xANXIETY ATTACKx
xANXIETY ATTACKx-
‘ANARCHO SYNDICALIST ARTICLE 1’ CD
This is beautiful DIY in full glory. This is the shit we breathe here.
High-impact art, that’s what we love! This is chaotic and unruly
splendor. Everything is written and played by one man: Matt Svendsen who
used to write the xANXIETY ATTACKx zine. In fact, the entire thing is
done by him, the art, the presentation. This is the epitome of DIY. Not
lousy DIY, which is often an excuse for a half-assed lack of effort and
lack of talent. This is perfect DIY. Also comes with a fuckin great anti
Hot-Topic ‘DIY or Fuck Off’ sticker. -No Front Teeth ‘zine
(11/21/04), London, UK www.nofrontteeth.co.uk
xANXIETY ATTACKx plays anarcho-punk, more like CONFLICT than CRASS. The guitar work is simple and has bursts of energy, the vocals sound like they're being yelled even when they're spoken. There is a lot going on with the rhythm section, but doesn't take away from the drive. Sometimes they break into the crazy thrashcore that Missoula is known for, and they do it well. The lyric booklet also includes a reprint of the whole "Anarchism: Arguments For and Against" pamphlet. -Erin -MaximumRockNRoll #260 January 2005
xANXIETY ATTACKx -
ANARCHO-SYNDICALIST ARTICLE 1 CD
One man band from Missoula, MT playing snotty hardcore. When listened
to through my magic “try to pretend that’s not a drum machin”
filter, the music here is pretty tasty. Fast and pissed, but still with
plenty of hooks; not on par with, but in the vein of early ‘90s
hardcore like Rorschach, Life’s Blood, etc. Give this dude a band,
and I think we might have something...but bear in mind, this is all being
said with my listening filter on. The ultra DIY packaging comes with a
healthy re-print of “Anarchism: Arguments For And Against”
by Meltzer, which is a pleasant departure from a pages long thanks list.
(-Robert) -Slug and Lettuce #74
xANXIETY ATTACKx •
Anarcho-Syndicalist Article 1 CD
Mix one person, a drum machine, some instruments, and anarchist politics
together and this is what you get out. Eleven songs of techno thrash with
lyrics covering a variety of topics ranging from straight edge and vegetarianism
to more overtly political rants. You also get a quick primer on anarchist
thought, should you choose to acquire this. Music-wise it's not too bad,
at times the drum machine gets bit awkward feeling but overall things
work pretty well. -BH, Heartattack #44
Anxiety Attack #5
Audio Issue: To Your Neighbors With Love
I would like to say that the Anxiety Attack #5 audio-zine is fucking rad.
It's twice as fun as a regularyl fun-filled fantastic anxiety attack.
:) No more reading while yearning to hear or understand that far off voice
of Matt Smut screaming (or reading) what he has to say cuz...HE DID IT
FOR YOU!! And not only do we get to hear what he has to say the way he
wants to say it and hear it the way he wantsit to be heard, but we also
get the amusement of numerous headaching white noises and audio video
clips he has chosen just for us (and our neighbors) that we must endure
to get to the real juice. With an audio issue there is so much more you
can do with it and Anxiety Attack #5 is a perfect example of this. There
is a lot of cool, important stuff in this zine, some of it you may have
heard before, and some of it is pretty "taboo", but either way
you aughtta check it out. If you listen to the antidifrancos but you're
not always so ure you know what the hell theyr're screaming about, then
this is a must have (as are their lyric sheets). He uses a lot of videos
and newscasts to support what he's saying and it paints an awesome verbal
picture of our reality. It's really fun and quirky to listen to. I would
encourage you to run out and snatch it up while you still can. DO IT!
and Kudos for Matt. -Anna Stout, Higgins Haller #3, Spring 2001
ANXIETY ATTACK!! #4
1/4 size cut n' paste zine overflowing with tiny (but readable) personal
rants, thoughts and plenty of emotion. He writes about sell outs, reprint
of a letter he wrote to local papers about police brutality during a local
protest, getting hassled while flyering, and reasons why he's straight
edge, a page listing other Montana zines, and his response to a pretty
ignorant letter upholding capitalism as the greatest system to live under.
The photo on the cover - an altered men working sign, is great. -Aprille,
Slug & Lettuce, June 2001
Anxiety Attack! #3
made by a boy named matt who lives in my state, matt is more than just
a boy with a band. He is a boy with a band and a zine. his zine is filled
with art, album reviews, political and cultural rants that seem well thought
out (especially compared to most), rants on things like equal rights,
and drugs. also included are lyrics to the songs his band sings (the anti-difrancos).
