From Artemis: CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN Victor Krummenacher- bass/vocals David Lowery-rhythm guitar/vocals Chris Pedersen-drums/vocals Greg Lisher-lead guitar Jonathan Segel-guitar/violin/keys [this is crossed out and "no longer with/inaccurate" is written next to it] Camper Van Beethoven's got a request for new listeners. "Please steer clear of the hyphen-hyphen ethno-everything descriptions of our music," says bass player VK. "And if you could describe it with- out ever resorting to the word 'whacky,' we'd really appreciate it." With that as its caveat, VK and company may have themselves a problem. CVB's music has the potential to cause chronic confusion to those who are used to more one-dimensional rock bands. All that eclecticism and genre-bending within straight-ahead rock songs...what can this band be getting at? Sure, CVB's music contains many instruments, from tuba to mandolin, synthseizer to good old fashioned violin. And yes, the band's songs encompass many different genres, including polka, country, reggae, mazurka, and metal-hearted rock. It certainly utlizes a lead violinist in the persona of Jonathan Segel, but not at the expense of searing electric guitar leads (courtesy of Greg Lisher) or of catchy pop hooks and melodies, not to mention some very charming lyrics (courtesy of David Lowery). And there's no question that the band has been known to cover songs by artists like Sonic Youth, Pink Floyd, and Ringo Starr, equal amounts of love and mockery going into the mix. But no, CVB does not have an identity crisis--in fact, despite the wide- ranging sources of influence, it has a remarkably clear vision of its own identity--especially, the band members agree, on "Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart," the band's fourth full-lenth album. "It's the first time we've really had time to concentrate on every song," DL explains. "And in some ways I think it's our most straight forward record, too. I've always wanted to get past the idea of us being a real insider's type band, which is one reason we started out playing folk music, real simplistic stuff, because it's more universal. But at the same time, we really do strive to be unique." OBRS, produced by Dennis Herring (Timbuk 3) succeeds in being both focused and unique, in addition to incurring a wide range of in- fluences and ideas. It features CVB's all-but-trademark blend of swirling, complex musicianship. Songs like "Turquoise Jewelry" and "Tania" (in deference to Patty Hearst) may exhibit a bizarre and Camper- esque world view, but there are also a number of touching pop songs such as the love song "One of These Days," the anthemic "Life Is Grand," and the lovely "Never Go Back." The album's lead-off track, "Eye of Fatima," (Part 1 and Part 2), is, says Lowery, "kind of the closest thing to a Creedence Clearwater Revival song we could come up with." "My Path Belated," on the other hand, with its see sawing violin counter-melody, is, he says, "about a woman whose mother turns into a werewolf. It's from a trashy book I picked up in the rest room of a truck stop we were in on tour." And for those with a more classical/historical bent towards music, CVB provides a version of an old bluegrass/country folk song, "O Death," versions of which have been traced back to the 17th century. "I recently heard a version of it played on a documentray about coal mining in Appalachia," DL, an amateur musicologist and bluegrass aficionado, comments. CVB was born in Santa Cruz, where most of its members were students at the University of California, majoring in music. They released their first album, TFLV, independently in July of 1985. Thanks to the unlooked-for success of the song "Take the Skinheads Bowling," the album went into second and third pressings almost immediately, causing the band to form its own Pitch a Tent (as in "she makes me want to pitch a tent in my pants...") label. [CVB II & III] was released in February of 1986; the band's third and self-titled album was released in November of that same year. Not since Elvis Costello released "My Aim is True," "This Year's Model," and "Armed Forces" in an 18 month perios between 1978 and mid-1979 has a band turned over this amount of acclaimed material: in the Village Voice's "Pazz and Jop" critic's poll for 1986, all three albums placed in the top 40. In 1987, CVB contained its activities to touring the US and Europe, releasing a 6 song EP, VCMO, and recording its Virgin Records debut. But along the way, the band's gleeful tendecy to blend different musical styles just to see what comes of it has necessarily started to wane. Why? Because in the three years since it started its recording career, CVB has forged a distinctive sound all its own. "I don't see why bands feel they have to be stuck in one genre or style all the time" explains DL. "I can be totally frivolous if I want to, or I can be poignant, or serious--I can changed moods on record , just like i can in real life. I think it's really okay for a band to write songs that are both humorous and serious at the same time." That combination of emotions is probably what characterizes CVB better than any hyphen- hyphen ethno/whacky string of adjectives you care to think of. As CVB likes to say: their dream is out there. ------------------------------