What in the wide wide world of sports, you might ask, could possibly warrant a disc of Cracker hits re-recorded in 2005 by the original band? The question’s bizarre, but the answer’s easy: lawyers, money and spite. The band’s ex-label, Virgin, (whom the irascible David Lowery memorably feted in “Ain’t Gonna Suck Itself”) put on its release schedule another Cracker best-of, so the band laid down updated versions they can market as “officially sanctioned” new recordings. The idea’s appealingly snarky, but mostly it smacks of a junior-high sandlot scrap you probably don’t much need to get involved in. Music-wise, the new takes on hard-country tracks like “Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now),” “I See the Light” and “Eurotrash Girl” are a little more ragged and insistent than their legitimate brethren, though hardly anything that occasional fans would really notice, making the whole debate something of a non-starter for anyone not interested in making a political statement. On the other hand, as the band itself indicated in its own E-mail newsletter, you could just buy the last Cracker hits collection, 2000’s “Garage d’Or.” It comes with a bonus disc. — Jeff Vrabel
