Track by track with Crustacean Records
A spin through the Madison label's 15th-anniversary compilation
Minneapolis' Ouija Radio
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Madison's Crustacean Records, whose roster embraces the connection been the Twin Cities and Wisconsin scenes, occupies an eccentric spot in Midwestern music. Chris Langkamp started it up 15 years ago to put out records by his psychobilly band, Mad Trucker Gone Mad. Since then, Crustacean's, well, encrusted itself in a stubborn shell of drunkenly old-school punk and metal of the kind that some bands still insist on making even as labels like Relapse seek to define the hard-rock landscape with less familiar offerings. Madison trio Droids Attack, for example, is happy to recharge the riffs and blustery solos of a thousand stoner-metal shows past, and Eau Claire's Drunk Drivers return time and again to shout-along punk choruses with the kind of longing only six to 12 cans of Schlitz can induce. But even while grounding itself in sincere, if not always inventive, old-school sounds, the label has embraced some sonic adventure along the way. As Crustacean prepares to celebrate its 15th anniversary with a series of shows in both Madison and the Twin Cities—and as co-owner Jake Shut prepares to relocate from Madison to pursue a geography degree at the University Of Minnesota—Decider took a spin through the label's 17-track anniversary compilation and tried to suss out its strange M.O. (The Minnesota anniversary shows are Friday at the Uptown Bar and Saturday at the Turf Club.) To hear four of the tracks, hit up the playlist at the bottom of the post.
1. The Giraffes, a Brooklyn band, start the disc off with "The Border," a dude-friendly scramble of metal, hardcore, and noise rock that's got one foot planted in scuzzy riffs and vocalist Aaron Lazar's grisly ranting, and another foot edging over into stranger and trippier territory.
2. 20 Dollar Love's "Big Sexy" has more of a standard "let's get drunk, and uh, fuck while we're drunk and then drink more" sort of feel...
3. ...but Minneapolis' Ouija Radio saves the vibe with "Pop Rocks For Pussy." O.R. singer-guitarist-keyboardist Christy Hunt may well be the most talented musician and songwriter associated with the label these days. She can play the badass just as well as any of Crustacean's burly male singers, but she torpedoes the macho mix with bright, twisty guitar hooks and vocal melodies that bring in hints of new wave and power-pop.
4. We mentioned that Droids Attack play a well-tested vein of stoner rock, but as the title "The Arcade Bully" tells you, yeller-guitarist Brad Van's not shy about his nerdy love for video games.
5. Not unlike comedian Dave Attell, Drunk Drivers offer a peephole into the sleazier side of life without making you feel like a total douche for listening, which is kind of a feat on a song entitled "Girls Gone Wild."
6. Mad Trucker Gone Mad's still got its goofy shtick going on "Land Of The Fee," speaking for the common man while making him sound kind of like a crazy hick. And we must admit that it's still amusing.
7. The Skintones also have a sense of humor just beneath the riffs and Pete Ress' megalomaniacal screams. According to liner notes, the lyrics of "Murder Plots" include such scrambled phrases as "A glass of zay makes a man" and "96 ways I fucking made out Guantanamo Bay."
8. The straight-up earnest and angsty side of hard rock is still here, thanks to Madison's Things Fall Apart. "Pull" brings some welcome, post-hardcore raving and technical twists to this compilation.
9. Screamin' Cyn Cyn And The Pons' glittery, gleefully obnoxious punk-rock makes for one of the most fun live acts in the Madison region. The creepy, Western-styled "Cowboy Song" doesn't necessarily sum them up, but shows off lead singer Shane O'Neill's clever wordplay with lines like "the only person that I ever loved was myself / I don't have my number anymore" and "when I get a snakebite I get boners."
10. Another of Crustacean's few non-Midwest bands, The Von Ehrics prove once more that booze and fun transcend regional and cultural boundaries with the cowpunk of "Loaded All Day."
11. Like many of Crustacean's bands, Chicago's Imperial Battlesnake could be happy rehashing old metal riffs all day, but "Aztec Astronaut" (among other songs) suggest the group's done some extra homework on the thunderous songcraft of Iron Maiden, with fiery and pleasing results.
12. Punk rock meets dive-bar humor once again as Minneapolis' The Skullcranes spell out exactly what they want on "Asscashorgrass."
13. Going back a ways, Twin Cities band The Soviettes helps vary the label's output a little further with crunchy punk-pop and lead singer Annie Holoien's hooks on tunes like "Matt's Song."
14. Omaha metal band Bloodcow titled an album Hail Xenu (after an evil figure from the myths of Scientology), so naturally "Four Days Of Fire" is a little over the top.
15. "Cheap beer and cigarettes never tasted so sweet," Madison punks The Gusto howl together on "Auburn, AL," but this time the bandmates are abusing substances in search of an actual soul-baring moment. Also, is it just us or does the guitar solo sound a bit like the "Bohemian Rhapsody" solo adapted for a punk song? Either way, of all the Crustacean-released tunes in recent years, this is still the one Decider puts on most often.
16. Crustacean helped to preserve the legacy of Madison's and Touch And Go's Killdozer with a live album called The Last Waltz, and "The Nobbies" captures the band's dissonant smartassery as well as any track.
17. Soviettes members Annie Holoien and drummer Danny Henry went on to form the duo Awesome Snakes, which, despite being a joke band—they write songs about snakes and/or things that are awesome—are among Crustacean's finest. "I Want A Snake" may be a ridiculous, deliberately stupid song, but damned if it's not addictive.
