The Offense Book of Books Release event at Ace of Cups allowed me to think about music writing within context. The book is a compilation of The Offense post punk zine published from 1980 to 1982 curated by Tim Anseatt.
I first came across The Offense Zine in 2009. I was impressed by the layout, the writing. I was impressed by the people writing for the zine. The writing was succinct. The Offense writing was funny. If the writing wasn't succinct the text was pre-familiar.
Book of Books is the correct name because the zines were compact and neatly designed. The writers themselves were the list of what defined Columbus, Ohio's national music image within rock music for the past 30 years: Ron House From Great Plains and Mike Repp were the names that kept me turning the pages of the Offense zine because I was listening to their music.
At the Ace of Cups show, Ron House and Mike Repp were joined by Great Plains' Paul Nini, Mike Ravage from Screaming Urge, Lynn Whitacare, Nancy Kangas from Naked Skinnies, Shirley Tobias and of course Tim Anseatt with reading excerpts from the Offense. The musicians (House, Repp, Ravage, Kangus, and Nini) played acoustic sets.
