CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN; "Key Lime Pie" (Virgin Records).
"Key Lime Pie," the fifth album by California avant-garde pop-rockers Camper Van Beethoven, certainly lives up to its title - like the confection, it's a very tasty treat.
The album is also very much like the dessert in that it's at times very sour and very sweet, mixing sardonic political messages with melancholy dreamlike ballads. Surprisingly enough, it's also the band's most consistent album to date and probably the finest post-modern rock LP released this year.
It's hard to believe that this is the same band that gave us the positively life-affirming "Life is Grand" just 12 months ago (on "Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart"), but it is. Supposedly, the band's world view has soured after recent election results (they're not conservatives, to put it mildly).
Typical of their new idealogy is "Sweethearts," a deceptively titled country-style ballad complete with steel pedal guitar. Vocalist David Lowery's acidic lyrics poke fun at a recently retired Californian politician, accusing recent presidential administrations of being warmongers, as witnessed by:
" 'Cause in the mind of Ronald Reagan,
Wheels they turn and gears they grind,
Buildings collapse in slow motion
And trains collide
Everything is fine. . . ."
Also politically motivated is the witty "When I Win the Lottery." Like fellow post-modern music artist Stan Ridgway, the Santa Cruz-based Campers can tell novels with their songs. Lowery adopts the guise of a town loser, hoping to win the lottery and win over neighbors with his wealth ("I'm gonna donate half my money to the city, so they have to name a park or a street or a school after me," Lowery hoarsely sings.)
More upbeat are the story-telling "The Humid Press of Days" and the dreamy "All Her Favorite Fruit," the former expressing a wish to fly.
Garnering the most attention is the band's cover version of Status Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men." The psychedelic single, a homage to the sun and the tricks it plays on our eyes, looks like it could give the Campers their first top-40 record.
On the song, new violinist Morgan Fichter (formerly of Harm Farm) creates an almost eerie atmosphere for Chris Pedersen's whomping drum beat. Fichter's backup vocals also give Lowery's holler a sweet support. Greg Lisher's distorted guitar effects also give the single an almost supernatural flavor.
According to band members, record company executives had asked them to record the song for almost two years until they finally relented. Evidently the band had been covering the song in concert for years, and executives felt it could give them their first real commercial success.
But overall, the Campers haven't let their contract with a major record label change their overall sound (much like a cross between the Grateful Dead and R.E.M.), and in these days of compromising principles, that's a very nice thing to see.