130 cases of stolen beer, Austrian XXX peep show, Satan fucked up the ass, Lincoln Towncar fellatio and a planet of evil goblins. This is the ‘Wicked Hardcore Issue’ of Broken Glass Barbed Wire Street Fight. Rusty Haight’s zine doesn’t stray far from its title, tying in short fiction, interview and a tour diary with a rough edge. Issue #7 features an interview with the ‘godfather of D.I.Y. punk fiction’ Chris Walter. Haight thankfully never falls into the ass-kissing, question-listing style of interview found all too often. It all comes across as just a good conversation with a cool guy. Walter’s stories of the early 80’s punk scene and copious amounts of free beer kept me reading. The D.O.A. tour diary of Europe came rife with stories of van difficulties, the autobahn, and Austrian quarter peep shows. It all stuck to true diary fashion, reflecting everything from the beauty of the Alps to the interpersonal strife to the great shows. The zine’s fiction keeps pace with the rest. Chris Walter’s piece about a born again Jesus worshipper in a punk band fits with the various band tales found earlier. But I think its Haight’s own story that shines; a first person internal monologue of a guy in Lincoln getting a blowjob for cash. He refreshingly creates an authentic character whose mind bounces from one thing to another — to anything other than what’s happening to him in the car. Simon Snotface’s fiction Prisoner of Evil caps off the zine’s fiction with an account of an evil planet full of goblins. I can only describe this as cyber-punk-horror fiction of some sort. Broken Glass Barbed Wire Street Fight epitomizes the D.I.Y. punk zine style, never once boring the shit out of me. But I have one question Rusty, which Kid were you in Vicenza? (James King)
punk zine, #7, 30 pages, Rusty Haight, $2, 5-2043 Stainsbury Ave, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V5N 2M9