Brickshitter Fanzine #5 is Out Now!!!

Issue #5 features interviews with Black SS from Syracuse, and Nate Wilson/Gloom Records. It also has the third round of hardcore superbattles, this one focusing on Boston. And of course, another installment of Dude-eronomy from Mike Dikk and Jay Pud, a Steve Fontamozzarella column about the ladies, Twiztid Chris's column, and some other nonsense.

As always, send your mailing address to grossnation@gmail.com for a free copy in the mail, and it will be up along with all the other back issues on the myspace for download as a pdf in the next few days.

I've also made major steps in the advancement of the zine when I purchased a giant extendo-stapler, so the issues are no longer just folded together. It's a wild twenty first century world out there, and I'm diving in headfirst. Hoo-rah.

make sure to check out all the bands/people/stuff in this issue, as well as other things the contributors do:

Black SS
Gloom Records
Gloom/Nate on Myspace
Nate's Punk/Metal Blog
Dumpin' (Mike Dikk's Music Blog)
EWA (Music, Movies, Random Shit Blog feat. Mike Dikk, Tommyrot from Black SS, more)
Pictures of Idiots
My Comics Blog
Brickshitter Fanzine on Myspace


In other zine news, I got issues 1 and 2 of "Treble High, Talent Low", a new zine out of Glens Falls, NY, and issue 4.5 of "Beat Sheet", a newsletter style zine from the Boston-ish area in the mail this week.

TREBLE HIGH, TALENT LOW:

Treble High is a really well put together zine, though it may just be impressive to me because my layouts are either exceptionally sparse or look like they were used to paper a racoon breeding pen. The first issue has the first half of a 9 Shocks interview, an interview w/ Not Very Nice Zine/Tape label, some columns, some poetry (that's happily not pretentious, obnoxious, or poorly constructed) and a comic-y sort of thing. The second issue has the rest of that 9 Shocks interview as well as interviews w/ The Jury from Albany and Gross National Product from Florida, as well as more columns and so forth.

I think what I like most about Treble High is that while I'm not terribly interested in the zine's politics, nor do I particularly agree with them, Brandon and his contributors write about them in such a manner that it's readable, neither preachy nor boring. Although having been in a band that's covered Vile on multiple occasions, and another "band" that's done an entire Vile cover set, I can't say I'm really behind the whole last page rallying cry in issue #2. But it's refreshing to read a zine that still manages to be enjoyable even though most of the subject matter isn't exactly up my alley.

All around great zine, and really well put together, especially considering Brandon is in 10th grade or something like that. Certainly miles beyond my first zine. If he has any copies left, definitely try and get ahold of one. Write him at: brandon_gaffney@yahoo.com.

BEAT SHEET:

Beat Sheet is a newsletter type zine that Matt Radio Beat puts together every so often. They seem to come out around every month, sometimes more frequently so. Short and sweet, with show reviews, record reviews, food reviews, pictures and general musings, thrown together in an appropriately haphazard cut and paste style. An always entertaining read on the goings on of hardcore in the general New England area and beyond, and it comes out regularly enough that the record reviews and recommendations are actually relevant and current. I think he still has the most recent issue and possibly the one before it, so write and grab a copy while you can. Radiobeat@gmail.com

It's been said to death, but there really is something rewarding about doing paper zines, and even more so checking out other peoples zines. Sure, a large percentage of them are horrible, but it's still worth checking out new ones and tracking down old ones, at least as far as I'm concerned. Speaking of which, if anyone has the first three issues of Town Of Hardcore, get in touch.

And of course, anyone doing a zine right now, I'd love to trade. I might make fun of it later, but you'll have plenty of ammo to return fire if need be. Write to grossnation@gmail.com to set up trades, because I'm moving in the next few weeks and don't know what my mailing address will be yet.

Happy Birthday Don Rickles!

I'm sure if I actually wished him a happy birthday to his face he'd spit on me and then insult me in such an acerbic manner as to make my head spin and set my loins so aflame they'd spontaneously combust. I should disclose that one of the reasons Sarah Silverman ranks so high in my top twenty is that the idea of her breaking my balls whilst balling me is about as close to heaven as it gets. You know how Jack Black was blinded by love or whatever in Shallow Hal? Well that's me, but with one liners. I'm actually concerned that if I were to hang out with Don Rickles long enough he'd eventually start looking more and more like a sexy broad, that one morning I'd wake up next to a 80 year old man. And contrary to popular belief, that's not my shortlist of life goals.

Don Rickles is the Moses of insult comics. He went up on the mountain and came back down with perfection. He isn't the first, he won't be the last, but he won't be topped. Triumph is the only one that's ever come close, and he's a fucking puppet.

He also just published his memoirs, which you can (and should) buy HERE.

And finally, I'll leave you with the comedic equivalent of a four day orgasm. Whatever that asian meditation sex thing Sting does is called, that's bullshit. This is the real deal. 81 years young, hopefully 81 more.