Camper Van Beethoven

Camper Van Beethoven has always sounded like the band having the most fun, jumping between a variety of styles—jangle pop, ska punk, and Eastern European folk, to name a few—with a sense of humor and abandon. After forming in 1983, the California band became college-rock favorites with irreverent tracks like “Take the Skinheads Bowling” from their 1985 debut album, Telephone Free Landslide Victory. The satirical mix of continent-spanning sounds was just the tip of their ambitions, though. Over their next four albums, the band dabbled in psychedelia, bluegrass, acid rock, post-punk, raga, and more, highlighted by Jonathan Segel’s virtuosic violin jamming and frontman David Lowery’s wry irreverence. After a prolific '80s, the band broke up in 1990, and Lowery formed Cracker (who scored a hit with “Low” in 1994). But by the end of the decade, Camper Van Beethoven had reformed, coming back with a vengeance on 2004’s heavier, prog-leaning New Roman Times and later with a pair of concept albums dedicated to their home state: 2013’s La Costa Perdida, a loose, lively homage to Northern California, and 2014’s El Camino Real, a decidedly darker—but just as eclectic—ode to Southern California.