Chicago?s SCREECHING WEASEL formed in 1986. I didn?t encounter them until 1989 when, for some reason, they played in my little town in Northern California with GREEN DAY, THE MR. T EXPERIENCE and THE LOOKOUTS. My own band played as well, but at something like five in the afternoon before any of the eight people who turned up for the show had even gotten there. Or any of the other bands for that matter.... Read More.

Related Bands: Mopes, Sludgeworth, Shotdowns, Ben Weasel, Even In Blackouts

Chicago?s SCREECHING WEASEL formed in 1986. I didn?t encounter them until 1989 when, for some reason, they played in my little town in Northern California with GREEN DAY, THE MR. T EXPERIENCE and THE LOOKOUTS. My own band played as well, but at something like five in the afternoon before any of the eight people who turned up for the show had even gotten there. Or any of the other bands for that matter. SCREECHING WEASEL were on tour supporting their own self-released second album, Boogadaboogadaboogada. Their set, which included future favorites like, "I Hate Led Zepplin," was played with Ben Weasel, the singer, sitting on the edge of the stage most of the time looking bored. In between songs, Ben seemed to be arguing with himself about who were the bigger idiots that night: the small group of people standing there blinking dumbly, or the band itself for bothering to play at all. I don?t know if he ever made his decision, but a year later, SCREECHING WEASEL broke up. The next time I encountered Ben, he was asleep in my bed. It was 1991 and I was living in Oakland, working at Lookout!, and half-heartedly attending UC Berkeley. SCREECHING WEASEL was back together and in the Bay Area to record a new album for Lookout! Records and play a few shows. At their Epicenter Zone show, Ben stripped for "I Wanna Be Naked" and French-kissed me during their version of PATSY CLINE?s "I Fall To Pieces." My Brain Hurts, the album cut during their Bay Area stay, was Lookout!?s first non-California release. It was also the first of a six-LP, two-EP, five-year relationship between the band and Lookout! Records. In that time, Ben and SCREECHING WEASEL were instrumental in bending our ears to bands like THE QUEERS, VINDICTIVES and SQUIRTGUN. Then they broke up again in 1994 after recording How to Make Enemies and Irritate People. SCREECHING WEASEL reformed in 1996. Our attempts to pick up where we left off had disastrous results. Miscommunication, mistrust, and a lawsuit did a lot to damage the relationship between Lookout! and the band. But ultimately, it was the strength of that relationship that made it possible for us to patch things up. The true nature and scope of our relationship with SCREECHING WEASEL and its members can?t be conveyed in this small space, but you?ll find parts of it throughout this catalog, as the band is an integral part of what is Lookout! Records.?Christopher Appelgren