DESERT MOON PERIODICALS
Reglar Wiglar #11
You think you never want to see another music zine, and then comes Reglar Wiglar. Imagine a punk rock humor zine. Too difficult for you? Not if you're the editor of this hilarious zine. The mock interviews with punk bands are the best, meaning this reviewer was laughing so hard tears were running down my cheeks. A great irrevelant stab at the poses, personalities and politics of the music scene. Reglar Wiglar is the Spinal Tap of zines.
FACTSHEET FIVE
Reglar Wiglar #4
The folks at Reglar Wiglar take the structure of your basic music fanzine and turns it inside out to produce a very funny zine that takes no prisoners. There is some "real" music commentary, like Joey Germ's "One Word Record Reviews" (Bakesale is "pensive" and Whip Smart is "popular") but most of it is low satrie, poking fun at music culture and music zines, They "interview" the hip hop band "White Bred and Honky MC" and "MotherScratcher."
Reglar Wiglar #5
Reglar Wiglar gets its point across that "alternative music" is no alternative so much faster using satire than rant zines do with rage. Editor Christopher Auman wonders if he'll be labeled a sell-out because his zine looks so DIY that it must be backed by The Gap. No chance, this is the real thing. This issue, Tom Ziegler turns in his piquant responses to a psychological profile he filled out for a job at a record store. Anyone who has ever had to take one of these and answer whether their personal life or $4.25 job was worth more will feel vindicated after reading it. Brialliant spoof interview and 100 albums discography with the "Woodrows"
Reglar Wiglar #7
Not your average zine of bad jokes and adolescent party humor
by any means. Auman shoots for real satire and succeeds admirably in his work. His version* of the Chicago Monopoly game was an amusing spoof of the city's neighborhoods and politics. Special rules like electing Da Mayor and staying out of Cook County jail will have non-Chicagoans at a disadvantage. Classic mock interview with Manchester pop kings, Mirage, sudden fiction and a whole page dedicated to T.R. Miller's Luhey.
*actually, this was written by Tom Zeigler
Reglar Wiglar #9
Auman consistently makes me laugh, parodying the music and zine world like no one else. The music reviews are some of the goofiest and snottiest that I've ever seen. They sneer their way through Ace Frehely (all the second-hand stores are already overstocked), Black Fork ("They stick their fork into big, meaty chunks of power chords and shove it in your mouth"), and lowercase ("Oh, how I would love to launch into some half-assed metaphor about how the condept of lowercase realates to the music of this band"). They also share the dirt on celebrities, asking where Hammer is now and voting Ash the "Most difficult Band to Look At." Chris kicks it all off with four hilarious versions of the issue's introductions to be read depending on your mood.
HEARTATTACK
Reglar Wiglar #8
This Is horrible. A Weenis Interview, some trivial horse doo-doo, and a couple comic strips. Maybe If you're one of those urban city grunge rockers you should go pick this up.
JOIN KAI (DENMARK)
Reglar Wiglar #8
Right on! These guys know for sure how to piss people off. Provocative and entertaining. The Wiglar consists of reviews of movies you've never heard of and hope you never will, as goes with the bands, not one positive review, there's an interview with a band I doubt ever existed, some short stories and more. The whole zine is copyrighted and recently got bought out by the Nike Corporation. Personally, I think they write the Readers section themselves during their monthly stay in jail. They've got a rotten attitude towards everybodys, they've got no respect, they're not serious at all and they're a bunch of wasted drunken wankers and that's why I like them and their fukken zine.
MAXIMUMROCKNROLL
Reglar Wiglar #12
This wasn't bad, but parts were rather contrived attempts as gonzo journalism. Some workd better than others. Most of it was pretty entertaining, like a letter from McDonald's concerning the McRib sandwich, the Van Halen concert, psychological screening for jobs, and a review of Nothingness. Unfortunately, it had these waste of paper advertisement cards strewn throughout, just like glossy magazines, except they were little xeroxes to fall out and annoy me. I don't need little pieces of shit to fall on me and make a mess. Other than that, and the drug references I didn't really get, I liked the zine and it's end comic, "Meg".
Reglar Wiglar #18
As Mr. Burns would say, hi-larious. Inteviews with Fleshies, The Woodrows and Sluggo made me laugh out loud enough so that the weird man on the bus kept staring at me. Even the record reviews are funny. Some British. Others are haikus. The comics aren't as funny, but hey, you can't win 'em all, right?
