Cracker rolled into New Orleans last Wednesday and whipped a packed Tipitina's into a frenzy with their quirky punk inflected brand of country/rock. The brief 90 minute set included standout songs like cd-track #69 ("Eurotrash Girl"), the raucous "Let's Go For a Ride," and their latest hit, "Low." A Californian band playing largely in a Southern idiom, Cracker carried the burden, bringing the music back home with an improved sense of humor.

The foursome feautured a rare blend of thrash energy and convincing professionalism. Instinctively, the audience responded by forming a bone bending mosh pit and passing fearless drunken members overhead. Stage dives took on a newfound elegant dignity during the course of the evening's performance. Taking a cue from the rowdy audience, the band featured predominantly uptempo numbers.

Cracker's only permanent members are singer/guitarist, David Lowery, and lead guitarist, Johnny Hickman, who have known each other for over fifteen years. Their interplay indentifies the band's sound. On this tour Bruce Hughes of Poi Dog Pondering plays bass with David Lovering (Pixies) on drums. Lowery described the situation by saying, "We just like to date our rhythm sections, we don't want to marry them."

Lowery is the band's wildcard, his mordant vocal delivery and bemused lyrics set this band apart. A veteran of the college radio scene after nearly a decade with Camper Van Beethoven, he has all but buried that band's art for art's sake approach with Cracker. Between numbers at Tip's he joked about his new band's low tech approach, "now we're going to experiment with some microtonal tunings...actually no we're not!" The set did feature one Camper number, "Sweethearts," which hinted at a vast catalog of tunes to which Lowery had no need to resort.

Hickman, whose lead guitar flourishes and backing vocals complement Lowery's rough edges, cites a wide range of influences from the Clash to Chet Atkins and comes off sounding like a variety of guitar stylists including Mick Taylor, and Joe Walsh. More interested in fleshing out the song than dominating it, Hickman has proved a resourceful counterpart to Lowery. On "Lonesome Johnny Blues" Hickman even took the lead vocal to unleash a formidable falsetto, and some surprising rockabilly licks.

Cracker seems to be capable of writing unique, good-feeling pop tunes which reveal some shards of intellect. On "Get Off This" Lowery conjures trademark images, "the guitar player's staying out in Hollywood/just trying to get some sleep/but everyone's complaining/are you truly deeply cynical?/'cause boy you know I loved you so/when no one knew your name and you were pompous." The song replete with pseudo talk box guitar, and "Na na nah" type chorus evokes the best of the danceable rock tradition. But rightly, there are limits to Cracker's snob appeal. When I asked before the show whether the first album's "St. Cajetan" referred to the 16th Century Italian Cardinal who met with Luther and was intent on reform, Lowery replied, "no, it's really the name of this church where we played in Denver. The Priest asked us not to turn up so loud that we'd damage the plaster."