Cracker
Gentleman’s Blues (Virgin)
In Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker’s early efforts, David Lowery offset his drawling delivery and sarcasm with a genuine exuberance; few album openers jump out of the speakers like “Teen Angst” and “Low.” The highlights of Cracker’s fourth album, “Gentleman’s Blues,” have a more temperate appeal. The gospel-tinged rocker “Seven Days” showcases Lowery’s way with a punchy chorus; “James River” and the spooky title track find him delving deeper into dirgy, swampy blues; and Johnny Hickman continues to provide muscle and sinew with his crackling guitar leads and rootsier song contributions. Yet after lineup changes and commercial disappointments, some air seems to have leaked from the band’s balloon. Lowery sounds hoarser and increasingly detached, his absurdism becoming forced, and too often he falls back on formulaic songwriting, such as the would-be rave-ups “The World Is Mine” and “Wild One.”
