Cracker: Forever

Back Porch Records/ Virgin Music

Playing Time: 58:25

D. Malcolm Fairbrother

The process of reviewing a CD works something like this, o my children, at least for this reviewer: listen to the CD, preferably while otherwise occupied to see whether it intrudes into one's consciousness, positively or negatively. Give it a concentrated listen to realize an overall impression; listen to it over and over and over, often to the point of driving those around one screaming from the room if not the premises; try to determine the intentions of the artists and the production team, and decide how close they came to attaining their goals. Listen again and again and again, while keeping in mind that these are real people, talented or otherwise, who, if they have given an honest effort, deserve as much in return, especially from a reviewer who has barely enough musical ability to pluck out the melody line of Ghost Riders In The Sky on an old borrowed acoustic guitar; write the review, then retire the CD to the shelf to rarely, if ever, be revisited.

Not so with Cracker's penultimate opus of new material, Gentleman's Blues, a work that has survived repeated listening over the last three years. It was therefore with a mixture of anticipation and dread that this reviewer approached Cracker's latest release, Forever. Hope is often the forbearer of disappointment, but not this time -- Forever is as outstanding a collection of popular music as your faithful reviewer has had the pleasure to hear in quite a long time.

From the opening strains of the first song, Brides Of Neptune, one is captivated by the diverse nature of the vision and artistry that encompasses Cracker. There's not a pretentious or insincere note to be found in an hour of listening, for Cracker is a group noted for not taking themselves, or much of anything else, too seriously. A David Lowry composition, Brides is a stunning blend of majestically opulent sonic beauty with as fine a nonsense lyric as Mr. Lowry has written -- an orchestral invasion which at first shocks, then ultimately amazes the veteran Cracker fan, and never overwhelms the sensibilities of a song wherein monkeys guard a mysterious cargo of pot sold to a mermaid by a first mate near Bali...talk about your Bali high! But that's Cracker's strength: they balance precariously between being the jesters of alternative country music and sincere purveyors of seriously delivered performances. When they choose to, Cracker delivers the goods as well as any heavy-hitting, straight-ahead blues-rock combo. Shine fairly leaps from the speakers, a powerful and uplifting song, full of hope for life's hopeless, yet not ignoring the chance to rhyme 'acrobat' with (Burt) 'Bacharach'!

Don't Bring Us Down is pure power pop, a sing-along slag at those who would spoil the party with pessimism: God gave you life...so get out of mine, and take your sorry ass back to Florida!' The point is hammered home with a catchy chorus, the infectious chorus barely disguising the cynical anger of the message! In the same vein is Merry Christmas Emily, a comic narrative replete with jingling sleigh bells and buzz saw guitar riffs wherein two affably stoned losers try to connect in a wasteland of skewed imagery and yet, their regret is a tangibly tragic slice of life. Although the song is not destined to be a classic Christmas tune, it is definitely classic Cracker.

Guarded By Monkeys exists as a self-referencing in-joke, but a beautiful but unreachable lover replaces the stash mentioned in the first song. A mournful viola introduction explodes into a crushing wall of electric heavy metal jangle, repetitive and hypnotic as the power of speech can only be engaged to repeat the same phrase again and again. In truth, an entire collection of this style of song, or even two in a row, would be beyond endurance; Cracker is much too wise to fall into that trap. Instead, they lighten the atmosphere with Ain't That Strange, another nonsensical song that amuses and entertains with its Stones-styled falsetto 'doo-da-doo' refrain. Shameless has more soul than a Sunday Baptist hymn-fest, combining a spirited organ with gospel-flavored harmonies.

Most of the songs on Forever find David Lowry co-writing with guitarist Johnny Hickman. Where Mr. Lowry is crafty and humorous, Mr. Hickman adds an foreboding tone that brings a sense of unsettled edginess to the laughter. His one solo song-writing credit is Superfan; there is an ominously sinister tone to the song as the singer quickly devolves from a worshipping fan into a menacing stalker who threatens, 'If I can't have you, no one can' and sings about eaves-dropping and adding finger nails and hair to a shrine. All of this while the sitars swirl around an upbeat and energetic musical flight of fancy that serves to render the message of the song all the more menacing with its jarring contrast.

The title song serves as the thematic and musical restatement of what Cracker strives to accomplish. It is a skillfully delivered endorsement of the joy to be found amidst the wreckage of a simple life spent driving through broken down towns in souped-up cars; if the singer is not a teen-aged small--time dreamer, he certainly has had his development arrested at that stage, and is quite content in spite of it all.

If Cracker does have a serious message, hope may very well be its essence. With tongue only partially implanted in cheek, Cracker aims their offbeat songs at the same audience that the deity aims tornadoes at, the trailor-trash denizens encamped across the mid-western and the southern states; any doubt that this is true can be immediately dispelled by a glance at the photo on the cover: women with curlers clinging to their hair like large insects, standing beside proud men with nothing to be proud of in front of a trailer engulfed in gloom. There is no better illustration of Cracker's credo of hope for those who seem swamped by despair -- the drunkards, sinners, liars and thieves, crushed, rendered speechless and broken by the weight of their own existence -- than One Fine Day, a far more sober hymn that invites these losers to step into the light of 'one fine day'. It is a splendid mixture of message and mastery of technique; it is Cracker at its most moving and powerful manifestation.

There are those who are confused because they cannot pigeonhole Cracker, a deliberately evasive band that rejoices in its contradictions and diversity. If the listener wishes to hear the same song over and over again, he or she is commanded to go elsewhere; but if, like this reviewer, one wishes to be startled, amused, and amazed as well as entertained... then have another Cracker -- it's fresh and destined to stay so for a long, long time.

[You may find more information about Cracker on their website at http://www.crackersoul.com - Ed]