XXX Fanzine Issue No.4 Digitized; Featuring Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Husker Du, and more

We've digitized the original issue #4 of Mike Gitter’s xXx Fanzine! This issue features Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Husker Du, Peace Corpse, and additional content that did not make the book. You can read issue #4 in its entirety HERE. xXx Fanzine founder Mike Gitter had the following to say about this issue...

Cranked out at the end of Hardcore ‘83’s high tide, xXx #4 was a fanzine poised on promise, but was still the product of an ambitious high school senior on his way to, well, “getting there”. The cut-and-paste layouts, the rudimentary writing and yet-to-be half-toned Paul Johnson photos (printed in the St. John’s Prep photo class darkroom) marked xXx as little more than another Boston area zine cribbing its inspiration off local stapled-together brethren like Suburban Punk (later, Suburban Voice), Frontal Assault and local HC bible, Forced Exposure. Based on where xXx was at, at that point in history, you shouldn’t be reading this some 35 years later. But I digress.

Not that issue #4 didn’t have its highpoints. There were the interviews – hardly Playboy-worthy profiles, but “not bad” as fanzine interrogations went. There were notables to be found like Pomona's Peace Corpse, but we we also walked in the shadow of future titans. For example, Bob, Grant and Greg from Husker Du were happy to oblige an interview in parking lot of The Channel at their second Boston area gig with SST labelmates, The Minutemen. Where the Huskers’ inaugural Boston gig at Maverick’s earlier in the year was a blur of rampant speed and roughshod melodies, pulling largely from the Twin Cities trio’s then binary salvos of Land Speed Record and Everything Falls Apart, their December 1983 Beantown gig - touring on the back of their landmark Metal Circus EP - gave the still hardcore-inclined, pre-“college-rock” era fans of Husker Du a taste of the Zen Circus come.

Outside of the Black Flag/SST Records axiom, Suicidal Tendencies’ Mike Muir might have been one of the most “hardcore” and hardest working personalities out there, carving a lane that even today pledges its allegiance to no one but the Suicidal Army. When ST unleashed their self-titled Frontier Records debut it was a shock to the system in a way few then-recent records, since maybe “Damaged”, had been. Suicidal had the total package. They were an anomaly and a success in spite of - and because of – themselves. For starters, Suicidal had a dangerous street rep spelt out in the pages of scene bibles like Flipside. Songs like “I Shot Reagan”  “Institutionalized” scaled heights no one imagined and ended up as KROQ radio semi-hits.  Then there were the Glen E. Friedman shots of Suicidal Tendencies’ crew decked out in Ric Clayton’s hand-drawn Sucidal Cyco button-ups on the back of that record. They had a crew of Venice vatos that were a Suicidal Nation unto themselves. Mike Muir put in the work: playing and promoting gigs as well as scrawling out plenty of “through the mail” interviews to spread the Suicidal gospel  (which involved physically slapping and stamp on an envelope and heading to the post office) -  one of which he was nice enough to do for that issue of xXx.

Now with a spate of reunion gigs, including a US re-debut at Punk Rock Bowling, announced as pen this intro-screed for xXx#4, the Circle Jerks’ place in punk and hardcore history is indisputable. Paul Johnson’s cover shot of Keith Morris wagging his tongue at a Channel crowd in late 1983 is pure, point-perfect punk attitude. Interviewed in the back dressing room of the South Boston waterfront club, the Jerks were on a high at the time, ploughing across America supporting their Golden Shower of Hits LP with a lineup that’s amongst their strongest to date with the rhythm section of Saccharine Trust giant Earl Liberty on bass and drum legend Chuck Biscuits supporting Keith and guitarist Greg Hetson.  Confronted by a teenaged xXx editor, the ever-affable Keith was good enough to endure questions about comparing the Jerks with his legendary stint as OG frontdude for Black Flag, as well as the usual queries about “the scene”. Now, 36 years later, it’s great to see the Jerks are back – at least for the moment.

Flipping through these pages, it’s plain to see that xXx #4 was a solid cross-section of a scene about to shift. Bands were cresting, putting out their finest and starting to think about calling it quits ala Minor Threat and the Misfits, both of whom played their last shows in the Fall of that year. The “Best of 1983” list contained the likes of Youth Brigade’s Sound & Fury, Scream’s Still Screaming, DYS’ Brotherhood and a lil’ classic from Minor Threat called Out of Step.  That issue also contained reviews of future classics from The Faith, Crucifix, Stranglehold and a pulverizing platter called Earth AD by the Misfits, just  to name a few. Add to that a few bona-fide ads (mostly paid for with record trades) including Deep Wound, advertising their Radiobeat Records EP and Jerry’s Kids announcing their landmark Is This My World? LP, it felt like the fledgling xXx may be getting it together.