MUTANT RENEGADE
Reglar Wiglar #10
RW has really progressed since I last saw an issue about 3 years ago. This issue has a cool editorial by Chris, some letters, humorous interviews with Annie Baldwell and White Bred & Honky MC (Keeping it real [stale] in 98), stuff about ska, a great down with people rant, an interesting story about a drug sniffing dog, record, zine & show reviews, comics and a bunch of ads. Another one of my favorite zines, my only criticism is that it seems to need more graphics within the article pages. {Grog}
PUNK PLANET
Reglar Wiglar #21
Included in this issue of Reglar Wiglar are interviews with Joe Shithead (DOA), Lying in States, and the Peelers, as well as an article featuring Gary Panter, which article-wise, is the standout of the group. The wry self-deprecation of Reglar Wiglar makes the standardized elements of music/arts magazines worth reading, for example, haiku record reviews, American Idol judges as fictitious guest reviewers, poetry ("The Ironic Mustache of Wicker Park"), and the ridiculous, inconseqeuntial featurette piece "Fruitless Internet Searches."
RAZORCAKE
Reglar Wiglar #20
Picked this out of the pile because of the interview with Greg Cartwright of the Reigning Sound. I’m usually not too big on interviews written as articles because I’d rather just let the musicians tell the stories themselves, but I must say, it’s a great article. The author paints a pretty thorough picture of Cartwright, from his beginnings with the Compulsive Gamblers to his days in the sun as one-third of the Oblivians all the way up to his present band. It did what a good interview should do: it made me want to listen to the band, and in the case of the Reigning Sound, a band that I had previously dismissed. And it ends with a great quote from Greg: “There’s always going to be a band that makes you say, ‘Maybe I do like ska!’ Or whatever kind of music you thought you didn’t like.” The rest of the zine holds up, as well. Lots of comics and a really funny bastardized Mad Libs, the theme of which was “College Radio DJ.” Cool stuff. –Josh
A READER'S GUIDE TO THE UNDERGROUND PRESS
Reglar Wiglar #14
The high points in this zine are Jesse Reklaw's "Slow Wave" dream comics, and the nifty blue cover with the cloud motif. Otherwise, this is your average, smirking punk zine. It has music reviews, band interviews, and lots of scratchy comics. The opening "Idiotorial" consists of the same sentence repeated over and over again to fill up the page. There's an interview with Sam Henderson, cartoonist and gas bag. And there are plenty of sophomoric jokes. Clean, simple layout; newsprint stock.
Reglar Wiglar #15
A chunky selection of comics from Hans Rickheit, Jesse Reklaw and Bill Driscoll made me wish this zine would ditch its bland mix of features and focus exclusively on comic art. Instead, we get too much puffery about the indy music biz, a clipped and uncomfortable interview with cartoonist Dan Clowes, and in incongruous spike of high-quality writing reprinted from Julie Halpren's zine, Get Well Soon. Disinterested and flat, the fizz is out of this formula.
ROCTOBER
Reglar Wiglar #21
Made me more regular than bran. though I like to say 'bran" out loud more than I like to say "reglar wiglar". Try saying "bran", you'll dig where I'm coming from.
SHOUTING AT THE POSTMAN
Published by something called Pocket Swivel, Inc (which is owned and controlled by Giganta Corporation), this is a zine in which it is often hard to tell when the writers are putting you on. Along with a few pages of Giganta Corporate newsletter, there are interviews with bands and music reviews. Some of the interviews are imaginary interviews with imaginary bands, which offer wildly funny satires of the music scene. There are also comics which usually feature T.R. Miller's infamous surreal Luhey cartoons. 48 pages, full size.
THROW RUG
Reglar Wiglar #8
This is kind of like 1000 Interlocking Pieces, actually. They seem to have a vaguely similar sense of humor, although Chris makes sutff up more. Theres an interview with the Woodrows (which is either made-up band or a band that lies a lot), some movie reviews (Lies! Lies! They're not even real movies!), and some fiction (nothing but lies!) There's also some letters, a guide to not being busy, a Midwest Scene Report ("Gary, Indiana: Nope; Akron, Ohio, Nope."), and some comix, of which I really liked, although mostly for the artwork, "The Righton Kids", and their guide to doing a zine.
Reglar Wiglar #9
The big story this time is that Alterrnative Music has been killed deader that disco. The articles detailing this seem to be well-researched and reliable, but Chris slips up in showing his ignorance of the fact that "No-more-big-pants-but-still-keepin'-it-real" MC Hammer is now just Hammer. Duh! Send him some money and an angry letter.
Reglar Wiglar #10
Hey, this is pretty funny. Yeah, I like it. It's all making fun of popular music culture through the use of fake interviews with phoney bands. There's interviews with a Lilith-esque singer, two white rappers, and a ska band--this one nails everything tht's funny about the ska scene. Chris makes fun of every current trend in music today. Hmmm, I think I would too, if I looked as much like the lead singer of Everclear as Chris does.
