CVB thread
 

I've just been listening to a lot of the Campers lately and felt bad that they didn't have their own thread. They're just so charming, and straddle that precarious line "between clever and stupid" about as well as anyone. For all the jokes and good times, they can hit you with a jaw-droppingly beautiful melody; like Dead Milkmen, they can make you laugh while they make a good point. They're all fine musicians to boot. I don't know why anyone wouldn't like them, nay, LOVE them.

-Don't you love them, too? What do you most love about them?

or

-What?!? You hate them? Why?

Yes, anyone that doesn't LOVE them is fucked in the head.

Camper Van Beethoven are a band that are heinously underappreciated at this board, so I am pleasantly surprised to see your topic.



I'll add that they do great cover versions always...
oh,
&
they're great live (to this day (when they play)).

no more time at the moment...
so...

later?

I did enjoy the Camper Van Chadbourne album a lot. But that's about all I've heard.

s/t 3rd album features Chadbourne too...great music

I liked them when I was a teenager, but less so now.
I'm not down with overly "clever" lyricists most of the time these days.
Same goes for Robyn Hitchcock. Hitchcock has more of a special place in my heart than CVB though, but even though I don't have the stomach for it anymore I'm not gonna rip on it too hard.
I saw Monks Of Doom in Chicago in 1992 and it was pretty great.
Cracker is The Suck though.

Used to love them back in their day, but they haven't worn well with me. Mostly it's the smart-ass lyrics. Kind of annoy me. But I can occasionally enjoy Key Lime Pie and Revolutionary Sweetheart.

I fucking love them, and assumed no one else on here did...I always hated their name and kind of prejudged them for it, but my friend had Key Lime Pie playing in his car nonstop and I grew to love it. I have nearly everything from them, including a promo 12" with them covering a Buzzcocks song and Wade In The Water. Got my boxset signed by the band when they did an instore here. Never really liked Cracker much either...

Here's a couple live vids of CVB I posted on youtube:
Turquoise Jewelry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJQEBo2ATo4
Wasted (Black Flag cover)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMrAQVLClqQ

About the "clever" critisism... I sort of get it. BUT (and this is a huge but) they can be sweet, too. "All Her Favorite Fruit?" C'mon. NO ONE isn't moved by that one. And I can't think of any other band that can sing "Life is Grand" and have you actually believe it, or at least believe that they believe it.

Again, I sort of get the critisism. I'm thinking of Talking Heads' debut, and how the cuteness on that makes that album, for me, unlistenable. (Thankfully, they started balancing the fun with genius on the 2nd and ohmygod on the third). But CVB never struck me that way. I guess I think the jokes are good. Even stuff like "This here verse is for the people in Russia...etc." makes me smile. Almost everytime. Maybe a decade from now, if I do nothing but listen to them, I'll start to get annoyed.

But yeah, what the hell happened with Cracker? Just like I can't understand why people can't love CVB, I can't figure out why people like Cracker. And, correct me if I'm wrong, Cracker has waythefuck outsold CVB.

I always thought it was interesting how on the last track on My Beloved...Life Is Grand says 'for those of you who expect us to say something darker' and then the last song on the next album Key Lime Pie is 'Come On Darkness'.

Ive only heard that song "take the skinheads bowling" and their cover of interstellar overdrive. I heard they do a hoe-down version of "i love her all the time". Id love to hear that.