CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN
Cigarettes & Carrot Juice: The Santa Cruz Years
(Spin Art)
Reviewed by Alan Wright

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I was excited to hear about this being a big fan of, especially, CVB's early years. While I think their two major label releases are okay, it's really their independent period stuff which I like the best, for its quirky, eccentric and overall entertainment value. This box set contains their first three studio LPs, a "Camper Vanquities" of rare stuff, and an unreleased live CD. I remember the first time I heard their first album, Telephone Free Landslide Victories, and was completely blown away by the odd merging of '60s garage band and psychedelic sounds, Middle Eastern music, flamenco, ska, country, and punk. There were funny/smart songs like "The Day Lassie Went To The Moon," "Take The Skinheads Bowling," "Oh No!" and "Ambiguity Song." Weird instros like "Mao Reminisces About His Days In Southern China" and "Border Ska." Plus, there was their great slowed-down cover of Black Flag's "Wasted" and the hilarious "Where The Hell Is Bill?" ("maybe he went to see the Circle Jerks")! CVBs second LP, II and III, didn't disappoint either, with songs like "Cowboys From Hollywood," "(We're A) Bad Trip" and "Sad Lover's Waltz." Plus, there was a countrified version of Sonic Youth's "I Love Her All The Time." On their third self-titled LP, they were joined by guitarist and political satirist extraordinaire Eugene Chadborne, with whom CVB toured with and also recorded two LPs as "Camper Van Chadborne." If it was possible to be even be more eclectic, they managed that with this LP. "Good Guys and Bad Guys, " We Saw Jerry's Daughter," "Shut Us Down," and "Lululand" are all classics. Their cover of "Interstellar Overdrive" by Pink Floyd is awesome.

The rarities disc includes things like their cover of Ringo Starr's "Photograph" from the Vampire Can Mating Oven EP - my buddy August tells me he once saw CVB do an insane medley of "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Photograph" that had to be witnessed to be believed - Hank Williams' "Six More Miles To The Graveyard" and Country Joe and the Fish's "Porpoise Mouth." Some things I'd not heard included a cool version of the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else," and the funny "(We Workers Do Not Understand) Modern Art." As for the live CD, while it includes only material from their later major label records, there's an energy here that seemed to go missing on those records, so it's cool to hear these live versions. A nice little booklet with lots of info wraps up a great box set for 2003!

© 2003 - Alan Wright