Alco-beat #6
A5/28 Pages, published irregularly from Bowling Green, Ohio. This magazine makes me feel giddy. The writing is so much better in Alco-Beat then pretty much any magazine that I have reviewed for NeuFutur. Articles in this magazine go all across the board in subject matter, but are for the most part tied together by the intelligent style of writing and the humour on each page. How can you honestly go wrong with a magazine that begins with a story about a bug zappers that is intelligently written at such a level to correctly use the word “profligate” (wildly extravagant). The layout is standard-cut out blocks of text over various background pictures, but there isn’t much you can do when laying out a magazine like this. For one of the oddest articles that I have seen in a long time, Stacey, in her “As Real As They Wanna Be” tells the world about her infatuation with these reality shows. In a Onion-style articles “101 Term Paper Titles” compiles a list of completely fake paper titles for a laugh. A cartoon is next, but is cut off entirely too early, as I am dying to know what happens in the next installment. A scene report is next, followed by an interesting rant about the punk special that they had on VH1. In what rivals the length of mine, the size of the average review for Alco-Beat is seemingly over 250-words per. In the best written drinking article, I’ve come across besides the Absinthe article in 3rd Nail (many) years ago, Stacey’s “Welcome to the Scorpion Bowl” details the Tiki craze after the war and also talks about another of her infatuations, this time with Tiki drinks. In the only candy article that I’ve ever seen in alternative meda (bad-candy.com is excluded), Handsome Dan rants very successfully about fake flavouring and the lime sweetart going the way of the dinosaur. A junk food duet is completed with I(heart)soda by Stacey, with writing so captivating that one can actually place himself in the younger Stacey’s predicament. Alco-Beat, I believe, is one of the most intellectual smaller zines in production today, and I am honored to receive a copy of the magazine. For a copy, send .55 or trade to Alco-Beat, 415 N.Main St Apt. B, Bowling Green, OH 43402
Rating 8.1/10