It’s easy to forget that the Campers’ first album emerged sometime between the birth of R.E.M. and the demise of traditional rock bands like Van Halen. This was a time when although there were no behavioural rules to break in rock n roll, there were still plenty of stylistic ones. And with the growing popularity in upbeat cynicism and back to basics approaches to playing (perhaps as a direct counterpart to the rise of electronica) along came bands like Camper Van Beethoven to cleave open a new wave of indie rock: college rock. Precursors to the likes of Pavement, the Camper’s pro-nerd student bent was undoubtedly a result of living in Santa Cruz: a district in California renowned for its dramatically situated University and in part designed by the loquacious anglophiles that came out of Cambridge and Oxford. So if you happen to hear some distinctly Anglican stylings in this boxed-set – remember that these guys were as heavily into the Buzzocks before many of us were out of nappies.
So how does this prepare you for the contents of this boxed-set? Well it doesn’t and to be fair – very little could ever prepare you for what you are likely to hear.
Raw, excitable, edgy thrift shop musicianship, implausible ad-libs, crossover jamming, imponderably lo-fi lyrical content – difficult takes on ska, country, Hawaiian, and god knows what else. Whilst slacker anthems like “Where The Hell Is Bill?” suggest the skewed outlook and humour of later nu-folk luminaries like Beck, tracks like ‘Oh No’ encapsulate the angular, sexy swagger of Reed and Pop at their most erect. It’s wacky, it’s infectious, it’s shambolic and if you really want to trace your indie lineage back to its roots in eighties craziness, then there’s really no place better to start. With lines like “take the skinheads bowling, take them bowling” you’re really not going to get more alternative, now are you?
“Cigarettes & Carrot Juice: The Santa Cruz Years.“ contains 4 albums of classic recordings. That much is simple. And at just £15.99 – so is the price