Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - Cracker and "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)"

Cracker tops the charts with their debut single, a song about pent-up Gen X angst and how a new generation of musicians should dictate what the world needs, both musically and sexually

Cracker - “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)”

Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 2 weeks (May 9 and May 16, 1992)

Previous Modern Rock #1 hit: The Cure - “High”

Next Modern Rock #1 hit: The Charlatans - “Weirdo”

Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:

• Kris Kross - Jump (4 total weeks, beginning 4/25/92)

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The connections between bands I know and the bands that preceded them are staggering at times. When I wrote about Camper van Beethoven nearly a year ago, I did tangentially mention that Cracker and Counting Crows would become the next incarnation of bands spawned from the group that gave us “Pictures of Matchstick Men.” I guess I didn’t really take to heart that I’d be talking about Cracker nearly a year later with their one and only chart topper, “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now),” because it amazes me just how different Cracker sounds compared to their progenitors in Camper van Beethoven.

“Pictures of Matchstick Men” is not one of my favorite alternative songs, and while I rated it highly based on its uniqueness, it’s not one that has invaded my day to day playlists in the same way bands like XTC or The Replacements or even Happy Mondays have over the past year and a half. But having forgotten the connection to Cracker in the intervening year, I was surprised to see that connection resurface, because “Teen Angst” is light years different in tone, and reflects something interesting about generational differences and the movement toward Gen X’s dominance on the music scene.

This juxtaposition is so stark between “Matchstick Men” and “Teen Angst,” both led by David Lowery, who is the connective tissue between Camper van Beethoven and Cracker. “Matchstick Men” is, at its core, an homage to an earlier time and aesthetic, as it’s a cover of Status Quo’s version of the song that came out in the late 1960s. It is slightly modernized in its 1980s revival, but by and large, Lowery is paying tribute to a song that stylistically evokes the past, a generation of free love, confusion surrounding the geopolitical landscape of the time, and when rock music became an experimental shift from the Silent Generation to the now-coming-of-age Baby Boomers.

Cracker isn’t having any of that. It’s time to let that Gen X freak flag fly, and Lowery crams that message down our throats with “Teen Angst.”

Gen X often gets a (likely well-deserved) reputation as a generation that just doesn’t give a crap about anything, reveling in their standing as the cohort lost in the shadow of the Baby Boomers. There’s something to that, of course, as evidenced by the early 1990s groundswell of music which evokes that feeling of insecurity, uncertainty, and lack of a place in a world dominated by the Boomers.

Nirvana got that movement some mainstream traction, of course, as we discussed a few weeks back with “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Chronologically, that song topped the charts in late 1991; as we’re now approaching the summer of 1992 with Cracker’s MRT chart-topper, it’s clear the wave of Gen X angst that began with Nirvana started growing ever taller with bands like Cracker picking up the momentum.

And really, when you break down “Teen Angst,” what you get is just a bunch of screaming platitudes about how life should be or shouldn’t be without any real plan or executable goal. It exists purely to throw shade at the old ways and gives people cause to say, “Yeah, things are messed up and we need something new, but we also don’t care enough to figure out what that new thing should be.”

Case in point:

I don't know what the world may want

But some words of wisdom could comfort us

Think I'll leave that up to someone wiser

Or:

'Cause what the world needs now are some true words of wisdom

Like la la la la la la la la la

I love my generation, I really do, but sometimes we’re a little bit too edgy on the punk side, which leads to people maybe not taking us as seriously. But, at the same time, I think everyone, regardless of generation, goes through a phase where they trash the “old guard” and want to do things differently, even if they don’t know what form that difference should take. Kudos to Cracker for having the guts to come right out and say it: the world’s ready for something new, and maybe we need to figure it out together.

