title: Crank! Records created: 2026-04-07 updated: 2026-04-07 type: label tags: [label, emo, era-1990s, era-2000s] sources: [raw/articles/crank-records-history.md]

Crank! Records

Austin, Texas. Independent label founded in the mid-1990s. One of the key labels of the second-wave emo/post-hardcore scene, releasing influential records by Mineral, Pop Unknown, and others.

Key Releases

• Mineral — The Power of Failing (1997), EndSerenading (1998). Austin. One of the most important second-wave emo bands. Shimmering guitar, whispered-to-screamed dynamics, deeply emotional. After Mineral broke up, members formed The Gloria Record (also on Crank!) and Pop Unknown.
• Pop Unknown — Post-Mineral band. Tim Lasater (vocals), Gabe Wiley (drums, ex-Mineral). The August Engine (2000).
• The Gloria Record — Chris Simpson (ex-Mineral). More atmospheric, ambient-influenced.
• Zookeeper — Another Austin project in the Crank! orbit.
• Mountaintime — Austin indie/emo.

The Austin Emo Connection

Crank! was part of Austin’s surprisingly fertile 90s emo scene — a scene more associated with the Midwest or East Coast. Mineral were the scene’s biggest export, and their sound — twinkly guitars, emotional crescendos, vulnerability — helped define what “emo” sounded like to a generation.

Why It Matters

Crank! Records exemplifies the specific role of regional indie labels in the 90s: not big enough to be famous, but big enough to document a scene and release records that resonated far beyond their local context. Mineral’s two albums are now considered canonical emo, and Crank! made them possible.

The Austin Emo Connection

Crank! was part of Austin’s surprisingly fertile 90s emo scene — a scene more associated with the Midwest or East Coast. Mineral were the scene’s biggest export, and their sound — twinkly guitars, emotional crescendos, vulnerability — helped define what “emo” sounded like to a generation. The label’s other releases (Pop Unknown, The Gloria Record, Zookeeper, Mountaintime) continued the Austin tradition.

The Mineral Legacy

Mineral’s two albums — The Power of Failing (1997) and EndSerenading (1998) — are now considered canonical emo. The band’s influence on subsequent emo and indie rock is well-documented. Crank! made these albums possible — and the label’s role in documenting Austin’s emo scene is underappreciated.

Post-Crank! Austin

After Crank!’s active period, Austin’s emo scene evolved into the broader indie rock community that produced bands like …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, White Denim, and Spoon. The connection between Crank!’s emo and Austin’s later indie rock is a thread worth following.

Related

• emo — the genre Crank! documented
• numero-group — reissue label that has revisited Mineral’s catalog
• san-diego-scene — parallel scene with its own label infrastructure (Gravity)