Scam: The First Four Issues

(Paperback)

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Description

Scam was equal parts an introductory guide on how to get things for free and punk memoir. Youths experienced trainhopping, house shows, and cross country tours that sought out swimming holes. Community was sought and celebrated through generator punk shows on Mission Street, hunting for cans of beer on Easter, and Food Not Bombs. Angst was manifested while stealing electricity from lampposts, squatting in Miami, selling plasma, tagging freight trains, wheatpasting, spraying salt water into vending machines, returning stolen merchandise, and dumpstering as seen through the lens of a young punk. Scam has gone on to inspire a generation of imitators, the highest form of flattery.

Reviews

"The stories are full of colorful characters and situations, scams, and insight into the inner-workings of highly motivated societal critics and guerrilla street protesters. Arguably, Scam might just be the best punk zine ever created, at least in its entirety. If you are into anarchy, squatting, free punk shows, scamming all corporate and corrupt entities, graffiti, drinking copious amounts of cheap beer, and leaving pianos on hiking trails, well then look no further, your manifesto has arrived." --"Randy Spaghetti"

"The zine abounds with amusing personal stories, tour diaries and road stories, blistering album reviews, interviews, and bite-sized asides and observations. Lyle's tone is consistently spunky and at times maniacally gleeful, especially when he's giving tips on scamming companies and getting free shit. This collection is a nostalgic slice of 90s punk zining. Those in that scene will particularly enjoy this, reminding many of us of those halcyon days of youthful punkiness and ripping off Kinko's." --"Read Junk"

"A true rebel yell from the front lines of punk rock and political activism, "SCAM" is required reading for the movers, shakers and shit-disturbers of today--and yesterday." --"Black Heart Magazine"

"Overall, "Scam" is a zine that chronicles one young man's changes over a ten-year period. Much like the life the author leads, it can at times be fun, dull, depressing, or inspiring. The writing is pretty good for a zine. It doesn't focus all that much on the music, but the music runs in the background throughout -- it's a great choice for when all your friends leave the squat to move into their mom's house again or when you want to remind yourself of the 'good old days.'" --"Bookslut"

Author Bio

Erick Lyle is the author of the zines949 Market and Backtracking 199485 and the book On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.