Cigarettes & Carrot Juice - The Santa Cruz Years
Before Camper Van Beethoven, no "punk" band would've thought to blend Eastern European folk rhythms with Tex-Mex, ska, reggae, psych-rock, punk-rock, pop-rock and...well, whatever else was out there. This five-disc box set features all the early CVB albums on compact disc. Their first outing,Telephone Free Landslide Victory, sounds as unique and fresh today as it did in 1985. Mostly remembered for the sublimely ridiculous "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and their take onBlack Flag's "Wasted," it set the bar high for subsequent releases. The band followed the oddball masterpiece with more cleverness and irresistible charm onII & III. Dabbling inMekonscountry-punk turf for the first half, they slid into a wry psychedelia in the second. It really is two albums in one. The band's self-titled third outing found the California boys scratching their heads out loud, wondering exactly what to do next, and not arriving at a consensus. It's an adventurous jumble, with a few really outstanding tracks. Also in the box is theVantiquitiescollection of various 1980s recordings, originally released in 1993 after their two-record stint with Virgin Records and a live collection,Greatest Hits Played Faster, which opens with a magisterial "All Her Favorite Fruit" and ends, appropriately, with a sad-sounding "One of These Days."--Lorry Fleming