Wred Fright's Blog

Old New Battered Blue On Bandcamp!

2026-06-03T22:50:51.609-04:00

The new album's out on Bandcamp now also. This one has my secret mastering trick on it (I burn a cd, normalize volume, then rip the tracks from the cd--boy, how fancy!), so it sounds a little less intense than the original recordings on Soundcloud. Now you have your pick of audio! The embedded album starts with "the single", but just use the arrows to go back to the beginning or forward to a later track. It looks like the album's on Spotify now also, but I haven't listened to it yet to make sure it sounds all right. The next post will probably deal with that.

For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Old New Battered Blue Out On Soundcloud

2026-06-02T22:26:57.512-04:00

wredfright · Old New Borrowed Blue

The new album's out on Soundcloud!: https://soundcloud.com/wredfright/sets/old-new-borrowed-blue. It should be on Spotify soon if it isn't already. By the next post, it'll probably be up on Bandcamp.

For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Music Video For A Song From The Old New Battered Blue Album

2026-05-20T22:14:49.889-04:00

I chose "Terri Cockring" as the song from Old New Battered Blue to make a music video of because I like the song and thought it would work well with the visual concept of making funny faces while brushing teeth. It came out pretty well, though I had to brush my teeth twice because the first take was shot at too low an angle (this is what happens when you are your own camera operator). Since there are no hot chicks in the band (where's Bananarama when I need them? Probably in England) since the band is me, I had to star in the video myself. Enjoy and remember to floss! The album should actually be out in the next post, starting with Soundcloud.

For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Old New Battered Blue Liner Notes

2026-05-17T23:19:48.942-04:00

The liner notes for my new album are done. They can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15hyxDRsG0BZoj3vK171KYxrOF0FTH5K0/view?usp=sharing The album is Old New Battered Blue. The album will start popping up on various listening services in the next few weeks, but for now you can read about it at least. I'm probably going to make one video for the album. Which song should I pick? Feel free to email or comment if you have a suggestion.

For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Old New Battered Blue Track List

2026-05-09T22:10:00.005-04:00

The track list for the new Wred Fright album, Old New Battered Blue, is as follows:

1. Dance Party At The End Of The World
2. Unreported News
3. Terri Cockring
4. But At Least You're Not Bitter
5. The President Shit His Pants
6. Crossing Guards Often Have A Thing For Me
7. Partying By Myself
8. Republican Cereal
9. Orange Marmalade
10. Kimberly James
11. Gumshoe
12. Ambulance Driver
13. Staring At Ruby
14. Vagina Dentata

The album clocks in at about 35 minutes. You can hear the tracks now at https://soundcloud.com/wredfright though I have not created the official album/playlist yet (about three weeks away from that if the current workload trend continues--it's possible the album might even pop up on Spotify between now and then, but I doubt it). This album is unusual in that I haven't released any new music since I finished the recordings from the album (they are recorded, however, and ready to go--look for them in a few months once I clear out some other stuff also already in the pipeline). Look for the next post to feature the liner notes for the album.

For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Old New Battered Blue Cover

2026-04-30T09:35:00.005-04:00

Here's the cover for the new album. This is the original image before it got pushed into the standard square album format. I do miss the days when album covers were works of art or playful such as Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti where one could play with the sleeve to have different figures appear in the building's windows. However, those days are long gone. The cd version of Physical Graffiti isn't quite as much fun, and cds in general tend to have less interesting artwork due to the smaller size. It got worse with MP3s, so I just aim for something that will look decent when at reduced size. A punching bag, Valentine's Day decoration, and duct tape probably doesn't make for the greatest album cover but when compared with the awful AI/computer art I see these days on other albums, I'm quite happy with it. Vinyl's comeback has meant that the size of album covers can be restored to their former glory, but with most people experiencing the album as a computer stream, it's still not quite the same. Spotify (and I'm sure some of the other music streamers as well) allows listeners to click on the artwork for a larger image, but on my monitor at least it still looks about the size of a cd cover. In any case, it's mostly just packaging, but it's still fun to have an appropriate or intriguing image as part of the total artifact. Next time, I'll post the track listing. In the meantime, you can check out the first five albums in the links below.

