The Lookouts “Spy Rock Road” 1989. Lookout! Records. I finally finished reading Larry Livermore’s book How to Ru(i)n a Record Label (The Story of Lookout Records) which I picked up at the end of March 2016 when Livermore came to Milwaukee’s Rush Mor Records for an in-store talk and book signing (I did get mine signed).

Livermore is probably better known for his record label (named for the band and his ‘zine), writing for Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll and for helping to found the East Bay Gilman Street Project where bands like Operation Ivy, the Mr. T Experience and, most famously, Green Day got their start. The Lookouts was Livermore’s band and their second and final full-length album, Spy Rock Road (the name inspired by the “off-the-grid hippie wilderness” area where Livermore lived), is mostly bright and snotty 80′s California punk filled with fun. Livermore, who plays guitar and sings, is joined by Kain Kong (Kain Henschke) on bass and vocals, as well as a young Tré Cool (Frank Edwin Wright) on drums. Cool, of course, would go on to be Green Day’s drummer. Cool and Kong, who were both teenagers when The Lookouts recorded Spy Rock Road, wrote the punchy, bright tracks like “That Girl’s From Outer Space,” “Wild” and “Generation” (that track’s lyrics: Oh we’re the new generation/You couldn’t stop us if you tried/Come all you people rejoice in our youth/It’s not how old you are but what you do/We’re young/We’re strong). Livermore, who was in his 30′s at the time, wrote the darker, more hardcore tinged tracks like “Life” and “Alienation.” Punk’s not dead but it certainly becomes more aware of its mortality and vulnerability with age.