- Mike Gitter

January 2020

XXX Fanzine Issue 16: New York's Hardest

xXx Fanzine issue #17 has been fully digitized! Read the full “New York’s Hardest” issue in it’s original form HERE. Below are some words from author Mike Gitter:

”With its eye-grabbing Bruce Rhodes shots of Agnostic Front and the Cro-Mags adorning the cover, xXx# 16 was nothing short of a turning point in the then-snowballing saga of the Boston area zine. Not only was it one of the most successful issues sales-wise in the zine’s 20 issue run; moving nearly 2500 copies through mail-order; legendary and long-gone distribution houses like San Francisco’s Rough Trade and stores like California’s Zed Records and New York’s See-Hear, it remains a fan-favorite 33 years later!

Most in-the-know types are quick to admit that the still-enduring sound that is synonymous with 90% of hardcore itself was the product of a scene that didn’t fully explode until the mid and late 80’s: New York Hardcore. New York was a late-bloomer. A scene that didn’t fully stage its takeover until Boston’s first wave had petered out, DC was having its Revolution Summer and the Midwest was getting into “artier” territory with the rise of bands like the Laughing Hyenas and The Necros’ move into dirty Detroit Boogie. In 1986, things were changing: Black Flag was on the verge of packing it in only to see Rollins coming storming back with The Rollins Band a year later and Greg Ginn exploring decidedly eclectic turf with his SST Records empire. Danzig was deep into Samhain, Kevin Seconds was developing a Bono thing. You know most of the rest…

In the Big Apple the stage was set. By 1986, NYHC was exploding with a new vigor. While the seeds of “Youth Crew” were sprouting up in nearby Connecticut with Ray Cappo & Co. repurposing Urban Waste and SSD riffs in Youth of Today, vets like Agnostic Front, Murphy’s Law and relative newcomers like the Crumbsuckers were taking major steps forward. Be it crossover thrash, no-wave noise, pig-fuckery, old time hardcore; the concrete pot was about to boil over. New York had the bands, the labels and five boroughs (plus Long Island) of kids knowing that (to paraphrase Antidote) something was about to change.

Onto our cover stars. While their sophomore slab certainly sounds like a band in transition – and in many ways was largely the product of a studio band that never fully congealed live – Agnostic Front’s Cause For Alarm upped the ante for NYHC’s flagship band. They had already made a helluva statement in 1984 with Victim in Pain. Aside from Kraut’s Product of Society, VIP was the first great New York Hardcore album. By the time I was thinking of putting them on the cover, Cause For Alarm had already garnered its share of controversy with its hallmark song, “Public Assistance”. Penned by none other than Carnivore’s Peter Steele, “Public Assistance” was a decidedly blue collar screed decrying the welfare state. Despite ruffling feathers at Maximum Rock N Roll (who gave AF the sort of notoriety and free publicity you can’t buy) and polarizing a few fans, Cause For Alarm was the record that cemented Roger and Vinnie’s spot as scene fixtures for decades to come.

With Age of Quarrel (which it can be argued lacked the intensity of the band’s demo recordings), the Cro-Mags not merely put an exclamation point on hardcore’s first generation, but stepped up an already Trump Tower high standard in terms of fusing the musicality and intensity of the Bad Brains, the songwriting and swagger of Motorhead and the sheer over-the-top-ness of early Venom. AOQ was a quantum leap that still sounds as essential today as it did when rap standard-bearers, Profile issued it on their newly formed Rock Hotel label. Yes, the same Rock Hotel label spearheaded by Cro-Mags manager and local promoter, Chris Williamson. 

So, in the dead heat of the New York Summer, Bruce Rhodes and I drove down to the city in Bruce’s car to witness the legendary five-piece Cro-Mags lineup simply devastate the Ritz and upstage headliners, GBH. The photos that came out of a photo session that afternoon and the live shots from that evening capture the energy, intensity and sheer vibe of five explosive personalities pushing themselves into the red-zone. Call it the storm before the real storm or the squall before the quarrel. It’s no surprise that this many “Alphas” couldn’t remain in the same band together. It was just that intense. 

