Cracker

Cracker's David Lowery is getting to the age where it's customary for modestly famous rockers to drag themselves out on tour looking bitter and bloated. Instead, Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman have done basically the opposite lately, touring as a stripped-down (but non-seated) rock duo and preserving the smart-assed songwriting voice Lowery established with Camper Van Beethoven. It helps that the band's most recent work, including 2009's Sunshine In The Land Of Milk And Honey, beefs up the setlist with songs that work well alongside the early-'90s stuff, and that they don't seem to mind playing hits like the not-entirely-characteristic "Low."

Updated 02/03/2010