camper van beethoven Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Camper Van Beethoven “Key Lime Pie”

sfilzen — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 18:31:59 +0000

Camper Van Beethoven “Key Lime Pie” 1989. (2014 Ominvore Records reissue, double-LP, the 4th side at 45 rpm in reverse to make things extra-confusing). Key Lime Pie was CVB’s 5th and final release before breaking up in 1990 (though they got back together in the early 2000′s and started recording again); it became their best-selling album and went to #141 in the US. It’s a mix of neo-psychedelia, Americana (a lot of violin/fiddle) and 80′s alternative rock – not quite punk but hard-edged, humorous and occasionally political. CVB’s cover of Status Quo’s 1968 “Pictures of Matchstick Men” is one of my favorite songs from the era. It became their most popular single, hitting #1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Also great are “Jack Ruby” (tense, stomping, political), “Borderline” (a ska/alt-country/klezmer mashup) and “June” (lovely, soaring, anthemic).

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Camper Van Beethoven “Telephone Free Landslide Victory”

sfilzen — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 16:05:55 +0000

Camper Van Beethoven “Telephone Free Landslide Victory” 1985. Independent Project Records. Today, September 10th, is CVB’s founder, songwriter, guitarist and vocalist David Lowery’s 60th birthday (b. 1960). Telephone Free Landslide Victory was their debut album and has the band’s most well-known original song: “Take the Skinheads Bowling” (their other best-known is their cover of Status Quo’s “Pictures of Matchstick Men” that appears on their 1989 album, Key Lime Pie). “Take the Skinheads Bowling” went to #8 on the UK Indie chart in ‘86. It’s a weird, silly and nonsensical song that Lowery wrote because “It was the early 80′s and all our peers were writing songs that were full of meaning. It was our way of rebelling. BTW this is the most important fact about this song. We wanted the words to lack any coherent meaning. There is no story or deeper insight that I can give you about this song.” I also really like their cover of Black Flag’s “Wasted,” “Where the Hell is Bill?” (also super-silly, a track that wonders if their friend Bill is out getting a mohawk, riding his skateboard or at a Circle Jerks show), “I Don’t See You” and the hardcore punk parody “Club Med Sucks.”

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Camper Van Beethoven “Pictures of Matchstick Men”

sfilzen — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 19:02:01 +0000

Camper Van Beethoven “Pictures of Matchstick Men” 1989. 12″ promo, A and B side the same. The track appears on Key Lime Pie, CVB’s last album before their initial breakup in 1990 and their most commercially successful. “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” a cover of Status Quo’s 1968 hit single (the “matchstick men” referring to the paintings of L.S. Lowry), helped propel the record’s success; CVB’s “Matchstick Men” hit #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Track chart.

I’d been vaguely aware of Camper Van Beethoven prior to “Matchstick Men;” their 1985 debut single “Take the Skinheads Bowling” was fun, a bit of a novelty song that I never thought much about except to occasionally joke-quote (probably at a few punk shows I attended that were literally in bowling alleys). But “Matchstick Men” was on heavy rotation during college in the late 80′s and early 90′s and remains one of my favorite songs from that period. Morgan Fitcher plays violin on the track (replacing founding member Jonathan Segel), providing an integral part to the song’s moody neo-psychedia sound.

….an example of L.S. Lowry’s work

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Camper Van Beethoven “Telephone Free Landslide Victory”

sfilzen — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 16:33:25 +0000

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

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