The other interviews and pictures that made up #16 are both diverse and show the sea-change that was going on in the underground at that time. Tesco Vee and his Meat-Crew (boasting one ex-Minor Threat-er, Lyle Preslar and Negative Approach bassist Graham McCulloch) came swinging through town pimping their Rock N Roll Juggernaut elpee at TT The Bears. JJ Gonson’s pics of that afternoon totally convey the low-budget spectacle of The Meatmen as they continued their quest to basically become a cartoon version of Judas Priest (or was it the other way around?). xXx regulars, Corrosion of Conformity checked in for that issue during their underrated Simon Bob Sinister-fronted Technocracy era after a sweaty afternoon at The Rat -- made even more blistering by the Beantown debut of Santa Cruz Black Flag/SSD worshippers, Bl’ast! on the same bill. Even now, these binary volume dealers: COC and Bl’ast!, are still active and embraced as a huge influence. Just ask Dave Grohl, Josh Homme or the Fu Manchu dudes

Also in the issue, Greg Turner of The Angry Samoans articulated what was becoming many veteran bands’ frustration with hardcore’s homogeneity and how it jibed with The Samoans’ unstoppable irreverence. While not in the xXx book, rounding out #16 was an interview with a very far from superstardom Soul Asylum who were more notable at the time for being cross-town friends and rivals with Minneapolis legends like Husker Du or The Replacements than hit songs and dalliances with Hollywood starlets. Bruce Rhodes pics of Dave Pirner & Co. from TT the Bears are as furious as any post-hardcore-pre-grunge ensemble out there. Oh, if we only had 50 more pages!

Still working from my Boston University dorm room, xXx #16 was also a standout in terms of the high quality of photos and a very clean layout. Both of which were complemented by a very good print job at Larkin Printing, a South Shore printing house who mostly cranked out fashion magazines: our guy there – who also printed Al Quint’s Suburban Voice zine - literally running the presses for beer money!

Flipping through the reviews: between 86 era classics like Dag Nasty’s Can I Say, Crippled Youth’s Join the Fight and even Discharge’s ill-advised Led Zep romp, Grave New World as well as a metal reviews section that included the likes of Cryptic Slaughter, Onslaught and Voivod, it’s clear just how explosive a year 1986 really was. The ads in the issue also tell the story: labels like Homestead, Taang!, Touch & Go or Toxic Shock advertising new releases from Slapshot, Raw Power, The Butthole Surfers and a recently gone-solo Nick Cave.

The next generation was in full swing. Hardcore’s second generation had come of age.”

xXx Fanzine Issue 5 Digitized; Featuring Jerry's Kids, Black Flag, Broken Bones, + More

We’ve digitized issue 5 of xXx Fanzine! Read the full issue in its original form HERE; featuring Jerry’s Kids, Black Flag, Broken Bones, and more. Read author Mike Gitter’s reflection below:

”Released just a few months before I graduated high school in 1984, xXx Fanzine# 5 was the issue where things felt like they were coming together. Probably for that reason, it’s still one of my favorites of the zine’s six year run.

While I had yet to discover that half-toning photos would give things more visual punch (THAT’s what those Forced Exposure guys were doing!), I had mastered the art of shrunken typewriter font layouts (borrowing liberally from Flipside, Forced Exposure and sundry rags of record), stepped up my writing and found enough collaborators, photographers and labels who would trade records for ad space to make it look like I was cranking out a semi-legit early-80’s Hardcore-zine. Hell, we even had scene reports and the first few cartoons from Brian Walsby, who would remain part of the xXx gang til the end, and is still a friend to this day. Check out his artwork for the back of the xXx book as well as the accompanying Bridge Nine comp: Still Having Their Say.

I’m sure Brian’s cartoon of Michael Jackson joining the Bad Brains still has him wincing. Remember, it was the early 80’s. Thriller was a thing.

OK, 1984 kicked off strong.  Little did future Slapshot members Steve Risteen and Mark McKay know that the January 12th gig they put together at Malden Eagle’s Hall, so Steve’s band at the time, Terminally Ill, could play with The F.U.’s and Jerry’s Kids,  would become the first wave of Boston Hardcore’s last stand. It was a killer all-Boston gig on a cold and snowy night.  A verging-on-metal D.Y.S was added to the bill: promising that this would be the last time they would play the likes of “Circle Storm” before heading into heavier sonic turf.  Of course, as with any gig they played at that point, it was Jerry’s Kids who stole the show. JK’s live was the musical equivalent of an exorcism. Paul Johnson’s photos of their set really show how intense a live prospect they actually were – especially with Chris Doherty slinging second guitar.

