title: Red Scare Industries created: 2026-04-07 updated: 2026-04-07 type: label tags: [label, era-2000s, era-2010s, era-2020s] sources: [raw/articles/red-scare-grokipedia.md]

Red Scare Industries

Chicago, Illinois. Founded 2004 by Tobias “Toby” Jeg and Brendan Kelly (of The Lawrence Arms). One of the best punk labels of the 2000s-2020s — consistently releasing great records by bands that deserve more attention.

Key Artists

• The Menzingers — Scranton, PA. A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology (2007, Red Scare). Later signed to Epitaph. One of the best punk bands of the 2010s.
• Cobra Skulls — Reno, NV. Political punk. Sitting Army (2007).
• The Sidekicks — Cleveland. Awkward Breeds (2012). Alt-punk.
• Dear Landlord — Dream Homes (2009). Midwest punk.
• The Brokedowns — Chicago. Punk.
• Laura Jane Grace — Solo work.
• Dead to Me — San Francisco punk.

The Label’s Role

Red Scare occupies a specific niche: bands that are too punk for indie labels and too indie for punk labels. Jeg’s taste is impeccable — he consistently signs bands that go on to wider recognition (Menzingers, Sidekicks) while maintaining a roster of underappreciated bands that deserve the exposure.

The label’s 20th anniversary compilation (2024) featured Laura Jane Grace, The Menzingers, Cobra Skulls, Dead to Me, and others — a snapshot of what Red Scare has meant to punk for two decades.

Related

• fat-wreck-chords — the punk label ecosystem Red Scare exists within
• hardcore — the genre