History
The MacLean brothers developed many of the Sewer Trout songs in 1984 while Jim was in college at Sac State and Hal was in High School in Concord, California. Jim mailed cassettes of songs (bass guitar riffs) to Hal who created drum parts. On school breaks, they recorded a demo and soon after got high school buddy, Keith, to join on guitar. Hal joined Jim at Sac State in 1985, and Keith eventually moved from Concord to San Francisco. The group was a fixture of the early 924 Gilman Street scene and its first release was on the Maximumrocknroll compilation album Turn It Around! in October 1987. The same year saw the group's first record released through Lookout! Records. A few more records followed on Lookout!, Very Small Records, and their own label, One Shot Flop. All of Sewer Trout's material was later released as the compilation album From the Forgotten Memories of Punks Failed Hopes and Dreams Loom in 1997. The vinyl versions were also released in 2021 on Lava Socks and Dead Broke records.
Sewer Trout were friends with David Hayes, the co-founder of Lookout! Records and the owner of Very Small Records. Through his labels, Hayes was able to focus a lot of attention on the Sacramento punk scene, often filling his compilations with up to ten Sacramento bands.
On December 1, 2005, a message was posted on Sewer Trout's Myspace announcing that Jim MacLean had committed suicide. The message stated "MacLean took his own life Monday or Tuesday after the Thanksgiving weekend. Jim may be gone, but his music will live forever."
Lookout Records was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California, and later in Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having released Operation Ivy’s only album, Energy, and Green Day's first two albums, 39/Smooth and Kerplunk.
The Queers are an American punk rock band, formed in 1981 by Portsmouth, New Hampshire native Joseph “Joe” P. King along with Scott Gildersleeve, and John “Jack” Hayes. With the addition of Keith Hages joining on bass in 1983 the band started playing their first public performances. The revised line-up played a total of six live shows between 1983 and 1984. This earliest era of The Queers formation initially broke up in late 1984; however, Joe Queer re-formed the band with an all-new line-up in 1986. In 1990, after several more band line-up changes the band signed with Shakin' Street Records to release their debut album, Grow Up. The album earned the band notability within New England, but with the release of their next album, 1993's Love Songs for the Retarded, on Lookout! Records, their following grew.
Operation Ivy was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California, formed in May 1987. They were critical to the emergence of Lookout Records and the so-called "East Bay Sound."
Waltari is a Finnish band from Helsinki known for combining numerous styles, from different metal subgenres such as progressive metal, alternative metal and extreme metal to non-metal styles such as hip hop, pop, industrial, techno, punk and hard rock.
The Lookouts were an American punk rock band that existed from 1985 to 1990 on Iron Peak, a remote rural mountain community outside Laytonville, California, United States. The members were Larry Livermore on guitar and vocals, Kain Kong on bass and vocals, and Tré Cool on drums and vocals. All three contributed on songwriting.
Sweet Baby was a pop punk band that originated from Berkeley, California, and was part of the 924 Gilman Street scene. They were signed to Ruby Records.
The Mr. T Experience is an American punk rock band formed in 1985 in Berkeley, California, United States. They have released eleven full-length albums along with numerous EPs and singles and have toured internationally. Their music is best classified as pop punk and is intentionally playful, comical, and satirical, often dealing with issues of love and relationships. The band's name is taken from actor and television personality Mr. T.
Crimpshrine was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California. The group was formed in 1982 by Aaron Cometbus, founder of the seminal punk rock zine Cometbus, and future Operation Ivy vocalist Jesse Michaels. They grew out of the East Bay scene, centered on 924 Gilman Street, and had an important influence on later East Bay bands such as Operation Ivy, Green Day and punk rock in general.
The Mad Caddies is an American ska punk band from Solvang, California. The band formed in 1995 and has released seven full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs. To date, Mad Caddies have sold over 500,000 albums worldwide.
"Suzanne Is Getting Married" is a song by punk rock band Screeching Weasel. It was released as a single in 1994 through Lookout! Records. The title track was written and released to commemorate the wedding of Maximumrocknroll's Suzanne Bartchy and AK Press's Ramsey Kanaan.
