You Don't Need a Lover, You Need An Interpreter

Typically, when people talk about Camper Van Beethoven, they talk about the first and last records. I, however will mostly talk about the first two.

This album, originally intended to be two separate ones, as the title would suggest, really stands up to Telephone Free Landslide Victory and surpasses everything else the band made. It is a shame that this one is not spun around as much, and I owe it all too the short-lived Bernardsville, New Jersey record store Spin City which was open only during the summer of 2003. There, the owner had just acquired a first pressing of this, played it for me, and a week or so later decided to sell it. For a long time it was the top pride of my LP collection, and really deserves that honor. This, however is from the CD, which is a shame because one of the best tracks (arguably first as the LP lists the sides as "B" and "II") "(We're A) Bad Trip" is an inferior, yet more up-tempo version than on the vinyl. It should also be noted that this version is from the boxed set, so the track listing is different from the separate CD, but other than the previously mentioned track, is identical to the LP.

The record really picks up where the last one left off, which cannot really be said about the rest of the band's discography. Even more than on the previous album, though the instrumentals stand out the most and verge on psychedelia and further integration of disparate genre/styles as country, gypsy music, ska, raga, and southern rock. Some of the best examples of this are "Circles," "Abundance," the gorgeous "Dustpan," and the brilliantly-titled "ZZ Top Goes to Egypt." Like the previous album's re-envisioning of Black Flag, Camper pulls out another amazing cover, like Mudhoney, they outdo Sonic Youth in their own game on "I Love Her All The Time," transforming it into a delightful East-meets-West romp. David Lowery's unique sense of humor remains intact and the lyrics do not disappoint, though I admit are not quite up to par with the likes of "The Day Lassie Went To The Moon" and "Where The Hell Is Bill?" with the possible exception of "Goleta," an ode disparaging the Southern coastal Universities of California - perhaps an attempt for a local anthem for Santa Cruz.

Either way, there is nothing like this and if you like Telephone Free Landslide Victory this is incredibly essential and will not disappoint.


Camper Van Beethoven - II & III (1986)