AMG Review of Garage d'Or

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Garage d'Or chronicles Cracker's rise and fall, choosing to cut corners where it better suits the band's legacy. For instance, "I Hate My Generation" is nowhere to be found on the 16-track disc, but a cover of the Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action" (from the Clueless soundtrack) is. Why, you ask? Because Garage D'Or is designed for Cracker's core audience -- not the people who requested "Low" every hour on the hour, but those who understood all the musical references, jokes, and lyrical allusions, and cherished each little detail. Consequently, it may not be "comprehensive," in the traditional sense of the word, but there's little question that it is definitive, capturing the wry essence of the band. Based on these 16 tracks, including all their modern rock radio hits (except "Happy Birthday to Me"), Cracker might not have been the great overlooked band of the '90s, but they were still quite good. They still may not be for every listener. Fans of Camper Van Beethoven will find this a little too obvious, though they'll certainly treasure such bizarre little gems as the priceless travelogue "Euro-Trash Girl" (originally a "hidden" bonus track at the end of Kerosene Hat, and arguably their finest moment). Trad rock fans who might be receptive to the the general sound of the band may find the lyrical irony a little quirky for their tastes. That was their problem in a nutshell: Despite being musically accessible, they didn't appeal to everyone. Naturally, that's what makes them more lovable in the eyes of hardcore fans, and Garage D'Or goes a long way to proving that those fans just may be right.