Camper Van Beethoven “Telephone Free Landslide Victory” 1985. Rough Trade Records/Independent Project Records. CVB’s debut record is infused with elements pulled from ska, alt-country, punk, art-rock and folk. Best tracks: their cover of Black Flag’s “Wasted” – squealing saxophone solo, sarcastic-ladden vocals that edge around contempt for the hardcore scene; the 80′s jangle-rock “Oh No!”; “Skinhead Stomp,” a ska-goes-Eastern-European-gypsy romp, and, of course, their signature hit “Take the Skinheads Bowling” that showcases the band’s nonsensical wit:

Every day, I get up and pray to Jah
And he decreases the number of clocks by exactly one
Everybody’s comin’ home for lunch these days
Last night there were skinheads on my lawn
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Some people say that bowling alleys got big lanes
Some people say that bowling alleys all look the same
There’s not a line that goes here that rhymes with anything
I has a dream last night, but I forget what it was
I had a dream last night about you, my friend
I had a dream–I wanted to sleep next to plastic
I had a dream–I wanted to lick your knees
I had a dream–it was about nothing