Cracker "Kerosene Hat": a sorely underappreciated classic?

For my money, Cracker is one of the most criminally underrated and underappreciated bands of the last 20 years--almost, in a weird way, like the Badfinger of their generation (sans the premature deaths and legendarily bad business decisions, of course). Their music for me has a timeless feel, one that just seems to flow from one year to the next without sounding dated or irrelevant. Yet their superb catalog isn't mentioned in the same breath as some of their contemporaries, which I've always thought was a crying shame.

As much as I love all their work, it's hard to argue that Kerosene Hat wasn't their summit. Fabulously crafted melodies, Northern California slacker-in-denim-playing-pedal-steel lyrics, amazingly acidic yet warm, inviting singing, the album had it all. I just remember the first time I heard "I Want Everything," with autumn leaves blowing on the front lawn of my college campus and me staring at them with a lukewarm Bud in my hand. Amazingly transcendent moment (at least for a penniless college student at the time).

Any other fans of the band or the KH album out there? Got to be a few . . .

 

Great album....not a bad song on there. Definitely needs a deluxe edition with an extra disc of either outtakes or live tracks from that era.

 

Excellent album from start to finish - lots of variety in the songs too. I saw them live for the first time on that tour as well.

 

I was listening to KH as I typed the post, and it's funny, it's true, the variety of the songs is what strikes you. No two songs sound even remotely the same, which is much more an achievement on a rock album than you'd think . . .

 

Tracks 69 and 88 are phenomenal - I'll search the world over for a EuroTrash Girl

 

Really dig the band and this album is definitely my favorite. I'd call it a minor classic. Agree about the timeless feel of it and the quality of the songs. Would be a real treat for someone who hasn't heard it yet!

 

"EuroTrash Girl" is possibly Cracker's most popular song (at least among aficionados). And, to think, it was a HIDDEN track!!!
The lyrics are among the best rock lyrics I've ever heard in the rock idiom. At least IMHO.

 

Kerosene Hat didn't sound of its time when it was released. And maybe that's why it sounds timeless to some folks today (it does for me). I don't quite how to put this, but Kerosene Hat is an album that makes me want to drink way too many beers, and I've never been a big drinker--it just makes me want to shut out the world and absorb myself completely in the music. I also want to play it LOUD (which is no doubt related to my previous comment).

Damn, I need to hear this album right now!

 

Better make a run to the liquor store!

 

I am a big fan of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven- Cracker is a more refined version of CVB and I love this album...David Lowery doesn't get the attention he deserves.

 

The debut Cracker album isn't far behind Kerosene Hat, either.

 

I'm on my fourth beer of a Dragon's Milk (10% AC) four-pack and am listening to it again! I guess I second the liquor-store comment!

 

I second that. The debut is fabulous. "Dr. Berniece"has some of the funniest lyrics I've ever read (witness "fake leather seats from Juarez").

 

All of this talk is bringing to mind the following: I love the first two Cracker albums--every track on each is a keeper. After this, though, I like bits and pieces of Cracker albums ("The Good Life," "Brides of Neptune," etc.) Does any one feel like any of the later Cracker albums are as consistently good as the first two?

 

I thought The Golden Age was a brilliant piece of album-making. After that, the results got ever-so-slightly more inconsisten, but still pretty great. I thought The Good Life was the best thing they did after GA. "The World Is Mine" is one rockin' song! One of the best things they ever did, IMO.

 

My favorite track of theirs is "Sweet Thistle Pie". I saw them do it live in Allentown PA a couple of years back and it was great.

 

I love Golden Age, the thread title could read Cracker "Kerosene Hat : a sorely underappreciated classic band

 

It probably has more to do with my personal life experiences, but I have always thought their debut was much stronger than Kerosene Hat--not that I didn't like many of those songs.

 

I agree, the 'sardine' album is fabulous ... love 'Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)'

 

great band and they also allow live recordings to be shared @ the archive...

http://archive.org/details/Cracker

 

Nice album. I like the eclectic mix of songs. The hidden tracks are also good.

 

Great, classic album. A couple of weaker songs but really a major underrated album, love their cover of Loser and the song Kerosene Hat and Take me down to the Infirmary. Great hidden track too, Eurotrash Girl.

 

I've got the 1st Cracker album & Kerosene Hat and the hated (by the band) best of Get On With It.
My fav songs by them are I Hate My Generation and Teen Angst.

 

Great, now I'll have "Take the skin-heads bowling" stuck in my head for a week,lol , Great album, always liked Dave's work

 

"Euro-Trash Girl" (track 69) and "I Ride Me Bike" (track 88) are from the Tucson EP.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/tucson-mw0000617880

Track 99 is a "Kerosene Hat" demo/rehearsal/muck-around.