By David Kirby

Cracker is the kind of band that's probably used to being told not to do something and then going ahead and doing it anyway.

It's almost as if David Lowery and Johnny Hickman took the ice-pick cynicism that they rolled into "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)" of eight years ago and played out their entire careers being the smart-assed antihero subversives of the alternative rock world. What the world needs now is about 20 Crackers, but at least there's one, and we can sleep easier at night knowing it'll still be there when Third Eye Blind dissolves blessedly into day-job oblivion.

RadioSpy thousands of online radio stations. instantly. LEARN MORE

We suspect that someone told Cracker, for example, that going out on tour with ex-Camper Van Beethoven alumni (three of them) was probably a bad idea -- not enough for a full-blown Camper reunion, not enough commonality between the two bands' vibes and, sheesh, Cracker isn't breaking up. What's with the touring with former-anythings, for chrissakes?

Johnny Hickman, Cracker guitarist and cofounder, wasn't serving up any apologies when we caught him at home a few weeks ago.

"It was a real treat for me, especially. I had been friends with David since before Camper Van Beethoven [and been in a band we called the Estonian Gauchos], and even though we went pretty much our own different ways when he formed Camper, I always appreciated his writing … his sense of irony, his sense of humor. So even though I was doing really different kinds of things, more roots-y and more song-oriented stuff, I was always a huge Camper fan. This tour gave me a chance to play some of the tunes and play with some of the guys. It was great."

It may have been an appropriate time for a reunion, as well, since the looking-back thing seemed to be in season for David Lowery. Cracker's latest CD offering, the cleverly titled Garage D'Or, is a two-CD retrospective of the band's first almost decade, including their staple radio hits ("Low," "Euro-Trash Girl," "Get Off This," etc.) paired with a generous selection of outtakes, live cuts and other rarities. After doing enough press about the new CD, Hickman seemed to have slipped into a nostalgic mood about the band's long run and waxed fondly about the good old days -- something, believe it or not, that's pretty rare for working musicians to do voluntarily.

Continued