Review

Once upon another time, California's Lookout! Records was ground zero for bratty adolescents with a broken heart and a jones for the Ramones. The times they are a-changin', though; pop-punk has made a giddy exodus from Berkeley to Benetton and Lookout! has reinvented itself as a haven for those who go for more tempered tempos. A quick spin through Class of '04 highlights the changes. There's Ted Leo's jaunty Joe Jackson redux, the Lashes' earnest, tuneful power pop, Communique's pouty new wave, and the candy-coated guitar romantics of the Reputation. Lookout! hasn't forsaken its roots completely, though — all of the artists here maintain a clear punk ethos, from Leo's pointed fuck-you's to the current administration to the Washdown's clattering cavalcade of chords. They've even thrown in a vintage Green Day song — the spry teen angst anthem "Going to Pasalacqua" — to help you make the connection.