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On the Shelf 126: Camper Van Beethoven
Sep. 3rd, 2014 07:18 pmThe ongoing reunion of Camper Van Beethoven continues after last years La Costa Perdida with El Camino Real.
I consider myself a big CVB fan and look forward to each release. I know it wasn't that long ago (2011) that David Lowrey still showed he was near the top of his game (In that case, the solo album The Palace Guards).
I had high hopes for Perdida, and felt a bit let down. Camino is advertised as a companion piece (a paean to Southern California, as the previous was an ode to Northern Cali).
To know my background and where I am coming from, not only do I consider Key Lime Pie the best album in the band discography, but also one of the single best alt-rock records ever made.
Perhaps, it's why I give Camino a bit of a pass, as it does strive to do what that album does musically. Jonathan Segel's fiddle takes a major role in the proceedings and Lowery sounds like he's in a melancholy mood.
It's hard not to compare this to the latest from those other college rock legends who released Indie Cindy.
It's also not to imagine these songs were thrown together in a formulaic style. Find a phrase you like (for example, "You came in like a lamb, you'll go out like a lion" or "If you don't want me no more, I'll never darken your door"), repeat phrase again and again over typical CVB sound whether it's apocalyptic Key Lime folk (former) or Cracker soul (latter). When Lowrey does try to string a story together, it sounds like bad Raymond Chandler a la closer "Grasshopper". (This sounds like a bad thing,but I dont really mean it that way. "I was born in a Laundromat" sounds that way too, and it is one of the best songs ever recorded. Unfortunately, "Grasshopper" isn't there).
In which one must decide if a song (that sounds like it was) thrown together in five minutes is better than what passes for alt-music these days; and sometimes that is enough (I am hard pressed to defend the Pixies new long player, but there's times where that sentiment is true).
Camino Real is better than that. It's actually a decent little record. I imagine it will even make my short list of "Best of 2014" (though it is certainly helped by lack of competition) It suffers in terms of the band's legacy, but on it's own terms, it's got enough of the stuff that made you love CVB in the first place.
I consider myself a big CVB fan and look forward to each release. I know it wasn't that long ago (2011) that David Lowrey still showed he was near the top of his game (In that case, the solo album The Palace Guards).
I had high hopes for Perdida, and felt a bit let down. Camino is advertised as a companion piece (a paean to Southern California, as the previous was an ode to Northern Cali).
To know my background and where I am coming from, not only do I consider Key Lime Pie the best album in the band discography, but also one of the single best alt-rock records ever made.
Perhaps, it's why I give Camino a bit of a pass, as it does strive to do what that album does musically. Jonathan Segel's fiddle takes a major role in the proceedings and Lowery sounds like he's in a melancholy mood.
It's hard not to compare this to the latest from those other college rock legends who released Indie Cindy.
It's also not to imagine these songs were thrown together in a formulaic style. Find a phrase you like (for example, "You came in like a lamb, you'll go out like a lion" or "If you don't want me no more, I'll never darken your door"), repeat phrase again and again over typical CVB sound whether it's apocalyptic Key Lime folk (former) or Cracker soul (latter). When Lowrey does try to string a story together, it sounds like bad Raymond Chandler a la closer "Grasshopper". (This sounds like a bad thing,but I dont really mean it that way. "I was born in a Laundromat" sounds that way too, and it is one of the best songs ever recorded. Unfortunately, "Grasshopper" isn't there).
In which one must decide if a song (that sounds like it was) thrown together in five minutes is better than what passes for alt-music these days; and sometimes that is enough (I am hard pressed to defend the Pixies new long player, but there's times where that sentiment is true).
Camino Real is better than that. It's actually a decent little record. I imagine it will even make my short list of "Best of 2014" (though it is certainly helped by lack of competition) It suffers in terms of the band's legacy, but on it's own terms, it's got enough of the stuff that made you love CVB in the first place.