Couple of side notes: The opening band at that show was Post-Mortem, who would eventually boast a pre-Anal Cunt Seth Putnum on bass. That was also the show where the swastika-ski-masked Andrew Brady was caught by Bruce Rhodes stage-diving: the very photograph that made the back cover of the D.Y.S. Brotherhood reissue, Wolfpack.

The issues’ explosive cover shot of Chris Doherty, who, at the time,  was playing with the likes of Jerry's Kids, Stranglehold and Dicky Barrett’s proto-Bosstones ensemble, The Cheapskates,  remains my favorite cover image and thusly became the cover of the xXx Fanzine 1983-88 book. At least for yours truly, that shot has passed into the realm of “iconic”.

The interview with Charlie Harper of the UK Subs done a few months before is probably the most glaring omission from the xXx book. The Subs’ impact on the early days of US hardcore was certainly sizable enough and Charlie has always been a pretty affable bloke, so chock that blunder up to having only so much space to work with and being deluged with a ton of great content. Truthfully, you wouldn’t believe some of the pictures we got our hands on as Chris Wrenn and I were putting the book to rest…oh, for another 60 pages!

While the Subs were in town that time at The Channel, I did manage to corner their then-bassist, Terry “Tezz” Roberts, also known for the being the founding drummer with  UK legends, Discharge. Tezz had just parted ways with his brother Tony “Bones” in Broken Bones. Tezz is largely credited as the dude that gave the world the D-Beat and would go on to play with the likes of Ministry before returning to a reinvigorated Discharge on second guitar. Even to this day he’s an affable maniac.  It’s an OK chat with a little bit of insight into the pre-Grave New World era Discharge, at best. Probably why that quasi Broken Bones feature didn’t make the book.

One lesser known band that we opted to include in the book from this issue was Western, Mass’ Outpatients. Formed off the back of the legendary Deep Wound by the Helland Brothers: Vis and Scott, the Outpatients took the hardcore energy that Scott vexed with future indie rock heroes: J. Mascis and Lou Barlow and channeled it with Motorhead-ish intent. The trio, rounded out by drummer Mike Kingsbury, became a Bay State regular. Sadly, with the exception of an excellent 1983 demo tape, a track on a Flipside compilation and two tracks on Gerard Cosloy’s Bands That Could Be God comp, the band never focused on recording which has relegated their legacy of incendiary live shows to semi-deep-dive status – with the exception of the xXx book, natch!

A glance through the record review section shows the brine of a few sea-changes afoot. Between the “side-2” slowcore of Black Flag’s My War, The Misfit’s hardcore fixation on Wolfsblood/Earth A.D., Marginal Man’s debut as well as demos from Verbal Assault and Siege, the baby that was no longer cute was exiting salad days and entering its teenage years. Later in the zine, there’s even a live review of featuring none other than Husker Du opening for some Atlanta indie mob called R.E.M.!  

Enjoy this issue of xXx which we are presenting in its original form here online. We plan to do this same treatment for all 20 issues – in no particular order, really. Given that our old pal, Chris Doherty is presently recovering from a stroke and there is a benefit gig being held at The Paradise in Boston to help with his medical expenses on January 12, we wanted to get this one in front of old friends and anyone who wasn’t around in 1984 to grab the rag. If you’re in the area, go to the benefit and catch Slapshot, Springa and His Sonic Droogs and a reunion gig from THE OUTLETS (yes, Boston’s greatest power-pop band) all doin’ it for Doherty! Get well Chris. We expect to hear you onstage belting out “Rabies”, “Sold Out” and of course, “Alcohol” very soon!”

-Mike Gitter

xXX Fanzine Issue No.14 Digitized; Interviews with Bad Brains, Motorhead, etc

We've digitized one of the most crucial issues of xXx Fanzine, issue no.14 featuring interviews with the Bad Brains, Motorhead, plus additional content that did not make the book. You can read issue no.14 in its entirety HERE. xXx Fanzine founder Mike Gitter had the following to say about this issue...