I enjoyed this little compilation of about 20 half pages. quite a steal
for a dollar (cheaper than a trip to the movies). -Murder By Suspense
#2, September 2000
Anxiety Disorder #2
Veteran Missoul Zinester, former editor of the late Molahtov Cocktail,
Matt, is back once again with the second issue of his new zine Anxiety
Disorder. This zine includes the same spastic style artwork and chaotic
lay out with all the same wonderful government rants. This issue features
a disturbing notice that one of the writers found in a police car that
proves the evils of these armed pigs, also included is a flyer on the
real reason why Uncle Sam wants you to prostitute yourself to the government
by joining the military. Matt's stuff is always some of my favorite although
a bit hard to read at times, and most of the stuff is reprinted and not
the editors own. -Aggro Scab #3, 1998
Anxiety Disorder #2
Editor Matt Svendsen is the feller you see in the summertime wearing a
cutoff Blanks '77 t-shirt, sucking on a coffin nail and pushing a baby
around in a stroller. Anxiety Disorder is kind of like that, too. Some
things just don't quite fit when you see them together.
It's a good read, and there's plenty of meat in it to get you through
a few reading sessions (a couple sections of eyewrecking small print and
handwritten scrawl also keep you from tearing through the whole thing
in one go). The running themes are a virulent disrespect for authority,
disgust with rich people and plenty of antifa sloganeering; three of the
troddenmost paths for punks zines, but hey: if it ain't broke, don't fix
it. I agree with most of what Matt has to say about cops, although on
a pragmatic level I wonder if he realizes how good Missoula's got it copwise
compared to almost everywhere else. Five or six years ago I was biking
drunk with a beer in my hand the wrong up Sixth (a one-way street) at
two in the morning with no light and the cop who finally stopped me just
told me to dump the beer and get home safely. Where else would that happen?
Still, there's one really terrifying angle to his anti-cop arguments.
Matt includes an actual official notice pulled off the screen separating
the front seat from the back in a police cruiser. Part of it runs lik:
"It is also not our job to make you feel better. If you do feel better
as a result of your encounter with us, that's okay. But, if you don't,
that's okay, too" And this is FOR REAL. Ex-jocks with guns, clubs
and mace zinging off wiseass paraphrases state policy with all the gleeful
candor of a fucking Gatorade ad. Sure cheers me up.
Another truly scary part in Anxiety Disorder is Renic's handwritten celebration
of Ed Gein. The copy quality is such that the article is almost impossible
to read, but Renic's handwriting looks convincingly psychotic all by itself!
I really wanted to read it, but not quite enough to have a migraine for
three days.
The whole "fuck Jay's" party line is getting pretty old, though,
I just have to say it. I can see where you'd think Jay's was pretty unpunk
if you're not part of the loop, but you've got to understand that, for
us old hands in the Missoula scene, Jay's has been the Giving Tree. It
gives us a place to practice and store gear, free beer and occasionally,
yes, even money. Besides, it's about the only viable venue option in town
these days, since every other place in town besides Union Hall refuses
to rent out their facilities to kids who, as they've learned by example,
seem more interested in breaking toilets and fucking shit up than actually
seeing the bands. And Jay's didn't write the drinking laws, Einstein;
they just enforce them. It's not exactly the same thing as age discrimination.
<<-How so? How is alcohol more important than young people having
the opportunity to participate in punk shows?! -matt>> It's a shame
they tack on a couple dollars for minors <<he uses "minors"
here regarding ages 18-20; no one under 18 was allowed in Jay's except
on the rare annual occasion of an all-age show -matt>> , but thats
because people like you (ie: underage drinkers) have made liablities of
yourselves enough times that ALL minors now have to pay for the transgressions
of a few. It's not rocket science, you know: if you're underage and drinking
in a bar, you've got no leg to stand on when someone takes your beer away.
We can go around and around about the validity of the drinking age, but
it's just like that and it's not your ass hanging in the breeze if the
cops show up. It's the bar's. And besides, if it bugs you so bad, rent
Union Hall and put on your own all-ages show. See how fun it is to spend
hours flyering for a show just so you can lose money when the same six
jaded teen punks show up just to spend the whole show smoking cigarettes
on the sidewalk out front. There's nothing new about feeling oppressed
because you're underage; the rest of us had to deal with it too. You'll
be old and bitter soon enough, buckshot, and then you can drink at Jay's.
Chin up.
Anxiety Disorder is over the top in punk points aesthetically, but ultimately
a little thin on the theoretical framework behind the rabid anti-authority
stance. His heart's obviously in the right place, but a Mumia reprint
and some well-placed "destroy fascism" graphics don't necessarily
a political conscience make. Still, all props for an overall engaging
second issue.
-Shat Upon #6, 1998
Molotov Cocktail #3
This is a zine that I appreciate the effort of more than I actually got
into the contents. There is a lot of poetry - which is actually fairly
good thoughtful ranting style writing - but poetry none the less. And
a lot of music, rants and thoughts which prove Matt is thinking about
all this stuff and also getting really frustrated with being isolated
in Montana. -Slug & Lettuce #50, August 1997
Molotov Cocktail #2
This is from MT, not the one fro CA. It's basically a reaction to being
"stuck" in the "shithole" of Montana. Rants about
the mall, rights, rednecks, reviews, hardline sXe rant, and more. Nothing
groundbreaking or that in-depth, but still a good means of airing some
aggression. -Slug & Lettuce #45, September 1996