Putting out records since 1994, Crank! is most well known for their documentation of the mid-to-late-nineties underground indie rock/emo movement with releases from now-defunct bands such as Mineral, Sunday's Best, Christie Front Drive, Sense Field, Errortype:11, Fireside, Silver Scooter, and Boys Life.

The label has also put out records from current indie darlings Cursive, Jimmy Eat World, Buddyhead pranksters The Icarus Line, post-Mineral group The Gloria Record, onelinedrawing, and more.