For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Old New Battered Blue

2026-04-20T16:55:00.008-04:00

A new Wred Fright album should be out soon. I already uploaded it to the distributor because the last album took two months for them to distribute (that's not a complaint--they're free in hopes, vain hopes in my opinion, we'll all make money from the album down the road--one can't complain when it's free really), so you can find it on Spotify and other places probably in about two-three months unless the processing period has greatly improved or worsened since last year (I would guess worsened as I suspect some people are using artificial intelligence to crank out audio, so there are likely more releases to distribute--I have not used AI as it's not interesting to me as of yet but I won't hate on it as I don't want to sound like a guitarist hating on synthesizers in the 1970s).

The new album is called Old New Battered Blue, a play on the old wedding advice of something old, new, borrowed, and blue. It was originally just going to be a collection of some older songs I hadn't given the full solo treatment to yet, but I kept writing new songs, so it's a mix of both. I originally planned on doing a cover on it (the something borrowed the battered replaced), but I didn't want to go to the bother of paying royalties/getting a mechanical license. A record company can deal with that accounting; I'd just rather have fun.

In coming weeks, I'll post about the cover, track listing, and liner notes, as well as let you know when it's up on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and Spotify. It's a fun record. Nothing else really sounds like it even with all the great music being released these days, so that's cool. Maybe this one will actually get a review somewhere (let's hope they don't just say it sucks or something, but I'd probably still be happy just to finally have a record review six albums in). There are no plans for a cd or vinyl version (though any interested parties are welcome to get in touch).

For the previous Wred Fright albums, stream or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

New Recording!: Vagina Dentata

2026-04-13T19:59:00.001-04:00

wredfright · Vagina Dentata

This is an old GoGoBots tune that I felt like playing again since it's fun to play. It's basically about irrational beliefs like a man's fear of women and people who claim to be postmodern yet still act fairly rationally in expecting toast to pop up toasted when they put bread in a toaster instead of, you know, a lobster or a 1989 Ford Fiesta. Musically, it's the usual vocals, guitars, and drums, though I used parts from a broken wooden chair for the drumsticks and a coffee can for the main drum. Chock full o' Nuts coffee is all right, but I can heartily endorse their metal coffee cans when you need a homespun drum.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Spring 2026 Hoof & Antler!

2026-04-05T23:05:00.003-04:00

The new Hoof & Antler is out! In this issue of the Mickey Mart newspaper, I have an article about the mysterious Russian radio station known as UVB-76, the infamous Doomsday Radio! Check it out and read other fun stuff by stopping by a Mickey Mart. It's free, though Mickey The Moose probably hopes you buy some gasoline or a cup of coffee or something.

If you want to read something else by me, then get my new novel, The Front Yard War!

New Single!: Staring At Ruby

2026-03-30T16:48:00.004-04:00

wredfright · Staring At Ruby

This song is about the modern corporate habit of having virtual meetings. I've been in some of these things with hundreds of people, and they are usually ridiculous wastes of time wherein the company could have just sent an email out and saved lots of money instead of having everyone stop doing productive work and waste an hour listening to the CEO talk some drivel. In this song, the main character gets a crush on one of the coworkers and enjoys the virtual meetings because he can stare at her in a way that one could not do in real life without making someone quite uncomfortable, all the while thinking, "She's so pretty." I bet this sort of thing goes on a lot and is probably one of the few good things about virtual meetings. Musically, the song is vocals, guitar, and drums, though I also made good use of the toy piano mat. I opted not to use the lyrics in the third input part on the recording, but I may throw it in live from time to time. Lyrics are below:

There are 400 people on this call with Zoom,
but only one who makes my heart go boom, boom, boom!

I'm staring at Ruby.

I don't hear a single word the CEO speaks.
I could stare at her beauty for weeks and weeks.
If people knew I was taking this long of a peep,
they're embarrassed by love these days, so they'd probably call me a creep, but I'd still be staring at Ruby.

She'll never see her very own face,
just the reflection that takes its place.

