Reckless Chants #27 by Jessie Lynn McMains starts with an epigraph from Op Ivy’s “Sound System”: “to resist despair in this world is what it is, what it is to be free”, and that sense of freedom and resistance percolates throughout the zine. It’s a zine that’s full of big punk feelings, and while most perzines read like letters from friends (which I love), Reckless Chants reads more like a punk rock adventure novel (which, to be clear, I also really love!) There is something massive and cinematic to Jessie’s writing; they make even the most everyday happenings — like hanging out with friends in an alley, or show fomo, or crushes — feel like grand end-of-the-movie moments where the music swells and the characters embrace and everything is good and right in the world, even if it’s all draped in a little poetic melancholy. The whole zine is a must-read (esp. if you’re into punk perzines), but my stand-out favorite essays were the two that bookend the issue: “A Map from Point A to Point B”, about being a bi teen in midwestern suburbia, and “To Resist Despair (Punk is Resistance)”, a manifesto for finding your people and purpose.