"This was the issue where xXx really hit its prime. xXx  #14, which featured a generation-charging HR of the Bad Brains by Cindy Mendes, was the first of a triumvirate of covers (#14-Bad Brains, #15-Samhain, #16-Cro-Mags/Agnostic Front) where the zine had really come into its own: layout, pictures, writing, the works. That was a span of issues that is probably the leading reason why xXx still gets a bit of love (and a full book treatment) some 35 years later! It was also the issue where you could see Hardcore's sea-change really start to take hold. The interviews with Dag Nasty and Slapshot saw old schoolers like Brian Baker, Choke and DYS' Jonathan Anastas open up new musical chapters while still sticking to their punk lineage. Meanwhile, Youth of Today had just emerged from the suburbs of Connecticut to reinvigorate old school straight edge with a sound equally cribbing from Boston and NYHC and, in the process, give birth to the divisive sound of "Youth Crew". From what I understand, the interview I did with Ray and Porcell at the old Anthrax club in Stamford, CT was at their fourth-ever show as a band!

As you shift through the 28 pages of this issue, you'll obviously catch a bit of content that didn't make it into the xX Fanzine 1983-88 book. The big hold-out was The Dickies interview...not that I don't love Stan, Leonard and their history of tuneful irreverence. We only had so much space (228 pages) and 20 issues to cull from. In retrospect, the book does have a hardcore bent and there are some glaring omissions including interviews with California's CH3 (issue#3) and the UK Subs (issue #5) that will hopefully see light of day again at some near point. 

In addition to focusing on the sound of energized old schoolers and younger scene-shifters, the issue's interviews with binary legends: Motorhead and Bad Brains make it one of the zine's strongest. Our conversation with Lemmy and Phil (who remained Motorhead mainstays til the end) on the 1986 Orgasmatron tour at a show at the Channel opened by the Cro-Mags (!) really shows how plugged in and aware they were of the scenes around them - to the point of Lemmy name-checking Wattie and The Exploited!  Meanwhile, my interview with HR set the stage for the Bad Brains I Against I era in our chat backstage at Providence's Living Room. 

Add to that record and show reviews including Samhain, YOT, Verbal Assault, Jesus and Marychain (I panned 'em - a teenage me didn't get the J&MC's live show!), Circle Jerks, Husker Du and the very first Slapshot show and it's clear that things were cresting for xXx and the second generation scene around us! Hell, there's even an ad for the Pushead-released Pusmort version of Poison Idea's Kings of Punk on the back cover! Hope you enjoy E-flipping through what is perhaps the strongest overall issue in the zine's 6-year run. Safe to say, there's plenty more xXx to come!"

xXx Archives: CHANNEL3

June 6 2018 marks the 35th anniversary of xXx Fanzine. I'm as surprised as anyone that the product of what seems like a lifetime ago (t was!): a quickly-scribbled, hastily laid-out, xeroxed and stapled together 12 page screed, still warm from local copy shop, would continue to hold plenty of gravitas for yours truly. 

Who would have thought that the zine I rushed out for that Dead Kennedys/Jerry's Kids/The Freeze/Proletariat gig in Waltham, Mass, would be something I'd be involved with three-and-a-half decades later! Let's think back to some of other other cultural touchpoints of the year: 1983! Return of the Jedi was hitting theaters! The cold war was still a thing! The average monthly rent was a whopping $335! As Dan O' Mahoney pointed out in his intro essay in the xXx book, 35 years before that, Eisenhower was still president and Doo Wop was the hit sound of the day. 

Which brings us to what is basically a continuation of the four-year project that still feels like a 288 page "homecoming": xXx Fanzine 1983-88: Hardcore and Punk In The 80's. The 11"x11", 4.5 lb tome, edited by Bridge Nine Records owner, Chris Wrenn neatly encapsulates the best and most focused aspects of the zine's 20 issue run. That said, there was a lot of material that should have made the cut! 

That's to say nothing of the avalanche of amazing photos, flyers and tons of circa 83-88 artifacts that we were coming in after the book was already crammed full and ready to go to press.. Of course, I've been hounding Chris about adding, oh, at least 100 more pages for a second printing! 

So what better time to launch the  "xXx Fanzine Archives" which will continue to highlight interviews, reviews and xXx-related ephemera that didn't make the physical book but will live here and continue to tell the zine's six-year (and beyond) story. First entry: So-Cal punk heroes, Channel3, who are pushing the four-decade mark with no signs of stopping. Their recently-released Put 'Em Up is their best in years, to say nothing of kicking more ass onstage than most bands half their age.  Click HERE to read all about it!

Welcome to the archives! Strange to think, but 35 years later, xXx is still having its say. 

