Cooler Than You: Camper Van Beethoven

In my early years of high school I was a huge R.E.M. fan. There's no need to discuss the merits of R.E.M. in this forum; simply bear in mind that I was very interested in other bands that emanated from the R.E.M. axis. I had read about Camper Van Beethoven and seen the "Take the Skinheads Bowling" video; Michael Stipe has chosen their debut album Telephone Free Landslide Victory as one of his top picks of 1985, so I was curious.

While I actually began with 1988's Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (which I checked out of the public library!), I'll begin the story of CVB with Telephone Free. Their debut record, originally self-released on Pitch-A-Tent records, was the culmination of three years of a fluid lineup. The band, which came from Santa Cruz, CA, was focused primarily around singer/guitarist David Lowery's silly, surreal songs. "Where the Hell is Bill," "The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon," and "Club Med Sucks" showcased this random sense of humour, while "The Ambiguity Song" and "Oh No" leaned more towards the surreal/arty direction his later work would take.

In between these songs, the band would explore traditional ethnic folk, flirting with Russian and Greek styles. Jonathan Segel's violin became the defining sound of CVB, even performing Greg Ginn's guitar solo on their cover of Black Flag's "Wasted." Victor Krummenacher's bass and Greg Lisher's guitar would also emerge as a sublime combination, as CVB's musical chops gradually developed.

Today, TFLV sounds like a silly manifesto, almost at odds with the times, hiding a punk rock bitterness in non-sequiturs and humour. And perhaps that's why many feel that this is CVB's greatest album: coming from the turbulent southern California punk scene of the early 1980's, CVB chose to mock rock and roll in an entirely different manner than their colleagues. Going onstage at a rock club and playing ethnic instrumental music while singing about licking knees was a whole new sense of "punk"--and one that focused on musicality beyond the standard rock influences.

Sadly, "Take the Skinheads Bowling" was the commercial peak for Camper Van Beethoven. Their second album, II & III, continued the irreverence of its debut. David Lowery's slow path towards artistic growth is furthered with "Sad Lover's Waltz," a violin-led love song sung in his dry, sarcastic voice; it's beautiful on its own but it also could be a parody. The psychedelic side came out too, in "Form Another Stone," an incredible pop song that sounds like nothing else of the time. The instrumental pieces reached a new level too, with "ZZ Top Goes to Egypt," "Abundance," and "Turtlehead" sounding unique and less overtly ethnic.

It's an album that seems to be often overlooked, despite the punch of some of Lowery's funniest songs ("(We're A) Bad Trip", "Down and Out"). Sonic Youth's "I Love Her All the Time" is covered here, in fine form. The sarcastic attack on both rock and roll AND the underground in "No More Bullshit" (which proclaimed "No more MTV/No more rockstars", while padded with a heavy 70's rock riff and solo) is perhaps the culmination of everything early CVB stood for; and having recorded it, it was time to move on.

The self-titled third album, released just 8 months after II & III, seems to be equally influenced by the Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin (as evidenced by "We Saw Jerry's Daughter" and "Stairway to Heavan (sic)"). The album opens with "Good Guys and Bad Guys," one of Lowery's finest pop songs ever, striking the perfect mix between middle-class sentimentality, surreal silliness, and singing about Russians. "Joe Stalin's Cadillac" continues the jaunty fun, discussing the different vehicles of many famous dictators. This may be Camper Van Beethoven's most fun album; none of the songs are too serious or too stupid, and the cover of Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" hints at their new direction.

This album also boasts perhaps my favorite Camper Van Beethoven song: "We Love You", a demonic rocker that turns country music tradition ("Devil Went Down to Georgia") on its head. Lowery's revisionist history of Utah also marks the last truly silly song he would write; things changed quickly when they signed to Virgin in 1988.

Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart marked a great change for Camper Van Beethoven. The humour was restrained on this record, and the production was far more professional. This may be the best CVB record, as Lowery's songwriting had almost hit its peak, and Jonathan Segel was still in the band. The chronicle of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, "Tanya", is truly one of the most musically impressive moments the band ever had, and "She Divines Water" is a beautiful, surreal pop song that continues the tape manipulations first experimented with on the third album.

Many of the songs lack the artistry of the final record, and also the humour of the earlier material. Still, there are some great songs that rotate around a sentimental/Americana feeling, all while remaining lighthearted (especially on the closing track, "Life is Grand"). While forgotten by most people as another college rock album from the late 80's, it's a very pleasant record that might interest new listeners today.

Camper Van Bethoven's swan song, Key Lime Pie (1989), was almost a David Lowery solo album. He reached a new confidence in his songwriting that perhaps was due to the departure of Jonathan Segel (apparently a source of tension). The new violinist (credited to Morgan Fichter but apparently it was actually a street musician named Don Lax on most tracks) allowed the style to remain similar, leaving Lowery room to write more in-depth, accomplished songs.

"Jack Ruby," a menacing memoir of Oswald's assassin, begins with a dark tone for this album, though "Sweethearts" (perhaps Lowery's finest song ever) lifts the album back up, even taking a swipe at Ronald Reagan. The gentle, rolling alternative rock sound of this song is well accentuated by Lowery's voice. This is the most confident he's ever sounded, no longer drying speaking his lyrics but actually singing his distinct tone.

While many write this record off as being too straightforward or too college radio sounding, it features some really great songs. "June" is a wonderful tribute to the summer, with a discordant coda that really builds up to the next track, "All Her Favorite Fruit." "The Humid Press of Days" is Lowery at his most Beefheart-inspired (musically), and "Come On Darkness" is completely beautiful, and perhaps a fitting way to end the recorded output of Camper Van Beethoven.

The band broke up due to internal conflicts in 1990, with Lowery going on to form Cracker and everyone else to start the Monks of Doom (perhaps the subject of a future Cooler Than You). A posthumous collection of outtakes and the 1987 Vampire Can Mating Oven EP, Camper Vantiquities, appeared in the early 90's. The above mentioned EP finds the band at an appropriate meeting point between their indie and major label work--"Seven Languages" would be right at home on OBRS, while "Crossing Over" is a hint of what was to come on Key Lime Pie. For fans of the band, this collection is essential.

Last year brought a completely unheralded return for Camper Van Beethoven, with the release of a new album containing more outtakes and reworked material. It's not REALLY a CVB album but again it's a nice addition to their work, without feeling dated or embarrassing. Lowery enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame with Cracker and is now running Pitch-A-Tent again, with Krummenacher and Segel running the Magnetic label, which has released some fine post-Monks projects from both members.

My interest in CVB gradually expanded until I had collected all of the above releases, as well as the "Take the Skinheads Bowling" 12", some live cassettes, and a lot of the side projects. Now relegated to a somewhat cult following, it's hard to really convey the greatness of Camper Van Beethoven in this article. But perhaps some of you will pick up some old used LP's and investigate them for yourself.