Cracker

Artist Playlists

About Cracker

David Lowery’s satirical songwriting contributions to Camper Van Beethoven made him a college-rock valedictorian in the late ’80s, but with his post-CVB outfit, Cracker, he became the leading contrarian of the 120 Minutes set, opening up an escape route out of the mosh pit into the wilds of alt-country. Lowery formed Cracker with childhood pal Johnny Hickman in their hometown of Redlands, California immediately after CVB’s 1990 dissolution and, following a relocation to Virginia, the new group debuted with 1992’s self-titled effort. That album’s heavily rotated alternative-nation address, “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)”, retained the signature snark Lowery developed in his CVB days, but reined in that band’s artier inclinations for a scrappier roots-rock style. And then with 1993’s Kerosene Hat and 1996’s The Golden Age, Cracker hardened into a post-grunge answer to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, logging rock-radio hits with seething singles like “Low” and “I Hate My Generation”. Cracker drifted away from the mainstream from there, but later releases like 2009’s Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey—featuring cameos from admirers like John Doe and Patterson Hood—saw them trucking through the 21st century with their singular mix of grit and wit intact.

ORIGIN
Redlands, CA, United States
FORMED
1991
GENRE
Rock

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