Cracker certainly had a couple of hits on their hands (“Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)” and “Happy Birthday to Me”) from their excellent 1992 eponymous debut, but a mere year later they had an absolute smash in “Low.” While the song displayed more of an alt-rock sensibility, its delivery held fast to the band’s original attitude, not to mention the essence of weed and alcohol. In taking all of the folk-rock bravado, blues-rock swagger, and humorously ironic lyricism from Cracker and giving it a bit more polish, a little less twang, and a good extra dose of electric crunch, the band forged their definitive album with Kerosene Hat (1993).
The opening onslaught of “Low,” “Movie Star,” and “Get Off This” is undeniably the strongest of any Cracker album before or since; all three are instant classics, setting the tone for and incredibly strong album. Even when the slower songs arrive, such as the fantastically absurd title track or the refreshingly honest “I Want Everything,” the good times are still to be had. The most amazing thing about Kerosene Hat is its ability to just be a fun record throughout, even more so than their debut. This is archetypal Cracker, as virtually every album since has ascribed to this formula. The rockers, cruisers, ballads, and shuffles are all firmly established here in their finest form, often duplicated but unfortunately never replicated on the band’s subsequent efforts. David Lowery’s lyrics are at their abstruse best, always dry, but loving every minute; John Hickman’s guitar has the perfect presence (in addition, his offering “Lonesome Johnny Blues” is one of the albums most hilarious track, not to mention it being the self-referential offering); David Faragher’s bass is at its beefiest, with his writing contributions providing additional meat (see the romping genius of “Sweet Potato”). But the real killer here, however, is the plodding “Euro Trash Girl,” one of the several hidden tracks at the end of the album and the Cracker song to end all Cracker songs (their definitive song on their definitive album).
All in all, it’s difficult to really say more about Kerosene Hat besides it being fantastic. If there was ever a one stop shop for Cracker, I would say pick this up and leave the various best of compilations on the shelf. That’s not to say that Cracker didn’t produce anything good after, far from it, this is just probably the best place to start for the uninitiated. Kerosene Hat is not only a well made record, it’s also perfectly timed, arriving through a window in the alt-rock scene that was ideal for an album of its kind, before pop and post-grunge threatened the musical landscape of folk-rock. While this is certainly a contributing factor to the subsequent decline of Cracker, their 1996 follow-up The Golden Age just wasn’t that good. Kerosene Hat would also be Faragher’s final outing with the band, making sort of the end of Cracker’s golden age (now isn’t that ironic)! In the end, Kerosene Hat is Cracker at its best, right before the bottom fell out!
4/5
McS
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