with a little story about baking "Slay-tanic" cookies for the band and his subsequent adventures getting them to the band; the interview followed.
The great thing about most of these interviews is that they focus more on information than band history and influences. The relatively casual manner in which they were conducted seems to have allowed artists to speak easily about topics that normally don't come up, such as when a member of Laika talks about making promotional snowglobes for the band.
The magazine includes a couple of non-music-related articles as well, the best of which is a compelling essay on the psychology of hatred -- the author asserts that most hatred stems from the basic human need to fill a void by adopting some sort of cause or passion. Unfortunately, the rather lengthy piece on hiking and Buddhism is less challenging and not nearly as thought provoking, and goes off on tangents that are neither enlightening or entertaining. A 1998 interview with leftist political guru Noam Chomsky is featured as well, and although it's even more out of date than the normal content, the topic discussed was war in Iraq, which is, of course, quite a timely issue.
As for the reviews, most of them are too short to really offer any conclusive evidence if you're trying to decide whether or not to buy an album, although the few that are longer and more developed offer very solid opinions. The lack of elitist attitude is certainly refreshing -- every kind of act, from major label pop punk bands to obscure electronica outfits, scored some positive remarks.
Layout and design seems to be one of the magazine's primary focuses, judging from the editor's opening note. The magazine's blue, black, white, and grey palette is easy on the eyes and a wise alternative to basic black and white, and they've used it well here. Sometimes the design gets a little too busy, or even worse, difficult to read, but most of the aesthetic experimentation is tasteful. Someone on the design staff seems to have an infatuation with using display fonts for article text, and there's a lot of hard-on-the-eyes Condensed Bold text, but no real David Carson-style excesses. The biggest problem with Actionman is probably the nit-pickiest -- the words get lost in the binding! Few things are worse than having the last word or two of every line sink into the abyss. It's great to push the design envelope, but get the basics right first! On the bright side, advertisements don't clutter the mag's pages -- but maybe a few more ads would have helped in raising those much-needed funds...
For dated material, ActionMan #2 was an enjoyable read that was even a bit challenging at times. The writing is tight enough to compete with most of the other zines on the market, and the depth of the articles makes it a truly worthwhile piece of literature. Although the spectrum of music covered is broad enough to please almost any class of indie rocker, the artist features offer fresh angles that should make them interesting to all but the subjects' most ardent detractors.
If only the magazine came out more often, or at least more consistently, it would draw in a sizable and diverse readership. Let's hope #3 hits the stands soon.
-- Phillip Buchan
|
