The Anti-Matter Anthology

A lot of fanzines emerged from the Northeastern punk and hardcore scene in the mid-’90s, but Anti-Matter is considered by many to be the standout. Editor Norman Brannon had an intuitive way with interviews. Combine that with crisp, lean prose and a sense of musical adventurousness, and the result held up to repeat reading. Brannon remained active after Anti-Matter’s last issue, playing guitar in Texas Is the Reason and New End Original, and continuing to work as a freelance writer. This anthology collects most of Brannon’s interviews from Anti-Matter alongside work that appeared elsewhere.

Some of the interviewees are friends and former bandmates; others are virtual strangers. The tones vary wildly, from sober thoughts on balancing marriage and a touring schedule to a straight-edge proponent’s account of the time he got high and went to see Morrissey. A tenacious conversation with J. Robbins ends with Robbins commenting to bandmate Kim Coletta, “It’s not just a rock interview.” The same can be said of the best pieces contained here.

Some names (Rancid, Elliott Smith, Rage Against the Machine) will be familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of punk rock and its antecedents; others, such as Garden Variety and Mouthpiece, may not. Though the book’s lack of context is occasionally frustrating, less-initiated readers can still form a picture of the scene. Brannon states in his introduction that “my primary objective with this fanzine was to publish interviews that anyone might find interesting to read—regardless of whether or not you were a fan of the band, a part of the scene or into music at all.”

Ultimately, the issues haven’t changed much: Frontmen debate the proper place of religion in music; polite suburban rebels work to balance collegiate studies and music; a musical subgenre defends itself against mass-media stereotyping. Different era, same old song and dance.