Editorial Reviews Camper Van Beethoven are looked upon as one of the seminal "College rock" bands of the 1980’s, predating the 1990’s wave of micro-marketed alternative rock. A wildly diverse mixture of personalities and music, Cigarettes and Carrot Juice features the work of a unique band as they captured their voice on releases for small independents such as Independent Project Records, Rough Trade, and their own Pitch-A-Tent Records.
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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 on Black Flag's "Wasted," it set the bar high for subsequent releases. The band followed the oddball masterpiece with more cleverness and irresistible charm on II & III. Dabbling in Mekons country-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 the Vantiquities collection 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
Album Description
Closing in on 20 years after their formation, Camper Van Beethoven proudly announce the release of a box set entitled "Cigarettes & Carrot Juice: The Santa Cruz Years." "Cigarettes and Carrot Juice" contains 4 albums of classic recordings dating primarily from 1984-1987, the prime years of the bands existence in Santa Cruz, California, a sleepy coastal college town which proved to be an idyllic place for the prolific young band to woodshed their talents. Camper Van Beethoven are looked upon as one of the seminal "college rock" bands of the 1980s, predating the 1990s wave of micro-marketed alternative rock. A wildly diverse mixture of personalities and music, "Cigarettes and Carrot Juice" features the work of a unique band as they captured their voice on outings for small independents such as Independent Project Records, Rough Trade, and their own Pitch-A-Tent label.