Hectic is the debut EP by the American ska punk band Operation Ivy. It was released in January 1988 through Lookout! Records. Hectic is credited as one of the first ska-core records.
Isocracy was an American punk rock band from the Berkeley, California-area, formed in 1986. The band was one of the key bands in the MRR/Gilman Street project. John Kiffmeyer, who later went on to play for Green Day, was the drummer for the band. The other members were Lenny Johnson (guitar), Martin Brohm (bass) and Jason Beebout (vocals), who went on to form Samiam.
Very Small Records was an independent record label, formed in 1989 by David Hayes, co-founder and former co-owner of Lookout Records. The name of the label was changed to Too Many Records around 1994, but was changed back around 1997. The label terminated in 2003.
Go Sailor was a short-lived San Francisco and Sacramento based pop punk band. Its members included Rose Melberg of Tiger Trap and The Softies, Paul Curran of Crimpshrine (bass) and Amy Linton of Henry's Dress (drums). They recorded three 7-inch singles and an album on Lookout! Records in 1996, the latter of which collected the singles tracks and two compilation appearances. After their breakup their songs "Ray of Sunshine" and "Together Forever in Love" were included on the soundtrack to the movie But I'm a Cheerleader.
A Day Late and a Dollar Short is a compilation album by the American punk rock band the Queers, released in January 1996 by Lookout! Records. It collects material recorded between 1982 and 1994, most of it with original member Wimpy Rutherford. It includes the band's first two EPs, 1982's Love Me and 1984's Kicked Out of the Webelos, several demo tracks recorded in 1991, 16 tracks recorded during a January 1993 reunion with Rutherford, and a complete set of early songs recorded live on radio station WFMU in 1994 with Rutherford on lead vocals.
Fuel was a short-lived Bay Area post-hardcore musical act that created both personal and political songs, something that was unique during the "first wave" of emo in the 1990s. Fuel had a sound akin to the mostly East Coast bands on Dischord Records, especially Fugazi, with twin guitars and dueling rough post-hardcore vocals. In fact, it is noted that Fuel was often jokingly referred to as "Fuelgazi." Fuel's style resembled the D.C. sound of many Dischord bands.
Stikky was an American punk rock band, formed in Berkeley, California in 1985. The band was part of the 924 Gilman Street-scene. The group originally formed with the line-up of Todd Wilder, Chris Wilder (guitar/vocals), and James Porter (bass/vocals). Porter left Stikky in 1987 and was replaced by former No Use for a Name guitarist Chris Dodge. Stikky's songs are known for being hardcore punk yet still retaining the sense of humor that East Bay bands were known for. After the band stopped playing with any regularity, bassist Chris Dodge released some of their material on his own record label Slap a Ham Records.
Turn It Around! is a punk rock compilation album by Maximumrocknroll. Originally released as two 7-inch records in October 1987, it served as a benefit to raise money for the Berkeley, California DIY punk scene. The compilation featured the first appearances of many bands who would later become well known outside of the scene, including Operation Ivy, Crimpshrine and Isocracy. Due to the poor sound quality of the original 7-inch version, Turn It Around! was reissued by Very Small Records in September 1991 as one LP. However, the compilation is currently out of print and has never seen a CD release.
The Asexuals is a hardcore punk band from Beaconsfield that was a mainstay of the Montreal punk scene in the 1980s before changing into an alternative band following the departure of singer John Kastner. Kastner left to form the Doughboys and later, All Systems Go!.
Sleep, What's That? is the debut EP by the Berkeley, California-based punk rock band Crimpshrine. It was released on January 30, 1988 through Lookout Records on 7-inch vinyl with the catalog number LK 004. After the EP went out of print in 1992, all of the tracks were added to the compilation album The Sound of a New World Being Born in 1998, which is also currently not in print. It is often considered a classic Lookout Records release and as Crimpshrine's strongest recording.
