I was asked to write an article for this zine and writing about the issues particular subject matter was a bit daunting and hard for me. Anyway, I wrote an article about my dealings with douchebags in Detroit. But that’s not why I am reviewing this cos there’s a bunch of other pages besides the 3 I was given. DOAS is a new zine from a bunch of girls in Melbourne. I always get pre-determined thoughts when I hear about a new zine being written. Basically, I have been involved in the zine game for over 15 years now (I aint bragging, just giving you a timeline of how I see things) and the one thing I really hate the most about zines is the politics involved. I aint talking about Labor vs Liberal politics. I am talking about some sort of Zine etiquette. You know, like things should be and look a certain way, etc. Cos to me, Zines should be all about free expression. Which is ironic for me to say, cos anyone who knows me personally knows that I fucking HATE poetry zines. Those crappy rags should be used as toilet paper or thrown in the fire. Really. I hate them. I just think they’re a bunch of arty wank and they remind me of some Jim Morrison styled bullshit and I always hated The Doors. Hate me all you want but honesty is my only excuse. I can’t like everything.
ANYWAY, DOAS is a zine that has a particular subject per issue and then a bunch of different people write about it; as in the case here, the subject was BOYS. And yes, there is some, not a lot, but some poetry in here. I skipped that. But there’s some great stuff in here to have a gander at. Matt Ford from Nerf Jihad zine (which is one of my favourite zines on the market) contributes another funny piece. That dude always makes me laugh. His writing is genius. Most of the articles in here are serious pieces or stories. Personally, I like the stuff that made me laugh, whether intentionally or not, cos, well, I like humour. There’s too much seriousness in the world and laughing is something we could all enjoy in times like these. Or something. I had to vote today; probably not the right day to write a review but I digress.
All up, this zine is well produced, it’s slick, spinebound (no staples here), the print is digital Xerox and the whole thing looks quite sweet. It’s a big deal. Most of the writing featured is of good quality; like the writers contained within probably all went to University and passed (unlike me) so their writing no doubt holds more weight than my anti-douchebag piece. Regardless, DOAS, is a new zine (they call it a Zournal, like a Zine and a Journal together) for your reading pleasure. I was glad to be asked to be a part of such a zine. It looks cool as and I hope it’s around for a while cos in a day and age when zines are dying, it’s good to see someone out there going the whole deal and rockin’ it. Yep.
Write to them at: deathofascenester@gmail.com or visit them online at www.deathofascenester.com.au and they can give you the scoop on prices, places and whatever else. Sweetness!
