Lookout! It's the Lookouts
"Excellent! A really unusual approach here -- punk rocked out folk rock in a way, but with more drive and noise. Lots of originals as well as gnarly covers of DYLAN, EVERLY BROS., STONES, VELVETS, STOOGES, MDC, SIMPLETONES, DOVELLS, ROSIE & ORIGINALS -- but all rocked out. Get it." ...Tim Yohannan, Maximum Rocknroll Issue 32 (January 1986)
"Bizarre Idosyncratic thrash...Bob Dylan meets MDC." ...Dan Riffe, Third Rail
"The LOOKOUTS have a relentless cutting edge that should please all sorts of rock and roll fans...fever pitched frenzy that approaches the VELVETS at their most punk." ...Glen Thrasher, Sound Choice
One Planet One People
"Less generic than ISOCRACY"...James McKinney
"Good intentions aside, this band's self-described speed folk just rehashes 3 chord thrash with thumpa thumpa drumming and their intelligent, incisive lyrics get lost in the shuffle. It has the homespun, loose feeling associated with the Gilman Street bands, but lacks any sort of gripping power as one minute-long ditty blends into the next. (Box 1000, Laytonville, CA 95454)" ...Suburban Voice Issue 25 (Spring 1988)
"What can I say, this is my band's first record, recorded back in October 1986 when our energy and idealism were way ahead of our musical ability. David coined the term "speedfolk" to describe the music; the lyrics are verbose, pissed off, sarcastic, and occasionally incisive. "Bob Dylan meets MDC," said Third Rail zine; the highest praise I could imagine came from the wonderful folks at Hippycore: "If James Dean were in a punk band, this is what it would sound like." ...Larry Livermore (Lookout! Records Fall '89 Catalogue)
Spy Rock Road
"A dramatic improvement from their first LP. The Lookouts have written some really catchy tunes this time around, everything from revved-up punk to poppier stylings and it's pretty well done. King of along the same lines as the Mr. T Experience. (POB 1000, Laytonville, CA 95454)"...Suburban Voice Issue 28 (Winter 1989)
"Spy Rock Road is a raggedy-ass dirt trail up into the mountains where our band was born. Those mountains are best known for loggers, pot growers, and back to the land hippies, but we aim to change that with this record. The fact that the 11 songs on this LP take up quite a bit more time than the 22 songs on our firt LP might clue you in to the idea that we've changed our sound a bit. Singing and songwriting are now more equally spread among all three members of the band, and we've also taken the first tentative steps toward learning to play our instruments (it's this new concept we're exploring). Lyrical concerns are not so overtly political as on the first LP, with topics ranging from the deforestation of the earth to the Roman invasion of Britain to the ever popular ones of girls and partying." ...Larry Livermore (Lookout! Records Fall '89 Catalogue)
"Spy Rock Road is the raggedy-ass dirt trail up into the mountains where the Lookouts were born. Those mountains are best known for loggers, pot growers, and back-to-the-land hippies. This record adds something else to the list: melodic punk-pop." ...LookoutRecords.com
Mendocino Homeland
"The Lookouts are one of the many strong, hard-driving pop bands that this label has produced. Fast happy pop rock! Thumbs up."...Grot Issue 7 (1991)
"Remember these guys? Turn left where their last record ended and you end up somewhere in the woods with this moody melody-core. Songs about trees, loves, and such, okay?" ...LookoutRecords.com
IV
"Four powerpop bubbles burst and get you all soapy. The Lookouts' last record is sharp and danceable as all get out, and features not one but two Green Day members. Tre Cool drums and sings, as on all Lookouts releases, and Billie Joe drops in to add lead guitar and backing vocals." ...LookoutRecords.com
"Check out where it all began. Danceable powerpop. This, THE LOOKOUTS’ final record, features two future GREEN DAY members. Tré Cool drums and sings. Billie Joe drops in to add lead guitar and backing vocals. One of the greatest (and some say, the worst) legacies of the punk movement was the notion that anyone can be in a band. When THE LOOKOUTS formed, I was playing music (to use the term very loosely) with a 14-year-old bassist who had never played bass before and a 12-year-old drummer who had never laid hands on a drum set. We first played at Gilman Street only a few weeks after it opened, and our next to last show opening for BAD RELIGION in June, 1990 was there as well. Later that year we lost our drummer when Tré was asked to join GREEN DAY. We were no doubt embarrassed ourselves many times while we struggled to figure out what it meant to be in a band, but we were too dumb and too sincere to know it. We just kept bashing away and by the time we were finished, we’d fashioned some of the best days of our lives."...Lawrence Livermore
