CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN

La Costa Perdida

[429]

It’s not really a surprise Camper Van Beethoven’s first new album in nine years is full of quirky sounds and whimsical, borderline satirical lyrics. Effectively the mischievous older sibling of founding frontman David Lowrey’s other famous band, Cracker, CVB sounds as if they never went on hiatus. Following in the lyrical footsteps of its best-known songs—”Where the Hell Is Bill?” and “Take the Skinheads Bowling”—the group shows it’s matured without losing its satirical edge or musical dexterity. Although the album was inspired by the hippies of ’60s Northern California, the band explores more than mere classic rock. Ska meets the Grateful Dead on “Peaches in the Summertime,” while “You Got to Roll” is a blues-infused mash-up of Jimi Hendrix and Curtis Mayfield. Factor in gems like “Northern California Girls,” and you’d be justified in thinking CVB has returned with their best album to date. –Nancy Dunham