Out for Blood #1 (zine seizure)

Out for Blood is the next step behind the sordid mind(s) putting out Excitement Level Zero and the band Cretins, and announces itself on the cover as a zine that'll "shit-talk."

A great aesthetic and layout, not too different from ELZ really. Unfortunately, I found the John Evicci interview to be kind of softball, which was a bummer because (like the rest of the world) I love Out Cold. No matter because the Jon Westbrook interview picked it back up, tracing Knife Fight's history with a few things nerdy and nuggety here and there, and because the dude is always willing to talk about cool shit from their era and he's not afraid to pontificate on California's weirdness and KF's outcast status.

Honestly though, the zine's real identity lies in its (as suggested on the cover) outspoken reviews. The author has a serious thing against "dangly earring punks" and makes fun of Tumblr almost as much as I do. I'm also a big fan of the term "chain posers" because...who doesn't agree that this is kind of getting out of hand here? Also, I like that he disses The Flex and Obstruct, just because I (still) think it's funny when popular hype bands get shit on, regardless of my own feelings on them. Contrived or genuinely angry, it was an entertaining read, and as anyone who's ever tried to write about music knows, it's way more fun to talk about that which sucks than that which gets your approval. 

I got mine here. By the looks of it, you can too. 

K is for Knife Fight

Westbrook's wardrobe hearkens to a bygone era of when you could guarantee an S&T shirt wasn't a bootleg

Good, burly "eighties" sounding stuff from the 2000's era that introduced many to some lesser known HC/Punk gems by way of their cover choices (America's HC being the most notable for me). I remember reading some doofus-y show review or column in MRR and the person writing it said that Jon Westbrook looked like a "scrapper" because he wore a flannel at a show. 

I later asked Jon about this in an interview with my own zine, and he seemed as perplexed by the question as me. He also told me a story of when Knife Fight toured with Mental before Lockin Out mania had hit fever-pitch proportions and some heroin addict tried to petition Greg's camo pants from him...Anyway, a band who's status is a live/dead hybrid, and who've never released a weak record. This pic is from the first 7" insert on My War. Mean, tuff and wholly disinterested in technical finesse...how I like it.