She's got those 21st Century eyes,
and she's got me full of sighs.
She might even be ruthless, but I'm ruthful.
I'll never meet her in person, life can be so cruel, but I'm happy
staring at Ruby.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

What Wred's Reading: The Fourth Edition Of The Trouser Press Record Guide Edited By Ira A. Robbins

2026-03-23T00:02:00.004-04:00

This book dates from 1991 and early that year before Nirvana and alternative music in general started selling millions of records (the Nirvana entry mainly covers Bleach). As a result, it's a treasure trove of 1980s college radio, filled with fun bands and cool music. It's mainly punk rock and new wave, but it covers reggae and hip-hop as well, generally anything cool and underground from the mid-1970s, when Trouser Press started as a zine, to the publication date. Covering 2,500 musical artists, the book is a great resource for music if you're looking for something new (albeit that it's old now if it's in this book) to listen to that is likely pretty good or at least interesting. One nice thing about having this book in 2026 is that it's a lot easier to hear this music than it would have been back then when one had to track down an obscure and possibly out of print record. Today, you can find most of this music on the Internet somewhere. I've been getting rid of most of my books because I was tired of dragging them around with me, but this is one I'll be keeping. When I can't find anything new worth listening to, I'll dip into it and check out some old band that's new to me. The book is out of print (though available used and even reasonably priced if you dig a bit), but you can probably find the reviews from it at TrouserPress.Com, and they have all the issues of the magazines that predated the record guides there which is very cool of them. They still publish books today, though the last record guide like this was a volume back in the 1990s covering that Nirvana/alternative music goldrush.

If you want to hear some music made since 1991 that might have fit into Trouser Press's editorial scope also, then give my latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp! And if you want to read some more, then please read my latest novel!

New Recording!: Ambulance Driver

2026-03-16T22:01:00.001-04:00

wredfright · Ambulance Driver

Another older song I wanted to give the solo treatment to, this song stemmed from seeing an EMT hit on a convenience store clerk. It's vocals, guitar, and drum machine, plus a sampling of the Russian radio station The Buzzer (I was writing an article on the station at the time).

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Political Vanity Update

2026-03-11T14:01:00.004-04:00

So I emailed or used the website form to contact everyone running for Ohio governor asking for their position on sticking the governor's and lieutenant governor's names on highway signs (if you need a catchup on this saga, click here).

No one's replied back yet. Given that enough time has reasonably passed for a reply, one can conclude that all of these candidates suck, though I'm sure if pressed some may claim the email got caught in the spam filter or whatnot. However, clearly, if they don't care enough about a voter when they're begging for votes to at least send a form reply ("Thank you for bringing that matter to our attention. We will consider it after doing further research" being the bare minimum of courtesy), then they certainly won't be responsive when they get into office, which doesn't inspire hope for the state government's future. Nevertheless, I'll follow up with some phone calls if I feel ambitious. It would be helpful, however, if others could join in. Send them an email. Give them a call. Talk to them if you see them in person. Tell them you want to see DeWine and Tressel as the last names on these signs and then you want the vanity overlay signs gone in 2027. Otherwise, the campaigns assume it's just a piece of crank mail about an issue that no one else cares about, but I suspect the majority, if not vast majority, of voters would prefer not to waste taxpayer money on political vanity by manufacturing and installing metal signs with the names of politicians on them across the state. Some may say this is just a small issue when the national government is in massive debt yet still finds the means to go around bombing and terrorizing people around the world, but that's exactly the point. If government cannot even resolve a simple, small issue such as this one, what hope do we have of them solving any larger problems?

The answer isn't encouraging. Anyway, on to the candidates. At this point, they all deserve to get some birdpoop on the metaphorical highway signs with their names on it, so let's do it. On the Republican side, there's Heather Hill, Casey Putsch, and Vivek Ramaswamy. On the Democratic side, there's just Amy Acton. Don Kissick is running as a Libertarian while Tim Grady is running as an independent. Another candidate, Renea Turner, didn't get enough signatures, so she's out of the running this election year (unless she decides to run independently), so I didn't contact her. The first thing you have to know is that all of these candidates must be slightly insane because American politics is fairly toxic these days, yet what else can we do? It's a democracy, so I do appreciate them at least being brave enough to give things a go. Most likely, the next governor will be Ramaswamy since statewide Ohio is essentially a one-party state, and he seems to have enough money to just buy the Republican nomination. However, if Trump proves toxic enough, then he might even drag down the Ohio Republicans and, despite the general incompetence of Ohio Democrats, Acton might squeak into office, in which case we can all look forward to being welded inside our homes the next time a new virus circulates.

