Hessian Obsessian #1, #2
Hessian Obsessian #1, #2
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Circa '94 via Olympia, WA comes Jon Quittner's tongue-in-cheek introduction/primer/confessional about "heshers" - otherwise known as metalheads. While it would be easy to dismiss as ironic detachment, Quittner writes from sincere personal experience and attempts a humorous yet almost academic journey to explain a subculture, beyond what people of the time saw in "Dazed and Confused" and "Heavy Metal Parking Lot."
Quittner was also very active in the local music scene, playing in punk and/or metal-influenced bands like Mukilteo Fairies, Behead the Prophet NLSL, and Tight Bros From Way Back When.
Heshers are named for their theoretical relationship to long-haired German soldiers ("hessians") and/or the band Accept. It's a very, very tenuous link with a lot of poetic license that had become standard jargon in the Pacific Northwest for describing these youth, especially by those who found themselves on the margins of it. It encapsulates the perceived militancy and comraderie while celebrating its single-mindedness in partying, displaying toughness, and other self-defeating behavior.
Aside from hesher profiles and first-person brushes with heshers, notable features include a list of the top 25 Slayer lyrics of all time ("#1. Dead bodies dying!"), Slayer and Dio crossword puzzles, and explorations of international heshers.
Issue #2 features letters accrued as a result of being written up in Spin magazine, and contains essays from fellow musicians like Rachel Carns and Jon Ginoli.
Issue #1 is the original edition - later editions are expanded - with some small stains on front cover. Issue #2 has original price tag on back cover. These issues comprise all issues published.
Hessian Obsessian is an excellent example of how a zine can document a social phenomenon, and provide original source material for etymology and slang. It's a peer-driven vehicle with a collaborative and didactic purpose - Urban Dictionary in paper form. It's also just really funny.
Quittner was also very active in the local music scene, playing in punk and/or metal-influenced bands like Mukilteo Fairies, Behead the Prophet NLSL, and Tight Bros From Way Back When.
Heshers are named for their theoretical relationship to long-haired German soldiers ("hessians") and/or the band Accept. It's a very, very tenuous link with a lot of poetic license that had become standard jargon in the Pacific Northwest for describing these youth, especially by those who found themselves on the margins of it. It encapsulates the perceived militancy and comraderie while celebrating its single-mindedness in partying, displaying toughness, and other self-defeating behavior.
Aside from hesher profiles and first-person brushes with heshers, notable features include a list of the top 25 Slayer lyrics of all time ("#1. Dead bodies dying!"), Slayer and Dio crossword puzzles, and explorations of international heshers.
Issue #2 features letters accrued as a result of being written up in Spin magazine, and contains essays from fellow musicians like Rachel Carns and Jon Ginoli.
Issue #1 is the original edition - later editions are expanded - with some small stains on front cover. Issue #2 has original price tag on back cover. These issues comprise all issues published.
Hessian Obsessian is an excellent example of how a zine can document a social phenomenon, and provide original source material for etymology and slang. It's a peer-driven vehicle with a collaborative and didactic purpose - Urban Dictionary in paper form. It's also just really funny.
