Cribshitter (album release), Pollinators

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Bob Koch

Cribshitter on stage at Gamma Ray.

Cribshitter

OK, show of hands, longtime scenesters: Two decades ago, who placed bets on Cribshitter becoming one of Madison’s legacy bands? After five albums, many shows packed with hilarity, hijinks and musicianship, and a mayoral proclamation of June 14 as Cribshitter Day, here we are…and thankful for it, as they are truly one of a kind and far more fun than hitting a snake on the head with a wooden spoon. As part of their responsibility as a legacy act, they are taking the next step into immortality by releasing Essential Shitter: Cribshitter’s Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (with the hits comp obligation new-single-so-you-rebuy-old-material, "It'll Explode"), along with offering the short documentary Leaving a Mark: The Cribshitter Story. For this release party they are joined by another long-running Madison band, Pollinators.

$15 ($10 adv.).

media release: Ween-influenced genre hoppers, Cribshitter is Madison, Wisconsin's premier fog machine-forward soft rock act. No one in their right state of mind could’ve possibly seen the first iteration of Madison’s most unapologetically unhinged band and predicted they’d be one of the most enduring acts the city would have throughout the 2000s, 2010s, and into the 2020s.

What started out as a near-parody of pop bands has turned into a seriously ambitious musical effort spiked with loads of obscure cultural references that will make you laugh. Cribshitter could well be Madison’s Flight of the Conchords.

Steve Albini once called them “Einstein-level geniuses.” And in 2024 the Mayor of Madison officially declared June 14th “Cribshitter Day” and gave them a key to the city (which they misguidedly cut in half thinking it was a ribbon cutting ceremony).

“It’s a rare band that can have a tuba-driven track called “Whippin’ Shitties” and simultaneously play most other bands off the stage.” — Tone Madison

Pollinators are an indie rock trio with pop sensibilities who are celebrating the 10th year of the band. Formed in 2015 by Tom Teslik on guitar, Matt Magnusson on drums, and Cole Haman on bass, the band explored love and loss through minimalistic pop song writing on their debut EP Self Addressed Envelope. In 2019 their first full length album Return Home came out on a crowdsourced LP, and in 2022 the follow up Good Ear.