Attack: The Voice of Respectable Moderation (1987)

Attack cover
Attack cover

A one-off newspaper produced by London anarchist group Attack International in 1987.

Submitted by Fozzie on November 10, 2018

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Comments

freemind

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by freemind on November 10, 2018

Got this paper and really liked it as it was well written eloquent and tackled important issues like Mental illness.Far better than Class War and some of the stereotypical negative Anarchist texts.

tyneside anarchist

3 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by tyneside anarchist on November 18, 2021

.

.

Fozzie

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fozzie on November 11, 2018

Thanks! I was 18 when I got my copy of this. A bunch of the anarchopunks in the town I lived had organised a gig in a church hall.

One of them had a few of these and dished them out - made quite an impression on me at the time, especially the graphics. (I was reading punk zines and stuff like Vague around then too, and the punks had also sold me a copy of Meltzer’s Q&As about anarchism).

tyneside anarchist

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by tyneside anarchist on November 11, 2018

aye, hundreds were given away free everywhere at the time, just good to have it scanned ( we only have an a4 scanner)
Attack Int also did some good pamphlets too + the tin tin book

tyneside anarchist

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by tyneside anarchist on November 11, 2018

we also have a slightly earlier newspaper in a similar vein called Flamethrower

ps , hope u dont mind but weve stolen your pdf for a future post on.........

https://tynesideanarchistarchive.wordpress.com/

:)

Noah Fence

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Noah Fence on November 11, 2018

Fozzie

Thanks! I was 18 when I got my copy of this. A bunch of the anarchopunks in the town I lived had organised a gig in a church hall.

One of them had a few of these and dished them out - made quite an impression on me at the time, especially the graphics. (I was reading punk zines and stuff like Vague around then too, and the punks had also sold me a copy of Meltzer’s Q&As about anarchism).

Yet more evidence(as if any was needed), that for all of it’s many defects and shortcomings, Anarcho Punk was fucking ace!

R Totale

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on November 11, 2018

Tyneside: do you still have the Flamethrower anywhere? Would be interested to see it.

Noah: had been thinking of posting a link to this somewhere or other, but Crimethinc recently did an interesting piece on "Music as a Weapon: The Contentious Symbiosis of Punk Rock and Anarchism", which is worth a read. Very focused on the 90s/2000s US scene, but still got some thoughtprovoking stuff in.

Noah Fence

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Noah Fence on November 11, 2018

R Totale

Tyneside: do you still have the Flamethrower anywhere? Would be interested to see it.

Noah: had been thinking of posting a link to this somewhere or other, but Crimethinc recently did an interesting piece on "Music as a Weapon: The Contentious Symbiosis of Punk Rock and Anarchism", which is worth a read. Very focused on the 90s/2000s US scene, but still got some thoughtprovoking stuff in.

Thanks RT, I’ll have a look after work tomorrow.

Fozzie

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fozzie on November 12, 2018

@tyneside - absolutely fine to spread that PDF around the place - I've pinched a few things from other sites and added them here. It helps get the word out and avoids too much centralisation...

I can sometimes use an A3 scanner when, um, some people aren't about. ;-)

@R Totale - Pretty sure I have a tattered copy of Flamethrower too. My recollection is that it was a bit more insurrectionist and Animal Liberation? So not so interesting for me (I inherited it some years later from a friend of a friend who was having a clearout).

@Noah - well anarchopunk was a mixed bag certainly but it's amusing to see former punks overcompensating with their workerist critiques of it. It was what we had and it was more fun than a lot of other things on offer despite the dour apocalyptics.

freemind

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by freemind on November 12, 2018

Tyneside!,An in accurate one liner is hardly worthy of comment.What I said was correct-try backing up your banal remark or it’s pointless

Noah Fence

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Noah Fence on November 12, 2018

Noah - well anarchopunk was a mixed bag certainly but it's amusing to see former punks overcompensating with their workerist critiques of it. It was what we had and it was more fun than a lot of other things on offer despite the dour apocalyptics.

Haha, yes! Show me a anarchist condemning anarcho punk and I’ll show you an embarrassed former anarcho punk or a Westbourne Grove trendy fan of lefty faker clothes horses The Clash!

R Totale

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on November 12, 2018

Fair enough, think I'd only ever heard of it from the mention in Death of a Paper Tiger: https://libcom.org/library/paper-tiger-class-war-aufheben-6 which made it sound pretty interesting, but at the same time I don't think it'll kill me to not read one more critique of 80s Class War.

Fozzie

6 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fozzie on November 12, 2018

Well I think that particular piece is already on libcom:
https://libcom.org/history/view-class-war-former-member-julian-1986

I'll dig out the actual thing and see if it's worth doing something with...

R Totale

4 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on July 26, 2020

Ah, turns out the Tyneside Anarchist Archive have now scanned it: https://tynesideanarchistarchive.wordpress.com/2020/07/26/flame-thrower/

Fozzie

4 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fozzie on July 26, 2020

Ah ok cool. I remember thinking it wasn’t a great idea to scan that in at work.

R Totale

4 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on July 26, 2020

As opposed to nice, respectable stuff like Attack/Xtra/Wolverine? ;)

Fozzie

4 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fozzie on July 26, 2020

Lol. Shh. ;)

Fozzie

4 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fozzie on July 26, 2020

Also the politics were less “libcom” I guess. Whatever that is.

Fozzie

3 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fozzie on November 16, 2021

Now a Non-Fungible Token, whatever that is:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unikz-an-nft-could-reveal-a-little-more-about-the-past-of-banksy-301414396.html?fbclid=IwAR0DwBcZbkhlHdvi02rNXO4jsYrAsl5enZdtOiXnGKNncJXNenqD0GndNm8

Steven.

3 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on November 16, 2021

freemind

Got this paper and really liked it as it was well written eloquent and tackled important issues like Mental illness.Far better than Class War and some of the stereotypical negative Anarchist texts.

As I understand it, Attack International was founded by a person, let's call them TS, who used to edit Class War as well (incidentally, on this, a former CW member told me that TS would deliberately leave spelling mistakes in the newspaper, to make it look more "working class"…).

R Totale

3 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on November 16, 2021

Fozzie

Now a Non-Fungible Token, whatever that is:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unikz-an-nft-could-reveal-a-little-more-about-the-past-of-banksy-301414396.html?fbclid=IwAR0DwBcZbkhlHdvi02rNXO4jsYrAsl5enZdtOiXnGKNncJXNenqD0GndNm8

...good lord. I bet the situs would have something to say about that.