XXX Fanzine Book Release Party Announced

We're excited to be hosting the xXx Fanzine Book release party at the Bridge Nine office on November 10th! To commemorate the release of the long awaited book, Kevin Seconds will be doing an intimate live solo performance and there will be a D.I.Y. panel with Mike Gitter himself and Tony Rettman (and a few others TBA). The show will be at 7pm with a $5 entry fee. Grab a ticket here to guarantee you'll be able to get in, and also score an exclusive 12"x18" poster that is exclusively available at the event! Purchase your ticket HERE. 

xXx Fanzine 1985 Spotify Playlist Launched

We've launched another xXx Fanzine Spotify playlist, once again curated by Mike Gitter. This time we focus on the year 1985. Some words from Mike Gitter...

"By 1985, Hardcore America had branched beyond its three-chord, primitive origins. As documented in xXx Fanzine 1983-88: Hardcore and Punk In The Eighties, sheer speed was being supplanted by actual songs via the likes of Husker Du, Scream and a re-activated Descendents (with Milo back from college). In Dischord D.C., "Revolution Summer" was warming up with Rites of Spring exploring punk's poetic possibilities (birthing "Emo" in the process) while bands like Raleigh's Corrosion of Conformity and So-Cal metallers, Hirax were freely cross-pollinating punk with metallic sophistication  as skinheads and longhairs no longer stared each other down from opposite sides of the room. Add to that, SST (the label that Black Flag built), Homestead and Touch & Go laying the foundation for the indie rock explosion, the shock-waves of which are still being felt today. The youth weren't just getting restless. They were adding something cooler to the chaos. "

LISTEN HERE

XXX Fanzine 1983-1988 Hardcore & Punk In The Eighties Book Up For Pre-Order Now

We have launched pre-orders for the xXx Fanzine: 1983-1988 Hardcore & Punk In The Eighties book! It's available as a stand alone book or as a deluxe package deal. For more details on the book and package, see below. Pre-order now! 

xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties isn’t a mere collection of articles, reviews and photographs from one of Hardcore America’s best-known fanzines - it’s a chronicle of punk’s evolution in the 80’s; a story of music and ideologies in motion. xXX’s story picks up while the first wave of hardcore was in full swing. Major players including Minor Threat had already released landmark records and bands were loading up station wagons to play now infamous venues like The Channel, A7 or D.C. Space.

While based in Boston, xXx’s main writer and editor, Mike Gitter, not only concentrated on his own city’s burgeoning scene, spear-headed by bands like SS Decontrol and D.Y.S., but looked to other states and countries for xXx’s reportage. This hardcover, 11"x11", 288-page book documents a time when hardcore and punk were not mutually exclusive and bands and cities had a chance to develop their own diverse and strident sounds.

This creative ethos and aural zeitgeist is literally spelt out on the 19-song compilation that’s included with xXx Fanzine, with either download card or limited edition 12inch; a wide variety of current hardcore, punk and hard music luminaries including Strife, letlive., Fu Manchu and The Riverboat Gamblers contributed their interpretations to some of the most influential songs to come from xXx’s original era.

Now, in addition to reproducing (and restoring) countless interviews and pages from the ‘zine itself, xXx Fanzine re-interviews countless bands and musical prime-movers including Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris and members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags to give the book a rare ‘then and now’ perspective. xXx Fanzine (1983-1988), Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties isn’t merely a look back at hardcore’s salad days, but a unique look at how punk’s music and message shook the mainstream itself.

xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties features: 
Minor Threat, Misfits, Necros, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Husker Du, Jerry’s Kids, Black Flag, D.O.A., G.B.H, Void, Negative Approach, 7 Seconds, D.Y.S., Scream, Metallica, Corrosion of Conformity, Minutemen, The Exploited, Anthrax, Subhumans, Dead Kennedys, SSD, Henry Rollins, Descendents, Bad Brains, Youth of Today, Motorhead, Dag Nasty, Snapshot, Samhain, Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Bad Religion, Fugazi, and more…

PACKAGE DEAL INFORMATION: 
The MASSIVE package deal comes with a copy of the hardcover, 11"x 11", 288 page xXx Fanzine book as well as the following items that are 100% exclusive to the package:

- A 19 song compilation featuring some of today's most relevant band's in hard music covering classic and influential hardcore/punk songs from the xXx Fanzine era. This is pressed on 12" vinyl available on 3 different colors. 150 red/white/black tri-color, 300 half red/half white, and 650 red. Vinyl colors will be given out on a first come first serve basis.

