Lookout Records has been a staple in the indie community of labels since 1987, when founders Larry Livermore and David Hayes decided to start putting out records by the bands they loved.
The original focus of the label was punk rock, but soon lookout started releasing pop punk, indie pop, ska, reggae fusion, acoustic/folk rock, alternative rock and good old rock’n'roll. Everything was done with a strict d.i.y. ethic, with no contracts and based on verbal agreements: it was a true labor of love; a sparkling example of thinking out of the box, playing by no one’s rules.

Lookout released albums by some of the biggest indie-punk bands of the Nineties: Rancid, The Donnas, Screeching Weasel, Queers, Mr T Experience, Avail, Neurosis, Operation Ivy, Samiam, Alkaline Trio and many, many more. But the biggest act to put out records on Lookout was the multi-millionaire Green Day.
Green Day published their first two albums on Lookout: 39/Smooth (1990) and Kerplunk (1992), before leaving the label in friendly terms and exploding with the blockbuster Dookie.

With Green Day and other good sellers in its catalogue, Lookout managed to keep on releasing many records of unknown artists, supporting the local musicians of Berkeley too.
Unfortunately issues concerning royalties brought many bands to retrieve their masters from the label: the biggest loss was Green Day, who decided to get back their first two albums in 2005, forcing the Label to stop releasing new music and keeping on selling the old catalogue.

In January 2012, unfortunately, the label announced the end of every activity.