Cracker + Camper van Beethoven

Middle East Downstairs 

Filed under: indie, 90s, alt-country, rock, indie rock, alternative rock, post-punk, alternative

For most of the naughts, these two bands have made a sort of aged indie-rock curiosity, both of them releasing compilations and new work, and hitting the road — together in some cases, but often opening for bands who probably grew up listening to them (like, say, Modest Mouse). Always commanding a respectable following between them, the bands have resisted the urge to go the Nick at Nite rerun route with an old record. That'll change this weekend, when they embark on a three-day trip through New York, Cambridge (playing the Middle East Sunday), and Toronto, Camper hauling out the goods from Key Lime Pie (1989) and Cracker doing their big second record, Kerosene Hat (1993). For Cracker fans, it's a chance to celebrate an era-defining record that spawned the summer stoner jam "Low." But for those stalwart Camper fans, it's a much needed opportunity to revisit one of indie rock's bona fide founding documents.