Crank! is a brave little label situated in the Inglewood region of sunny Los Angeles. The record company specializes in intelligent, chaotic indie rock, with releases by Boy's Life, Cursive, Sunday's Best, and many others.
Cursive
An excellent Nebraska quintet with tangled, dissonant, guitar-driven sound and a lot of pain. Hard and loud, but often quite beautiful in a twisted, frantic way.
Errortype: Eleven
To look at them, you might guess that Errortype: Eleven was your generic earnest hardcore band. Unh-uh. No, actually the group plays punk that masquerades as radio-friendly red-blooded hard rock. This is a good thing.
Fireside
Think not of the comforting warmth of the hearth, my children, because, name aside, that's not what Fireside is all about. No, the Swedish quartet specializes in pummeling, anthemic alt-rock anguish.
The Gloria Record
Featuring members of those dear departed emo superheroes known as Mineral, The Gloria Record continues to mine the same sincere vein as its members' old group, striking gold with heartfelt acoustic-flecked indie rock.
The Icarus Line
You never knew paranoid dementia could be so much fun. L.A.'s Icarus Line puts the fear of God into you (or whatever inspires fear for you) with a nerve-wracking hardcore assault marked by high-pitched, screamy vocals and guitars.
Jupither
Despite its members' youth, Swedish teenaged power-pop quintet Jupither has already proven itself adept at producing huge, tuneful, radio-friendly alt-rock opuses. Catchy and loud.
Mineral
Austin emo darlings Mineral inspired a fiercely devoted following during their short career. Listen to their records and you can hear why. They show just how effective the dynamics and melodies of the emo genre can be when applied correctly.
Onelinedrawing
Onelinedrawing is the one-man band of Jonah Matranga, a sensitive California guy with an acoustic guitar, a pretty voice, and a pocket full of feelings. Formerly the singer of the melodic heavy rock outfit FAR.
Silver Scooter
Austin, Texas's Silver Scooter offers up the finest brooding indie-pop in the South. Their songs are laconic and melancholy, but always very, very catchy.
Sunday's Best
Sensitive L.A. boys Sunday's Best are relative newcomers to the underground rock circuit, but their satisfying style of jangly, honest emotional indie rock leads one to believe they'll be around for awhile.