Yes, it's a depressing election already. Back to the individual candidates:

Hill seems a longshot. It's nice that the Republican field offers a choice at least. Maybe she'll drop out and endorse Ramaswamy before the primary and get a position in his administration. Sometimes that's what longshot candidates do.

Putsch, smelling like a true believer (however daffy the true beliefs), seems less likely to be aiming ultimately for a spot in the administration but even more of a longshot. Still, if someone is technically on a ballot, anything is possible. Most Americans only vote for stuff they see on tv though, which is why a lot of the time political positions in America can basically be bought. If anyone ever complains about political candidates, point them to the lazy American voter. Hill and Putsch both have websites; people could research them.

Ramaswamy seems like an Asian Obama. He's well-spoken and somewhat of an outsider to Ohio state politics, but, as with Obama, don't expect much to change if he gets in. Maybe he'll allow you to pay your income taxes in crypto currency or something, though that's already in the works. He seems like a lock for the nomination because he's spending a lot of money to obtain it and seems likeable enough for an Ohio Republican state politician, which is somewhat akin to being more likeable than a head of rotting cabbage. Alas, almost anyone would be an improvement over DeWine, who combined the worst of both Democrat and Republican (he'll postpone an election because he's worried over germs yet force a woman to bury her aborted fetus). In any case, Ramaswamy's tied so closely to Trump though that I suspect Trump's unpopularity may sink his candidacy and we'll end up with the awfulness that is . . .

Acton might be the worst Democratic nominee in recent years (I remember her from the virus panic, and, yes, I also remember the time they ran the guy driving around without a driver's license), but she might end up winning by default because no one else bothered running and Trump sank the Repubs.

Kissick (doesn't seem to have a working Website yet--a clue perhaps he's not serious--and no, I'm not linking to fucking Facebook) and Grady not responding surprised me because I doubt anyone else even pays attention to them. Ramaswamy's probably looking forward to sticking his name up across Ohio and Acton's campaign is probably incompetent in the grand tradition of Ohio Democrats, but I'm surprised not to have heard back from the minor Republicans and the independent guys. It's not like these guys are busy dealing with other media. Ohio newspapers are fairly moribund these days, so that's why you get perhaps the best 2026 Ohio gubernatorial race coverage on an obscure blog. As Trump would say: Sad. That's Ohio for you though!

If politics make you cry and you need a laugh, then read my latest novel!

New Recording!: Gumshoe

2026-03-03T12:16:00.004-05:00

wredfright · Gumshoe

This is an old GoGoBots song that was fun to give the solo treatment to. It's basically an old detective pulp novel (well, a chapter from it at least) in song form. My kiddo wanted to play something, so that's him on this mat piano he had which we used as a percussive instrument as well. Otherwise, it's me on drums, guitar, and vocals.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

2026 Ohio Governor's Race

2026-02-22T22:58:00.006-05:00

No, the pair in the picture are not announcing a bid for governor and lieutenant governor of Ohio, USA, but it is a gubernatorial election year here, which means perhaps we can finally get rid of those stupid politician names on the welcome to Ohio highway signs. It's been about 3 years since I ran a post about this issue on the blog (you can get caught up on the now-decade-long saga here). Nothing good has happened in the meantime. The funny cartoon I sent to my state rep and state senator at the time went unaddressed (both of them, Bride Rose Sweeney and Matt Dolan, kinda sucked anyway, so I wasn't surprised). Ohio's lieutenant governor filled J. D. Vance's Senate seat, so they made the Ohio State football coach the new lieutenant governor (no, I'm not making this up--they seriously do this kind of dumb shit in Ohio--it's a bit embarrassing) and, of course, spent thousands of dollars probably to change the name on the highway signs. Worse, Pennsylvania, probably fueled by that current governor's presidential hopes, stuck his name on welcome signs.

