Kerosene Hat

Kerosene Hat
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 24, 1993
RecordedFebruary 25 – March 25, 1993
GenreAlternative rock, alternative country, grunge[1]
Length72:43
LabelVirgin
ProducerDon Smith, Cracker
Cracker chronology
Cracker
(1992)
Kerosene Hat
(1993)
The Golden Age
(1996)
Singles from Kerosene Hat
  1. "Low"
    Released: 1993
  2. "Get Off This"
    Released: 1994
  3. "Euro-Trash Girl"
    Released: 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
Los Angeles Times[4]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
Spin[6]
The Village Voice(dud)[7]

Kerosene Hat is the second studio album by American rock band Cracker, released on August 24, 1993. It reached number 1 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, and number 59 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The singles from the album, "Low" and "Get Off This", helped Cracker gain widespread notice.

According to frontman David Lowery, the album title comes from the band's early days in Richmond, Virginia. Lowery lived with Cracker guitarist Johnny Hickman in an old dilapidated house whose only source of heat came from two kerosene heaters. To buy more kerosene meant a cold walk to a nearby gas station, so before leaving the house, Lowery would bundle up and put on an old wool hunting cap – his "kerosene hat." "To this day," says Lowery, "the smell of kerosene reminds me of the poverty and the wistful hope we had for our music."[8]

  1. ^ "C-VILLE Weekly | Head of the camp: An interview with David Lowery".
  2. ^ Kerosene Hat at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  3. ^ Caro, Mark (September 2, 1993). "Cracker Kerosene Hat (Virgin)". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on April 21, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  4. ^ Cromelin, Richard (September 19, 1993). "Fall Roundup". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  5. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. pp. 197. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
  6. ^ Weisbard, Eric (October 1993). "Cracker: Kerosene Hat". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. pp. 104–5.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (September 28, 1993). "Consumer Guide". Village Voice. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  8. ^ "Kerosene hat-Cracker. Richmond and Oregon Hill Continued". 300 Songs. September 29, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2013.