Cigarettes & Carrot Juice - The
Santa Cruz Years
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I listened to a lot of Camper van Beethoven
back in 1987. I can't tell you why other than it satisfied some
snotty, yet nerdy weirdness in me that other bands like The
Replacements didn't. It was their lo-fi, DYI attitude and
occasional breaks into ska and group chants and whatnot that
made me feel part of a culture I was never really a part of
going to an all-boys private school. All my cassettes are long
gone, but I still do have this, a greatest hits-ish album filled
with good time snark punk. To call it real punk is to completely
miss the mark, as they don't have that in them. It's more like
the weird band kids in high school who were scared of the real
punks, were too smart to hang with the hardcore stoners and
too washed to hang with the hippies. So they kind of manage
this middle ground between all plains at once. Goofy dorks acting
a role, be it country-tinged yokel or Television
Personalities follower or even a precursor in part to bands
like Gogol Bordello and the gypsy punk thing. Listen to "Take
the Skinheads Bowling" to get a true sense of why after seeing
the video on 120 Minutes all those years ago I had to run out and buy whatever tape
I could find. |
Musical Connections:
Cracker
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