Sigh. Well, let's see if any of the current candidates for governor will do away with the practice. I'll keep you posted if I hear back from any of them. Maybe I should hit up the new rep and senate candidates in my districts as well, but let's see how ambitious I feel this year.

If politics make you cry and you need a laugh, then read my latest novel!

New Recording!: Kimberly James

2026-02-15T23:27:00.003-05:00

wredfright · Kimberly James

This is another older song I've been playing again, so I gave it the full one-man band treatment. My kiddo was getting rid of a book with sounds--well, actually, the book disappeared/was destroyed years ago, but we were finally getting rid of the press buttons sounds part--so I made use of it on its way to the trash. Otherwise, it's the usual guitar, vocals, and drums.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

drinkdrankdrunk: "FREAK SHOW" by The Midnight Rider

2026-02-09T17:09:00.013-05:00

ok, ya ready for me to get back to real time and talk about my school?......um.....where do i begin?....my new school certainly has the potential to be the biggest freakshow that i've ever experienced (and you know that's saying something)--like the iowa catholic contingent reminds me a bit of that private school in virginia that fired me back in 1998, but i've never really experienced anything like the kalifornia connection here.....are they on crystal meth or jesus?--i don't know.....are they new age or mormon?--your guess as good as mine (and i pride myself on being able to read people).....the ceo of the company (that is my school) looks like he just stepped out of an infomercial....."ric" is young, handsome, thirtysomething with curly, brown hair and perfect teeth.....he favors $3000 suits and rolex watches and likes to walk up and down the hall talking on his headset.....he is usually accompanied by 2 yes-men/bodyguards in (what i would imagine to be) $1500 suits and faux-rolex watches.....everything ric says is positive/proactive--our school is gonna be "#1 in the midwest" and then "#1 in the united states" and finally "#1 in the world".....if you're curious: ric doesn't know my name yet and i can't say that i mind.....all the rest of them do though--like i think they get punished if they don't know every single employee's name by the end of the first week.....did i mention that ric graduated from the university of phoenix?.....did i mention that they all graduated from the university of phoenix?--actually, i take that back, some of them did their undergraduate work at cal state fullerton before going on to earn their ph.d. from the university of phoenix......you know what that is, right?--like sometimes there are pop ups on my computer that promise a "college degree in 6 months"--well, that's the university of phoenix--basically, it's like taking your classes online instead of having to drive down to the local national business college.....who knows, maybe you'll be seeing my college advertised on a matchbook sometime in the near future.....dude, my school makes kent state look like harvard.....like when i tell people here that i went to kent state, they're like: "mannnnn, that's a good school, isn't it?"--yeah dude, if you're a drug dealer.....obviously i'm not a financial analyst, but i think the little catholic school that was here 2 years ago was about to go bankrupt--and shady state pounced on the opportunity to buy a school with real athletic teams and a real dorm--if you're curious, the girls’ soccer team only has 9 players and is destined to lose every game by playing 9-on-11.....for that matter, i get the feeling that every team here loses every game they play…..what else?.....you want the attendance figures?--well, enrollment for 2006 is sitting at roughly 30,000 (400 kids who actually live and go to school here and 29,600 online students).....what does an "online student" look like?--well, every motivational speaker that i've heard for the last 3 weeks talks about the day when "online students and their families fly in from across the country to walk across that stage to receive their diplomas," but i'm thinking they'll celebrate by buying a bag of weed......i might be wrong, but i'm thinking these "urban professionals" are really sitting at home in their sweatpants, eating ding dongs and trolling for internet porn in between "classes"......the motivational speakers also claim that "the merging of traditional colleges with online institutions is only a matter of time," but i'm hoping to be dead before that day comes.....did i mention that i signed a form that authorizes company officials to listen in on my phone calls ostensibly for "training purposes".....the company gave me a new laptop too, but i get the feeling that i'll be using it about as much as i use my office phone.....52gs is a lot of money for an idiot-savant like me though.....crowns aint cheap and their dental plan pays 80% of major procedures.....i have a 401k retirement plan as well.....and some of you cynics out there might wonder if it's all about the money.....maybe some of you are even mumbling about me selling out.....well, you just read the introduction--do you see any change?.....for that matter, i'm still looking up 18-year-old girls' skirts although i may have to trade ohio quantity for iowa quality......to tell ya the truth, i like it better than kent state.....the people are cleaner/nicer and the babyjesus has seen fit to finally give me another chance......i hadn't been happy in kent for a long time---like i'd save up the party stories for you, but most days, i'd just be sitting in my hotel room rubbing one out to internet porn as the world passed me by......my new school is most definitely a freakshow, but sometimes circus folk need to count their blessings too

