[Review] Cracker: Garage d’Or (2000)
Half showroom, half attic, all the Cracker you may ever need.
Kronomyth 5: The best of Cracker and s’more.
Okay, campers, it’s time to have a serious discussion about Cracker. After four albums that found them gradually dimming from view, it was clear that what the world didn’t need now was another alternative rock band. I retreated into classical music in the 90s, so no skin off my potato, but if you were still holding a torch for them, good on ya. Garage d’Or (clever name, that) handpicks some of the brightest moments (mostly singles) from their catalog to date and arrays them chronologically for your listening enjoyment on disc one. A trio of new tracks at the end is the free dessert that comes with your kids’ meal. Disc two (!) then collects live tracks and rarities that better capture the band’s quirky charm and self-effacing style. The generosity of Garage d’Or is its saving grace. A straight, single-disc greatest hits package would have been a bore and the three new songs would have received unwanted scrutiny. (They’re good, but only Eyes of Mary, which its shades of Robyn Hitchcock, held my attention for very long.) Here, you get the classics (Teen Angst, Low, Euro-Trash Girl) and a master class on the marginalia you might have missed, from their bizarre cover of Rainy Days and Mondays to a live version of I Want Out of the Circus that puts on one heck of a show. Also included here a pair of songs that only appeared on soundtracks, Shake Some Action (from Clueless) and Whole Lotta Trouble (from Empire Records). The weird thing is you can find this double-disc set for only a few dollars on eBay, because the younger generation apparently has the hearing range of a fruit bat and finds the 20 kHz cutoff unbearable. Garage d’Or might have a bit too much “junk” to make it a logical appetizer to Cracker’s oeuvre, but as someone who enjoys their music I can think of a worse places to park myself for an hour or two.
Original 2CD version
A1. Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now) (David Lowery) (4:11)
A2. This Is Cracker Soul (Johnny Hickman/David Lowery/Davey Faragher) (3:38)
A3. I See the Light (Johnny Hickman/Davey Faragher/David Lowery) (5:11)
A4. Low (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman/Davey Faragher) (4:35)
A5. Get Off This (David Lowery/Davey Faragher/Johnny Hickman) (4:10)
A6. Sweet Potato (David Faragher/Johnny Hickman/David Lowery) (3:15)
A7. Euro-Trash Girl (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman/Josef Peters/Davey Faragher) (8:00)
A8. Shake Some Action (Cyril Jordan/Chris Wilson) (4:25)
A9. Sweet Thistle Pie (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman) (5:00)
A10. I’m a Little Rocket Ship (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman) (3:23)
A11. Big Dipper (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman) (5:40)
A12. Seven Days (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman) (4:25)
A13. Been Around the World (David Lowery) (5:01)
A14. Be My Love (4:10)
A15. Heaven Knows I’m Lonely Now (5:11)
A16. Eyes of Mary (2:24)
B1. Surfbilly (David Lower/Johnny Hickman) (1:54)
B2. The Golden Age (live) (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman) (3:44)
B3. You Ain’t Going Nowhere (live) (Bob Dylan) (3:29)
B4. Hollywood Cemetary (David Lowery) (5:02)
B5. Whole Lotta Trouble (Johnny Hickman/Chris LeRoy) (2:27)
B6. I Want Out of the Circus (live) (David Lowery) (3:58)
B7. Steve’s Hornpipe (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman) (2:11)
B8. Mr. Wrong (live) (Johnny Hickman) (4:52)
B9. Sunday Train (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman) (3:42)
B10. Lonesome Johnny Blues (live) (Johnny Hickman) (2:58)
B11. Rainy Days and Mondays (Roger Nichols/Paul Williams) (3:45)
B12. China (David Lowery/Johnny Hickman) (3:11)
The Players
Johnny Hickman (guitar, backing vocals), David Lowery (guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals) with Kristin Asbury (backing vocals), Al Esis (drums), Chris Eubanks (cello), Frank Funaro (percussion, drums), Mark Linkous (guitar, piano), Bob Rupe (bass), Miguel Urbitztondo (drums, percussion), Paul Watson (trumpet).
The Plastic
Released on 2CD on March 14, 2000 in the US (Virgin, 49005-2).
