Cracker Forever

David Lowry, the mastermind behind Cracker
and the on again/off again Camper Van Beethoven, defies genres and
labeling. Founder of Pitch-A-Tent
Records, David Lowry masterfully infuses rootsy blues, with country,
punk and rock. What do you call that? HOT DAMN!!!

Cracker’s first big hit was “Teen Angst,” off their self-titled
Cracker cd in ’92. I was living in D.C. at the time that single was
released and the once great
WHFS played that song like it was the cure to cancer. It fucking rocked
yur nuts off and spoke to how people were feeling about the whole music
scene. The 80’s hair bands really could have caused the universe to collapse in
on itself, if not for the industry anarchists like Lowry. His tongue-in-cheek lyrics and sex-drenched growling vocals, gave a huge smackdown to the critics and music industry tools blatant ignorance of indie bands.

I don’t know what the world may need/but I’m sure as hell that is starts
with me/And that’s a wisdom/I’ve laughed at/I don’t know what the world may
want/but a good stiff drink it surely don’t/So I think I’ll go and fix
myself a tall one/Cause, what the world needs now/is a new kind of
tension/Cause the old one just bores me to death/Cause, what the world needs
now/is another folk singer/like I need a hole in my head/I don’t know what
the world may need/

I’d be happy just to get your attention/And, I don’t know what the world maywant/but your long, sweet body lying next/to mine could certainly raise my
spirits

Cause what the world needs now/is a new Frank Sinatra/so I can get you in
bed/Cause what the world needs now/is another folk singer/like I need a hole
in my head. .

In ’93 Cracker released Kerosene Hat. I listened to that cd EVERY
fucking day for about six months. “Low,” “Get Off This,” “Take Me Down To
The Infirmary” and “EuroTrash Girl” had grooves worn into them from
excessive play. “Low,” was a huge hit for the band and the Kerosene Hat was
by far their best selling album. David Lowry’s simple, but cutting lyrics speak to
me, hell they speak to anyone who has a fucking ounce of cool in
their body. Cool like a tall glass of ice tea on a hot Alabama day,
sitting on your back porch with your feet up watching the grass grow and
clouds drift by.

I’ll be with you girl/Like being low/hey hey hey like being stone/I’ll be
with you girl/Like being low/hey hey hey like being stone/
A million poppies gonna make me sleep/Just one rose and knows your name/The fruit is rusting on the vine/The fruit is calling from the trees

Somewhere in the mid ’90’s Cracker released two more cd’s, but never seemed
to regain the attention of Kerosene Hat. Like Lowry said, “what the world
needs now is another folk singer like I need a hole in my head.” Grunge
died, industrial/anger rock resurfaced, pop came back and no one cared about
what was happening past the Mason-Dixon line, till Dave Matthews. Forget
Dave Matthews, if you want genuine foot-stomping rock with a country tinge,
Cracker is what you need.

Forever is a solid album, mellow, smoky, sexy and splendid. “Brides of
Neptune,” is sweet and melodic with a catchy hook.

Brides of Neptune cross the water/bring us your sons and bring us your
daughters/I won’t forsake thee deep in the blue sea/I’ll take you home.

“Guarded by Monkeys,” is weird and so much fun, perhaps my favorite song on
Forever. David’s got a bad attitude for lust: loud, obscene and
sincere.

You are so beautiful/You should be hid deep in the jungle/You are so
beautiful/You should be guarded by monkeys/I have invented 51 daylights/This
does not seem to impress you/You are so beautiful/Sublime and classified/I
can’t stop thinking about you

“Forever” definitely sounds like the single from this cd and aptly named as
the album title. It’s got the Cracker sound and is singable, hooky, catchy
and bluesy.

Crystalline/Those perfect dreams/Its all wide open at seventeen/Start
again/Me and you simple life/On Route 62/Rusted out/Broken down/Little
places/Falling down Life is good/Or so it seems/I don’t need/Anything. I
just wanna live like this now and forever/I just wanna live like this now
and forever/I just wanna live like this now and forever/Now and
forever/forever

A very solid rock album. A rarity, throw this on and groove through every
track. I recommend this as a car trip cd, windows open, a happy buzz, warm
day, top down (either yours or the cars) as you roll by endless bayous,
creeks and rivers. Soak up some Southern comfort.