The Midnight Rider prefers to remain mysterious. You could visit his website, but he won't say where it is. You could read his books, but he won't say what they are. You could email him, but I'm pretty sure spam@gofuckyourself.gov is not a real email address. In a world where everyone is repping their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, sex tapes, line of clothing, new microbrew, virtue signals, and overall brand, I find that refreshing. I am happy to have The Rider ride on drinkdrankdrunk.

Music Video: Having Fun In The Former USA

2026-02-03T13:21:00.007-05:00

I chose this song for the music video from the Fallout Shelter Ran Out Of Beer album. I suppose that makes it the single from the album, though "All Roads Lead To Death" seems to be the most popular track, at least based on what Spotify reports. I like a number of the other tracks as well. In fact, since I wrote them, I like them all, but favorites do emerge, and this is one of them. It seemed the most videogenic since I had a location in mind. I had a job once where I had to travel to various industrial areas around Cleveland, Ohio USA. There were a lot of rough areas, but one in particular looked like a wasteland. I returned to that area for this video, and it actually looked better than it did a few years earlier (it appears the city knocked some of the worst buildings down), but it still looked apocalyptic enough that it worked for the video. I've always found ruins interesting, and here are some industrial variety ones. The video I suppose counts as a remix of the song as well since I left the train noise in this video version. So at least now there is a music video from each album. The next one will be from the next album.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

New Recording!: Orange Marmalade

2026-01-25T23:39:00.008-05:00

wredfright · Orange Marmalade

This is an older song I started playing again, so I did a new recording of it. It's the usual guitar, vocals, and drums. My kid had an Avengers tambourine he was getting rid of, so I made good use of it as part of the drums. I always liked this song, so it was nice to flesh out a recording of it.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Winter 2026 Hoof & Antler!

2026-01-19T20:24:00.002-05:00

The new Hoof & Antler is out! For the Winter 2026 issue, I wrote an article about Annie Oakley, who actually grew up in Ohio. The newspaper, which is an endangered species--I just heard about the imminent closure of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette--, is free at any Mickey Mart. This issue, as usual, has a lot of other fun stuff in it as well, so pick one up if you're lucky enough to live in a part of Ohio where Mickey The Moose roams!

If you want to read something else by me, then get my new novel, The Front Yard War!

Frighty #4

2026-01-12T20:21:00.003-05:00

The new Frighty is out. Before I post the link, remember this zine is designed to be printed. Reading online or otherwise electronically is not recommended. The Internet is just being used as a distribution method because we're too cheap to pay for postage and printing. When you print it, print it doublesided, mark it "flip on short edge"--let's repeat that so no one prints half the pages upside down; once again, flip on short edge--, fold it, staple it if you feel ambitious (to anyone who doesn't have a long stapler, you can do this with any stapler you flip open, you just have to staple the zine into a phone book or something, then pull it out and use a pencil or something to roll over and flatten the raised staple edges down--if that makes no sense, then somebody on YouTube probably has a video showing how to do it or just ask me and I'll show you how; just don't get a boo-boo doing it and use a rubber band or some other binding instead if you're worried you will), and you're good to go. You can make copies if you want others to read it; we don't care. Just don't sell them unless you're sending the money beyond printing it to us.

The issue was fun as usual, but it's the last one planned. For something that was intended as a one-off, four ain't too bad. Maybe some day we'll do a fifth issue, but even if we never do, how about you do a zine using this method and let me know when you publish it so I can check it out? Thanks again to everyone who helped with this one! Here's the link for printing/downloading: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y-sXxwkcc9TPr4Xyn57YsVKIwNeBrQtp/view?usp=sharing

For more Wred Fright writing, then read the latest novel, The Front Yard War.

