Crustacean Records

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Crustacean Records
Founded	1994
Founder	Chris Langkamp
Genre	Indie rock
Country of origin	United States
Location	Madison Wi
Official website	crustaceanrecords.com/

Crustacean Records is a punk/indie/metal record company from Wisconsin, United States, founded in 1994.

[edit] History

The label was founded by current majority owner Chris Langkamp. The debut release was by Crab Shack, the band Chris Langkamp played bass for at the time, was cassette only and entitled “Fetus”. The second release was issued on compact disc and was the first Crustacean Records compilation featuring Helena Handbasket, Gethsemane, Crab Shack, Front of Trucker, Mas Optica and Wet Dog. The label grew in the mid and late 90’s with notable mainstays of the label being Mad Trucker Gone Mad, Big Big Furnace and System & Station.

Crustacean Records still survives and thrives in the present. The current ownership is founder and bass player of Mad Trucker Gone Mad, Chris Langkamp, as majority owner and Madison promoter, community radio DJ and longtime Crustacean ally, Jake Shut, as co-owner. The current roster of the label includes Awesome Snakes, Corrruption is King, Droids Attack, Drunk Drivers, The Gusto, Hazard County Girls, John Kruth, Mad Trucker Gone Mad, Ouija Radio, Screamin' Cyn Cyn & The Pons, The Skintones and Things Fall Apart. To date Crustacean Records has released over 70 records in 14 years solidifying its place as one of Wisconsin’s most important and prolific punk/indie/metal record labels.

In a review of the label's Crust-o-Matic label compilation, In Music We Trust's Jeb Branin wrote "Crustacean has a knack for signing bands that rock the universe but are in no way cliché or mundane. Anything and everything they touch is unique and noteworthy".^[1]. In a 2008 cover story by Madison free alternative weekly paper The Isthmus, Rich Albertoni summed up Crustacean's effect on the Wisconsin rock scene by saying, "It's history because Crustacean has gone on to assemble one of the richest archives of Wisconsin rock over the past 10 years. The label's catalogue now includes more than 70 releases, mostly from bands originating in Madison, Milwaukee and the Fox River Valley."^[2]

In August and December of 2007, the label filmed ten of their acts performing at the High Noon Saloon, to be released on DVD in July of 2008.^[3] On March 13th, 2008 Crustacean Record had its inagural South by Southwest showcase in Austin, Texas at the Molotov Lounge as well as participating in the 2008 Indie Village^[4] as part of the trade show in the Austin convention center.^[5]