The Lookouts!

I was always a fan of the early Lookout! Records releases. One of the first bands I got into was Operation Ivy as a result of watching skateboard videos, and once I picked up an actual physical copy of the Op Ivy album, it opened a door to a new world of music. The collection I have been selling lately for my friend contained quite a lot of the Lookout! Records catalogue, and I decided to keep a few for myself. So I have decided to plough through them in the next few posts.

I'm starting off the the band that started the label. The Lookouts was a band started by Larry Livermore (owner of Lookout! Records) back in 1986. They're kind of well known these days for the fact that the band contained a 12 year old kid on drums by the name of Tré Cool (who went on to drum for a band called Green Day that you may have heard of). Their first vinyl release was a full length called 'One Planet One People', which was effectively self released as Lookout! Records number 1, back in 1987. Note that this is the only release where the band's name has the exclamation mark at the end.

I have the band's second LP in my collection, which is very disappointing compared to this one. This LP is without doubt the band's finest moment. It's basically just a young band playing short, fast punk songs that sounds raw and I would say that they don't make 'em like this anymore. I can't describe it much better I'm afraid. But in 2022 this sounds kinda refreshing, to me at least.

Next up is a 7" by The Lookouts entitled 'Mendocino Homeland'. This one was released as Lookout! Records number 28, in 1990, which was their third release (after two full lengths). I'm not sure how many were on blue vinyl, but it doesn't seem overly rare or saught after judging by the number of copies for sale on discogs.

You can tell that the band had grown since their first LP, as the songs on here come in between two and a half and three minutes each, compared to the one minute blasts of the debut LP. But these songs are still pretty raw punk rock.

And finally, the band's final release, a 7" entitled simply 'IV'. This one was released in 1991 and is Lookout! Records number 42.

The song writing seems to have advanced a little on this release, with the songs sounding a bit more melodic than previous efforts. Interestingly, Bille Joe from Green Day plays guitar on three of these four songs, so I'm not sure if that may have something to do with it.

Overall these records sum up what I like about early Lookout! Records releases. The songs are melodic yet kinda sloppy (in a good way), and the artwork for the records is great. They really don't make records like this anymore. It feels like there has been a lot of interest in Lookout! Records the past few years, and I can really see why. There were some great bands and releases which now, with the gift of hindsight, were clearly representative of a time and place.