Reglar Wiglar #11
Fake interviews, but they're funny (fake interviews are difficult to pull off humorously; I've tried, with resounding failure [not that my failing to be able to do something is proof that it's difficult, necessarily])! Also, some other funny stuff, letters, and a batch of reviews. I like the cover, but I didn't like the comics much this time around. Easy come, etc.
Reglar Wiglar #12
This guy thinks he's pretty funny, with his made-up letters from readers, and his made-up record reviews, and his made-up, um, tax forms--oh wait--I guess he is funny. My mistake. There's also a non-made-up review interview with the Pollkaholics and some stuff like that. This could really use another run past a proofreader, but I get the feeling that Mr. Auman, despite his preponderance of "contributors" with suspicious sounding names, is in actuallity, sad and alone. So what can you do? He also sent a three year old comics called Woodrow Comics #1 which treads that tightrope between stupid and clever and eventually, while not falling to one side or the other slips off with one leg on either side and racks up its crotch really bad on the highwire.
WILKES-BARRE BEACON
From “A beginner's guide to 'zines”, 9/23/07
Reglar Wiglar #21
A fun alternative to mainstream music magazines, Reglar Wiglar offers loads of interviews, reviews, comic strips, and entertaining randomness in between. The great part about the music reviews is that they go on for pages, but the format periodically changes. In one issue they start off with standard reviews, but then switch things up with one-word reviews, haiku reviews (damage has been done/with crunchy, distorted chords/control is not lost), fake celebrity reviews, and a guest reviewer. As for the randomness in between, the first page features an interview of the publisher, by the publisher, and the last page includes screenshots of fruitless google searches (for example, "Friends of Snuffalaffagus").
XEROGRAPHY DEBT
Reglar Wiglar #17
I think you can tell a book by its cover, but it's harder with zines. I was still at the laundry (why local shop, why?) when I read the Reglar Wiglar and I admit to being a bit put off by the Wiglar's screamingly bright yellow cover - the basic comic didn't help. But it was either this or soak up some daytime TV with the rest of the guys washing their socks. First up was a surprisingly funny and generous interview with a guy who didn't bath or shower for 18 months (glad I didn't have to do that interview). I calmed down, stopped watching the spin cycle, and read the zine. Hugely funny pieces on the White Strokes (not a mistake) and fast food reviews followed. There are also loads of record reviews, some in haiku, some are one-word reviews, and I liked the amount of comix here, including a couple by Stepan Chapman and half-a-dozen Slow Wave by Jesse Reklaw—those comix where people (like Davida for instance!) send in their dreams to be drawn. I'd read the Wiglar again. I won't even wait for laundry day.
Reglar Wiglar #21
One of those zines I’ve been hearing about for years but never had a chance to read until now. It’s mostly about punk rock, with the requisite band interviews and record reviews, but there’s an overall sense of goofy humor pervading it that makes it far more enjoyable than the average punk newsprint zine. I especially enjoyed the interview with Joey Shithead of DOA, and Benny “Bongos” Tully’s thoughts on record collections vs. the ubiquitous iPod. The record reviews are also more interesting than usual — some are in the form of haiku, and others are summed up in one word only. Worth checking out.
ZEEN
Reglar Wiglar #4
Funny fucking zine outta Chicago that does many beautiful things: 1. Explore the stupidity and of evilness of those "psychological personality profiles" that shitty jobs make you take to see if you're dishonest enought to appear honest. 2. throws crappy CDs onto the busy Western Avenue and describes their demise. 3. Creates a parody (I hope) band interview (The Woodrows) complete with an exhaustive discography. I have no idea what Reglar Wiglar is.
Reglar Wiglar #11
In living, bright red color, the target featured on the newest Wiglar will no doubt be useful to those who will feebly retailiate the barbs this Chicago mainstay subtly deploys. Throwing together real band features like the Goblins (well, at least I think they're real--they have records out anyway, I've seen 'em!) alongside the impossibly prolific genius of The Woodrows, it's often hard, yet pleasantly refreshing to figure out if Mr. Auman and Company are just fucking with you r not. Of course, there are more direct hits like ever-fresh "Idiotorial" and Giganta Corporation's Presidents Message, or perhaps the title-clinching "I Hate Your Band, I Hate Your Zine". This zine will infuriate or confuse morons of all types: your neighbors, scensters, zinesters, red-headed step children, you name it. With a name like Reglar Wiglar, it's gotta be good.
