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Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey

by

Cracker

 
Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey
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Avg: 4.0 (179 ratings)

David Lowery gets satisfyingly ornery on Cracker's latest

  • We Say...

    Review by Matthew Fritch

    Something about approaching 50 brings out the stubborn punk mule in those old enough to have experienced the original spit and spirit of '77 as a properly angry young man. While Nick Cave formed Grinderman as a mid-life catharsis act, David Lowery already had a loud rock band at his disposal to take care of any unfinished business from his youth. That band is Cracker, Lowery's going concern since 1992. To be clear: nobody's wearing a dog collar on Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey; Cracker continues to trade in slightly twangy bar-band Americana, albeit with a more urgent, uptempo guitar chug that's strangely reminiscent of the Lemonheads. But Lowery is noticeably charged up. Once the carefree stoner prince at the center of surreal college-rock outfit Camper Van Beethoven, Lowery has lately become a more political animal. The change began with 2004's New Roman Times, Camper's first album of originals after a 14-year hiatus, a concept album of red state-versus-blue state warfare that could've only been released during Bush's second term.

    Sunrise begins with "Yalla Yalla (Let's Go)," whose titular Arabic phrase has been adopted by U.S. military personnel in Iraq. It's not a protest song, but somehow its very premise is a strong reminder of an inconvenient war. On the other hand, there's "Hey Brett (You Know What Time It Is)," a bailout-era anthem and call to anarchy fueled by a Stonesy riff and inspired by Brett Nelson of Built To Spill, who once asked the guys in Cracker whether we'd know when it was time to start dragging the rich people from their cars. The thing that separates Cracker's cranky moments from those of, say, Steve Earle, is the reassuring humor surrounding it all. "Friends," a duet with Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood, is a honky-tonk tale of two drinking buddies, while "Hand Me My Inhaler" is an appropriately snotty song about breaking up your teenage band. On the smoothly strummed, Michael Penn-esque "Darling One," Lowery sings, "Why don't you rest your worries darling one, sweetheart?" as if to offer comfort, only to follow it up with the title track, whose lyrics portray life in a ruined empire, where "dying is easy, it's living that's hard." Which Lowery you choose to believe is entirely up to you.

  • They Say...

    Review by Mark Deming, All Music Guide

    Of all the bands that enjoyed a flirtation with fame and fortune during the alternative rock boom of the 1990s, few success stories seemed more of a fluke than Cracker. While David Lowery and Johnny Hickman were (and are) talented songwriters and the band could play tight, accessible rock & roll in a manner that startled many fans of Lowery's earlier band Camper Van Beethoven, it was clear from the outset that Cracker were only willing to set aside a certain number of their eccentricities in favor of a shot at the big time, and the longer they went on, the loopier their music became, which pleased the hardcore fans who appreciated their off-kilter humor and musical eclecticism but ensured that albums like Forever and Countrysides would never spawn a hit like "I Hate My Generation" or "Low." Now that 17 years have elapsed following the release of their first album and with the band safely removed from the intrusive eyes of the major labels, Cracker's ninth studio album, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey, is as engaging and enjoyable as anything they have released since Kerosene Hat in 1993. Though the feel of the material is loose and easygoing, this edition of Cracker -- Lowery and Hickman on guitars and keyboards, Sal Maida on bass, and Frank Funaro on drums -- plays with an efficiency and force that make the ambling, beer-soaked country of "Friends" work just as well as the straight-ahead '70s-style hard rock of "We All Shine a Light" and the L.A. punk gestures of "Hand Me My Inhaler" (which borrows an obvious riff from X's "Los Angeles") and "Time Machine" (whose lyrics mention listening to Black Flag cassettes before opining "I think I liked 'em better with Dez Cadena"). But just when "Darling One" and "Turn on, Tune in, Drop Out with Me" have you convinced that Cracker have made an album for the masses again, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey throws in tunes like "Yalla Yalla (Let's Go)" (which is overrun with wink-and-nudge phallic references), "Show Me How This Thing Works" (in which Lowery is befuddled by some nameless gadget from outer space), and the title tune (one of several vaguely apocalyptic messages that dot the album), and you realize that Cracker are as slyly weird as ever. Cracker are better than they've ever been at honoring both the straight and the twisted sides of their musical personality, and Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey balances them with an acrobatic skill that's impressive and a lot of fun to hear.

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