Thirty years ago, long before there was such a thing as Gilman Street, Green Day, or the East Bay pop punk explosion, three guys got together in an off-the-grid hippie wilderness known as Spy Rock, at the heart of Northern California’s legendary Emerald Triangle. They hooked their amps up to their solar panels, made up a couple songs about living on the backside of nowhere, and The Lookouts were born.

It would be the first time 12-year-old Tre Cool ever laid hands on a drumstick or a set of drums, but over the following five and a half years he would hone the skills that would see him headlining amphitheatres and stadiums, winning Grammy Awards, and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his second band, Green Day. Guitarist and singer Larry Livermore would go on to co-found Lookout Records, the indie label that introduced Green Day and many other bands to the world.

Together with bassist (and future forest ranger) Kain Kong, and with guest appearances by Operation Ivy’s Tim Armstrong and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, The Lookouts produced a legacy of two albums, two EPs, and several compilation tracks, the best of which are featured here. Also included is a track from The Lookouts’ very first demo tape, recorded in 1985, which features Tre singing backups in his as yet unbroken three-and-a-half-octave soprano.

Tracklist:
1. Story
2. Agape
3. Out My Door
4. Dying
5. I Saw Her Standing There
6. Judgment Day
7. Religion Ain't Cool
8. Mendocino Homeland
9. Big Green Monsters
10. Once Upon A time
11. Outside
12. Kick Me In The Head
13. California/Mendocino
14. The Girl's From Outer Space
15. Wild
16. Alienation
17. Generation
18. The Green Hills of England
19. Living Behind Bars
20. Red Sea
21. Sonny Boy
22. Trees
23. Life
24. Friends

Credits:
The songs on Spy Rock Road (And Other Stories) were recorded between 1985 and 1990 at Sergay’s Recording Emporium, Berkeley; Sound And Vision, San Francisco; Dancing Dog, Emeryville; Art Of Ears, San Francisco, and the School of Modern Music, Willits. They were mixed at Dancing Dog and Art Of Ears. They were engineered by Kevin Army, Alex Sergay, Andy Ernst, and Hal Wagenet, and produced by those guys and the Lookouts. All songs except “California/Mendocino” were originally mastered by John Golden in Hollywood. All songs were remastered in 2014 by Carl Saff in Chicago.

  The Lookouts are: Larry Livermore, guitar and vocals; Kain Kong, bass and vocals; Tre Cool, drums and vocals.

  Tim “Lint” Armstrong plays guitar on “Living Behind Bars” and “Sonny Boy.” Kevin Army plays acoustic guitar on “Red Sea” and “The Green Hills Of England.” Billie Joe Armstrong plays guitar and sings on “Story,” “Agape,” “Out My Door,” and “Kick Me In The Head,” and plays guitar on “Once Upon A Time.”

  Cover art and original illustrations by “M.” Additional illustrations and layout by Marissa Paternoster and Lauren Denitzio.

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