Cracker Golden Age CD

Old enough to appreciate "classic" rock and young enough to have lived punk and indie-rock, Crackerheads David Lowery and Johnny Hickman can get away with a song called "I Hate My Generation" without sounding either bitter or ironic. Rather, "I Hate My Generation," the blast of garage-rock that opens Cracker's third album, comes across as a statement of purpose: We will not be pigeonholed with any generation at all! The song also nods to "Fight This Generation" by Pavement, but where that band aims to explore the diveregent possibilities of rock's future, Cracker seems to be looking for convergences in rock's long and winding past. THE GOLDEN AGE is a Rolling Stonesy country-rock album, a Black Crowesy blues-rock album and a Southern, indie-rock, power-pop album, all in one. Awash in pastoral Southern imagery and literate musings on lost loves, and its electric guitar crunch set off by pedal steels, synthesizers and strings, it sounds like The Band gone mad. Which is to say, it sounds pretty much like The Band in the first place, drawing from all traditions of music, in search of a common soul.

Additional personnel includes: David Campbell (conductor); Dennis Herring (acoustic guitar, Mellotron, handclaps, programming, sound effects); David Immergluck (guitar, pedal steel, background vocals); Paul Shure (violin, Theremin); Michelle Richards, Armen Garabedian, Katia Popov, Bonnie Shure, Bob Peterson (violin); Rob Hajacos (fiddle); Bob Becker, Denyse Buffum (viola); Larry Corbett, Suzie Katayama (cello); Jim Cox, John Hobbs (piano); Charlie Gillingham (organ); Tony Maimone (bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); Johnny Hott (handclaps, percussion, programming); Kristin Asbury, Shannon Worrell, Joan Osborne (background vocals).

Recorded at Ardent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee; Sound Of Music, Richmond, Virginia; Woodland Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.

Engineers include: Csaba Petocz, Chris Fuhrman, Richard Hasal.

Cracker: David Lowery (vocals, guitar, Mellotron, synthesizer, handclaps, sound effects); Johnny Hickman (guitar, baritone guitar, talkbox, harmonica, synthesizer, background vocals); Bob Rupe (synthesizer, bass, background vocals); Charlie Quintana (drums).

Spin (5/96, p.104) - 8 - Very Good - "...a sharp little combo named Cracker...elevate[s] the art of bitter sarcasm into a motivational force...on THE GOLDEN AGE [Lowery] finally sinks an emotional root that can connect all his cold little ideas..."
Entertainment Weekly (4/12/96, p.68) - "...Cracker have always flirted with the fine line between pleasantly and annoyingly quirky. GOLDEN AGE balances on that tightrope more times than it falls off..." - Rating: B
Alternative Press (8/96, p.72) - 3 (out of 5) - "...though Cracker are only onto their third album, they could've already filled four 'Best Of' collections....overall a gentler, sadder record than either of it's predecessors....THE GOLDEN AGE is another roaring success..."