- An additional 64 page book that includes all three issues of Suburban Mucus. Suburban Mucus isn’t merely a companion piece and precursor to the book xXx Fanzine (1983-88) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties. It’s a three-issue snapshot of the shape of punk to come: turning the dial all the way to the left and discovering a new musical revolution at the dawn of the 1980’s. Co-conceived in 1982 by xXx writer and editor, Mike Gitter, Suburban Mucus was an early vehicle for its high school aged editors to connect with Boston’s burgeoning hardcore sect and stake their claim in the D.I.Y. revolution that forever shifted punk’s paradigm and still echoes loudly today.

- A huge 24"x 36" full color xXx Fanzine poster that features some of the most iconic photographs featured in the book. This includes shots of Minor Threat, SSD, Jerry's Kids, Black Flag, Dag Nasty, and more!

- An additional 12"x18" poster showcasing the art of Brian Walsby.

XXX Fanzine: 1984 Spotify Playlist

We have launched our second playlist in the xXx Fanzine Spotify series. This time, we cover the year 1984 with 19 songs curated by xXx's own Mike Gitter.

Gitter comments "In the year of George Orwell's dystopic classic, 1984, punk and hardcore were forging themselves into something new. The "old guard" had largely called it quits the year before, with the likes of Minor Threat, The Misfits and The Faith packing it in as scenes got bigger and a step removed from their original sense ofDIY inspiration (and desperation). What was coming into focus was a sea-change in the underground as the likes of Black Flag, Die Kreuzen and Corrosion of Conformity began to explore heavier, more intricate sounds as others, including Husker Du and Channel 3, pushed their songwriting beyond sheer speed and brazen slogans. As documented on Maximum Rock N Roll's Welcome To 1984 compilation, the worldwide scene was also changing, growing larger with bands ranging from Finland's Terveet Kadet, all the way to Italy's blistering Raw Power to the roughshod sweetness of Canada's The Nils pushing themselves to the forefront. In was the beginning of something new; the beginning of punk's season of soul searching. "

LISTEN HERE
Hardcore was coming of age.

Nomads Premiere Crucifix/Agnostic Front Cover; Still Having Their Say Compilation Revealed

After an extended gestation period, legendary underground music journalist and A&R man Mike Gitter’s xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties is almost upon us — and the epic amalgamation of revolutionary history, hard-won contemporary wisdom, and vivifying sound promises to be well worth the wait.

“Over nearly four years the xXx book blossomed into something a lot more weighty than just a collection of re-printed interviews and reviews from a well-regarded 80’s hardcore zine,” Gitter tells Decibel of the tome which also brings in new interviews with “musical prime-movers” such as Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris and members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags to provide added depth and context. “It became a snapshot of some seismic changes in underground music — everything from Black Flag’s creepy-crawl into the sounds of bands like the Melvins and Soundgarden, the punk-metal crossover, the straight-edge stomp of the youth crew to weighty personas like Rollins, Danzig, Mascis and Mould putting their footprints deep into the mainstream-to-come. Really, punk’s season of soul-searching.”

“[Nomads are] a great L.A. band that plays with passion and fury, [waving] the flag for a time when punk and hardcore were not mutually exclusive,” Gitter says.

Yet despite already locking down the “required reading” end of things, Gitter & Co. further sweeten the pot by tossing a crazy nineteen song covers comp into the mix featuring Tombs’ take on Samhain, American Nightmare knocking out a Cro-Mags jam, Shai Hulud channeling Raw Power, Voivod reinterpreting Die Kreuzen, and — exclusively streaming via Decibel Magazine — a revelatory melding of Crucifix’ “How, When, Where” and Agnostic Front’s “The Eliminator” courtesy Nomads. Cover art and official tracklisting for the Still Having Their Say Compilation can be found below.