ZINE THUG
Reglar Wiglar #18
Punk zine with lots of newsprint pages and a silly sense of humor. This issue features interviews with Fleshies and the Woodrows, two bands I've never heard of. The latter band apparently has an endless discography and the guitarist, Mattowar, of the former band is quoted as saying, "Rock is not about thinking." There's also an interview with Sluggo, a dude who has a lot of experience booking bands in Chicago and Detroit (and now I will have to watch my Beavis & Butthead videos to see his cameo.) By far the funniest interview in the zine is a fictional one with Enenen where the interviewer, Joey Germ, uncovers the truth about Slick Brady, Enenen's psychotic alter ego. The issue is also chock full of music reviews including "One Word Record Reviews" and "Haiku Reviews." And there are even comics. One called "Chrome Fetus" which follows the adventures of a mysterious teddy bear in a trench coat and another called Peg where the women's breast outlines are creepily drawn (possibly saying something about the illustrator's distorted perception of women — although, the one where Peg goes to the temp agency is hilarious.) There's even more to Reglar Wiglar; zine reviews, other miscellaneous humor, and ads and it all only costs $2. Reviewed by thrill racer.
Reglar Wiglar #16
Chris Auman, editor, likes music and he likes comics, and the reviews are a solid lot — even those of the music. This zine is on newsprint, yet always concealed in an eyegrabbing colored cover. The tone goes between obnoxious and outstandingly stupid, which I’ll take. The interview with Peter Bagge held my attention the longest. Then the twelve pages of comics — Jesse Reklaw and Hans Rickheit, ooh.
Reglar Wiglar #17
Great comedy writing in this issue’s “idiotorial”, about how, in this time of crisis, we Americans should be more careful with our language. No more thinking outside the box, and: Our cars, our hairstyles, our stereos — these things don’t need to be off the hook. None of it needs to be off the hook. Not anymore. Let’s get it all back on the hook. Let’s get it back in the box and onto the hook where it belongs. Let’s get organized. Fake band interview with “The White Strokes”, more comics. Contains photo(s) of the author.
ZINE WORLD
Reglar Wiglar #9
Is this for real? They manufacture interviews with stupid bands, but I can't tell if they're fake--especially considering I've never heard of the bands that get interviewed in zine anyway. The story about the Death of Alternative Music isn't even as funny as what really happened. Ooh look: 5 pages of record reviews. The cool comics get buried under the stupid ones.
Reglar Wiglar #10
This was surprisingly funny and enjoyable. There are a few fake musician interviews, one of which is a hilarious conversation with a ska band comprised of hundreds of members, and another with "White Bred and Honky MC" which is funnier than it sounds. A couple of humorous essays, some records reviews (some real, some fake, I think), zine reviews, and some decent comics add to the package. A lot of fun!
Reglar Wiglar #11
RW comes off as an in-joke. The first section of the zine reads like a collection of memos to employees of RW, and the band interviews that follow are obviously fictitious, but the humor isn't obvious. Zine and record reviews fill a few pages, and comics consume the latter half of the zine. A humorous jab at Oasis' Noel Gallagher is the highlight.
Reglar Wiglar #12
Feels like a punk zine, but barely touches on the traditional things that make up a punk zine. RW has a sense of humor, a triple-digit IQ, and doesn't take itself or the sound of philosophy too damned seriously. There's only one interview, for example, but it's with a band called the Polkaholics, and it devolves into enjoyable chaos almost immediately. The record reviews are worth reading for the attitude alone and there's an expanded review of Imaginary Album by the Nonentities ("the best group of invisible mime musicians to come out in a long time"). Is this for real? Is any of it? Does it matter? Farther from the usual, Tom Ziegler shares a "psychological profile" test he had to take when applying for a job, publisher Chris challenges the tradition of petty bribery by offering to sell rave reviews "for the low, low price of $100," and the comics in the back teeter on the brink of existentialsim (either that, or I just didn't get 'em). A bonkers zine, for bonkers times.
Reglar Wiglar #18
Lots of attempts at humor, some of which are actually humourous. Best is an hysterical interview with a (presumbably) fictitious band, the Woodrows. There are some record reviews too, and I'm not sure whether they're real. The fiction that's indisputedly fiction is pretty good: could use some editing. Screwy comics at the end made me laugh out loud. Yeah, I had a good time with this one. Don't know what a wiglar is, but this sure ain't your regular wiglar.
Reglar Wiglar #20
It’s always fun to receive a new issue of the Wiglar, zinedom’s flagship of irreverent, snarky music interviews and reviews. This particular issue includes interviews with cartoonist Johnny Ryan, rockers The Reigning Sound, and a pair of rock critics/ journalists. There are also funny-if-not-particularly-informative record reviews and a bunch of comics, from various contributors, that I will describe as “uneven.” Oh, there’s also some sort of short story, which I skipped entirely ‘cause that’s how I roll.
Reglar Wiglar #21
Printed, full-size independent culture-type zine with ads. The editor interviews himself, there are interviews with artist Gary Panter, bands D.O.A., The Hold Steady, Lying in States, and the Peelers, plenty of record reviews, and pages of comics. All in all, each section has variety and there's something for every punk, nerd, comic-and-indy-music-loving geek out there. That's not a bad review by the way!
