UNBELIEVABLY BAD ZINE
With his quill (and sometimes his cut & paste scissors) in hand, Chesshire hacks at the heart of all matters Rock n' Roll. Whether he seeks to praise or condemn, his eye is sharp and his execution savage.
Very few illustrators understand the machinations of good rock the way Chesshire does. Even fewer are still able to apply that to their work to such an astounding degree.
His nimble nib cuts a swathe through bullshit. he can say in a few squiggles and incredibly pithy through-bubble quote what it would have taken Lester Bangs an entire essay to express.
I hear he under charges like a motherfucker as well.
- Danger Coolidge
UNBELIEVABLY BAD ZINE 2008
FRIEDCAT ZINE
Friedcat fanzine kicked around G-Hole in 2005. With the help of Pan Studios we published 6 zines, and put on a handful of gigs at the Barwon Club. No cats were harmed in the making of this fanzine.
FRIED CAT - Issue 5 (12pp - free)
Fried Cat is my fave zine at the moment and i don't live within hurling distance of Geelong. Issue Five is the best to date - if Fried Cat is the chef's special then dish me up a double serving! Our mates from France, Holy Curse, cop the cover spot (and the interview inside will look familiar to regular I-94 Barflies - great to see the word being spread) but there's plenty more to interest. The record reviews section is really finding its feet; lots of critiques (Dirtbombs, Beasts of Bourbon, Johnny Casino, The Blue Van) and nicely opinionated. The quickfire interview with multi-city Aussie band The Unfuckable is a hoot and this month's Iommi Vice cartoon strip puts one of Geelong's favourite sons, Bored! and Powder Monkeys guitarist John Nolan, in his rightful place i.e. on a pedestal.
Regular columnists Mosrite Man (who delivers an amazingly insightful look at record fairs) and Dr Deaf (the resident Gonzo) are being given more space for their regular rants - and that's A Good Thing.
THE BARMAN - i94bar.com
FRIED CAT - Issue 3 (12pp - free)
This is the third issue of the irreverent Australian zine from Geelong, Victoria, and it's evident that Friedcat is spreading its literary wings and writing about the wider scene. A re-print of our own Patrick Emery's Kim Salmon interview, a great chat with The Atlantics (by Robert Lastdrager), a history of the Psychotic Turnbuckles and a slew of CD and live reviews make for an entertaining read.
We're fans of Rick Chesshire's 'toons and they're a mainstay of Friedcat, so what's not to like? His "Iommi Vice" strip is a classic. No zine is complete without a good rant and Dr Deaf provides same. The latest column hit the target (The Eagles and accountants) better than its predecessors.
Was a time that zines like Friedcat rocked just about everybody's world - if you had the remotest interest in anything other than the indolent crap that's clogged the airwaves and mainstream media for more years than it's healthy to count. To a large degree, the WWW has opened a new and more accessible channel of distribution, but it has created two new problems. The first is how to sort the metaphorical cream from the crap and find what you're after.
The second is that most people can't browse the Web while sitting on the shitter. Hence, the printed form will never disappear. I'd like to see the Cat pop up as a downloadable .pdf . Until it does, you'll have to write to PO Box 1518 Geelong 3220 Australia (and be a good Catlover and include a stamp or two, OK?)
THE BARMAN - i94bar.com
“...The fanzines are real fun..I just love your drawings.
And I can't wait to show Ron Asheton his caricature. Just adore it.”
- NIAGARA DETROIT
VISIT FRIEDCAT HQ:
www.myspace.com/friedcat