Music Video: Another Year Without A Valentine

2026-01-07T12:09:00.003-05:00

I chose this song for the video from the Gang Of Foreigner album. It was a tough choice because I like some of the other songs such as "Smart Set" and "Cheekbones And Legs" a lot as well. The video's not the greatest because I'm getting kind of burned out on music videos, but it expresses the idea of the song visually well-enough, and I wanted to have at least one music video for each album. I do love that Marcel Duchamp heart image. It was also nice to display one of my beloved Bill And Opus mugs. Those stickers actually are scratch and sniff, and they smell pretty good.

Next up is a video for "Having Fun In The Former USA". I shot that footage before but waited because I wanted to release the videos in the proper album order and had to wait for the stores to bust out the valentine displays, which I didn't actually end up using much of, but that was the initial plan anyway. By the way, it didn't take long. I was able to get footage right after New Year's, and I probably could have gotten some right after Christmas if I went to the right store.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Cool Yule 2025!

2025-12-22T18:10:00.002-05:00

I wish you a cool Yule for 2025! See you in 2026!

New Single!: Republican Cereal

2025-12-16T16:04:00.003-05:00

wredfright · Republican Cereal

This song is about people who become so obsessed by politics that everything, even the morning cereal bowl, becomes political. I suppose one can make the argument that everything is ultimately political, but when it's this explicitly political, and there are Republican facts and Democratic facts and Third Party facts instead of just facts that everyone agrees on and maybe has different opinions on, life tends to get worse. We're seeing this in the larger culture currently, and you may even know people like this in everyday life. Musically, I had fun with some of my son's old toys that he was getting rid of. Otherwise, it's the usual guitar and drums, though I worked a new drum machine also into the mix. The track has that old school Severe Platter Damage hiss to it because the mastering tool I use to remove the hiss from my cheap Radio Shack mic couldn't handle it this time. Some people like the hiss as it has a bit of what people describe as warmth when speaking of analog media such as vinyl, but my recordings tend to be noisy enough that I don't want a snake hissing underneath everything as well. However, not unlike the obsession with politics by too many people currently, more hiss may be in our future if I don't figure out another way to remove the noise without harming any of the sounds I want to keep. Lyrics are below:

I liked it better when Election Day was just once or twice a year.
Now every single day, you're yammering politics in my ear.

She won't eat Republican cereal.
He won't drink Democratic milk.

As you set the cereal bowl on the counter next to the kitchen sink,
you tell me you just don't talk with people who don't think the way that you think.
Well, with an attitude like that, you're going to find yourself all alone.
Maybe you should stop doomscrolling so much in that echobox you call your phone.

When you look at people, you just see the sectarian divide,
everything color-coded and primed to collide.
You've got your partisan spoon, and your friends all spoon it up the same way.
You don't like getting your ideas challenged, so there's no breakfast today.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Yip!*: Capitol Hill Citizen

2025-12-09T23:39:00.007-05:00

I've been reading this newspaper for a year or so, and it's a good read. Produced by Ralph Nader and the editor/publisher of the fine Corporate Crime Reporter, it covers the dumb things Congress does do and the smart things Congress doesn't do. Available by mail for $5 postpaid at capitolhillcitizen.com, it comes out roughly quarterly (it's bimonthly officially). Ralph seems stuck in 1977 where Democrats are good and Republicans are bad, but Russell Mokhiber seems to understand that in the age of Trump it's not so much about left/right as it is about populism/anti-populism, so coverage extends beyond the usual liberal suspects to encompass such current political figures as Thomas Massie. My local alt-weekly seems to get thinner every issue (it's also no longer weekly), and the local daily paper is no longer daily and seems mainly to regurgitate Washington Post garbage these days, so it's nice to have some new newspapers to fill in the gaps (literally, if you need some insulation after you're done reading). This one has some moxie, as you can tell from the motto "Democracy dies in broad daylight" (making fun of The Post's motto, "Democracy dies in darkness"), which is hilarious.

*Yips! are good things! So is my latest novel, The Front Yard War!

Wred Fright's Blog

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Cool Yule 2025!

New Single!: ﻿Republican Cereal

Yip!*: Capitol Hill Citizen

New Single!: Republican Cereal