And it’s not like Lowery and Cracker are throwing away *everything* from the old ways. They still want to have sex like Frank Sinatra:

'Cause what the world needs now is a new Frank Sinatra
So I can get you in bed

And really, when it comes down to it, Cracker is just putting into words what most teenagers (men and women alike) are thinking a good chunk of the time: let’s get together and figure out how to make the world better, but let’s have some fun together while we figure it out, so we can at least feel better while we ruminate on the world’s problems:

I don't know what the world may need
And I'll never grasp your complexities
I'd be happy just to get your attention
I don't know what the world may want
But your long sweet body lying next to mine
Could certainly raise my spirits

When I was 17, I argued with the teacher of a religion class that it was morally excusable to have sex outside of marriage if the end goal was to make you feel better about something bad that happened to you. In my example, it was failing an English exam I studied really hard to pass. I think I was trying to make a very childish case for utilitarianism, but obviously my age clouded my ability to really come to grips with the myriad moral dilemmas my example provided, and the teacher appropriately chided me for my example. But it’s possible Cracker was speaking to me indirectly as I made the case for pre-marital sex as an elixir for poor academic performance.

Outside of the lyrical content, the song is a rock banger. That lead guitar drives right through a solid acoustic guitar/bass guitar backdrop, and the video is peak early ‘90s, a bunch of random dudes wearing random clothes in the middle of a random field, with no real theme or idea. Sometimes dogs and vehicles pop into frame, and eventually the band abandons their instruments and runs away. It’s not my favorite Cracker song, but it’s definitely one that cemented the band’s appeal while pushing forward a new generation of music that would come to dominate the MRT charts in the coming weeks and months.

Cracker’s eponymous debut album did not find a spot on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, but the single “Teen Angst” catapulted the band into the alternative music spotlight very quickly. Their follow-up single, the harmonica-led “Happy Birthday To Me” — another Gen X homage to sleeping in one’s car and drinking beer from plastic cups — topped out at #13 on the MRT chart later in 1992. And while the band has no other #1 hits to put them into this space again, they do have a couple of top-10 hits that will likely take up residence in the “Chart Check” portion of this column upon the release of their second album, “Kerosene Hat.”

From Camper van Beethoven to Cracker, the musical shift between the aging Baby Boomers and the emerging Gen Xers is starting to come into focus more and more as we move forward through the Modern Rock Tracks Chart chronology. Before the end of 2024, I’ll be neck-deep in mid-90s alternative rock that bears little resemblance to Lowery’s first band but looks and sounds an awful lot like what Cracker is throwing down with “Teen Angst.” Looking forward to sharing the ride with you all.

Rating: 7/10

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Chart Check: A look at other notable MRT chart songs from this time period

Chart Check is sparse this week, owing to some unusual chart stability during this period. A lot of songs in the top 10 behind “Teen Angst” this week are either on their way down from earlier peaks or are making their way to the top. Some are within a single spot of their eventual peak, which will likely be reflected in the next Chart Check section.

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“Walkabout” by The Sugarcubes: To show you just how desperate I am to fill out Chart Check this week, I’m featuring another track from The Sugarcubes. “Walkabout” peaked at #16 behind “Teen Angst,” and admittedly, Bjork keeps the obnoxiousness to a reasonable level in this one. I’ll grudgingly admit this is a solid track, far and away better than “Hit,” a song that, at least according to Jami Smith of the amazing

Songs That Saved Your Life

Substack, is far more popular than I gave it credit for. I’ll respectfully agree to disagree on this band, though, as I prefer my Sugarcubes with fewer Bjork shrieks. :-)

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“Dream About You” by Peter Case: This might be fodder for

The Lost Songs Project

. Peter Case, a longtime journeyman artist whose career spans several decades, found an audience with this calm, pleasant track “Dream About You.” It topped out at #16 on the MRT chart, so it’s hardly a huge hit, but in the context of Case’s career, it appears to be his highwater mark on Billboard’s alternative charts. I like his voice and I like the music. Worth a listen.

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“Acid Drops” by Public Image Ltd.: Johnny Rotten’s post Sex Pistols career with Public Image Ltd. endured some highs and lows, including a solid #1 hit with “Disappointed” back in the summer of 1989. “Acid Drops” would be the end of PIL’s presence on the Modern Rock Tracks chart — or any Billboard chart, for that matter. The song peaked at #29 behind Cracker, and it’s fine, but certainly not on the same level as some of the band’s earlier hits.

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