1. Strife - Who Are You? (Void)

2. Done Dying - Blending In (Government Issue)

3. Letlive - Fix Me (Black Flag)

4. Trial - Money (Embrace)

5. H2O - Safe (Dag Nasty)

6. Nomads - How When Where / The Eliminator (Cruxifix / Agnostic Front)

7. Walter Schriefels - Society Suckers (Agnostic Front)

8. Tombs - Kiss Of Steel (Samhain)

9. Voivod - Man In The Trees (Die Kreuzen)

10. Aeges - Hungry Child (Corrosion Of Conformity)

11. Last Light - A Wish To Dream (Uniform Choice)

12. Fuck You Pay Me - Religious Wars (Subhumans)

13. Jesse Leech - Salad Days (Minor Threat)

14. Shai Hulud - Raw Power (Raw Power)

15. True Rivals - Coolidge (Descendents)

16. Fu Manchu - When The Shit Hits The Fan (Circle Jerks)

17. Gallows - The Possibility Of Life's Destruction (Discharge)

18. American Nightmare - It's The Limit (Cro-Mags)

19. Riverboat Gamblers - Hate The Police (The Dicks)

xXx Fanzine launches limited 24 Page Mini-Zine + 7" Flexi

Today we have launched pre-orders for the xXx Fanzine mini-zine + 7" flexi. This 24 page mini-zine gives you just a taste of the madness in the upcoming 288 page book, xXx Fanzine 1983-1988 Hardcore & Punk In The Eighties. More of companion piece than a preview, this zine features additional photographs and interviews that didn't make the book as well as some crucial pieces lifted from the book itself. In these 24 pages you'll find photographs, interviews, and features from Channel 3, SSD, GBH, Dag Nasty, Descendents, Murphy's Law, and much more. Also included is a Nomads 7" flexi, which features the band covering Crucifix's "How When And Where" which flawlessly transitions into Agnostic Front's crossover classic "The Eliminator". This is strictly limited to 1000 copies total. Once these are gone, they are gone forever. Available at B9Store.com/xXx

xXx Fanzine: 1983 Spotify Playlist

1983 was hardcore's golden year. Classics like Minor Threat's Out of Step, SS Decontrol's Get It Away and the Misfit's Wolfsblood/Earth A.D. were being released - shortly before some of these legendary outfits were bidding fond adieu to the crew (present day reunions, notwithstanding). Hardcore and the DIY tropes of the day were inspiration aplenty for the bystanders to form bands and onlookers to write and publish their own zines. xXx was no exception. Inspired by the fertile Boston scene, chocked full of great bands including early interview subjects like Fall River, MA agit-punks, The Proletariat and Cape Cod's The Freeze (whose "No Exposure" was a song-grenade in their war against local hardcore bible, Forced Exposure), xXx emerged in June 1983, just in time to be sold at a Dead Kennedys gig in Waltham, Mass. The layouts and writing were nothing short of raw and naive - but completely from the heart and honest. From the straight-minded bludgeon of Negative Approach or Jerry's Kids to the California screaming of Suicidal Tendencies and the Circle Jerks, the 19 songs on this playlist pack the punch that was Hardcore '83.

xXx Fanzine: 1983 Playlist

xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk In The Eighties Book Coming Soon

xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties isn’t a mere collection of articles, reviews and photographs from one of Hardcore America’s best-known fanzines - it’s a chronicle of punk’s evolution in the 80’s; a story of music and ideologies in motion. xXx’s story picks up while the first wave of hardcore was in full swing. Major players including Minor Threat had already released landmark records and bands were loading up station wagons to play now infamous venues like The Channel, A7 or D.C. Space.

While based in Boston, xXx’s main writer and editor, Mike Gitter, not only concentrated on his own city’s burgeoning scene, spear-headed by bands like SS Decontrol and D.Y.S., but looked to other states and countries for xXx’s reportage. This hardcover, 11"x11", 288-page book documents a time when hardcore and punk were not mutually exclusive and bands and cities had a chance to develop their own diverse and strident sounds.

This creative ethos and aural zeitgeist is literally spelt out on the 19-song compilation that’s included with xXx Fanzine, with either download card or limited edition 12inch; a wide variety of current hardcore, punk and hard music luminaries including Strife, letlive., Fu Manchu and The Riverboat Gamblers contributed their interpretations to some of the most influential songs to come from xXx’s original era.

Now, in addition to reproducing (and restoring) countless interviews and pages from the ‘zine itself, xXx Fanzine re-interviews countless bands and musical prime-movers including Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris and members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags to give the book a rare ‘then and now’ perspective. xXx Fanzine (1983-1988), Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties isn’t merely a look back at hardcore’s salad days, but a unique look at how punk’s music and message shook the mainstream itself.

xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties features: 
Minor Threat, Misfits, Necros, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Husker Du, Jerry’s Kids, Black Flag, D.O.A., G.B.H, Void, Negative Approach, 7 Seconds, D.Y.S., Scream, Metallica, Corrosion of Conformity, Minutemen, The Exploited, Anthrax, Subhumans, Dead Kennedys, SSD, Henry Rollins, Descendents, Bad Brains, Youth of Today, Motorhead, Dag Nasty, Snapshot, Samhain, Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Bad Religion, Fugazi, and more…

xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties is slated to be released on November 10th 2017.