From out of “California’s High Desert” comes Cracker with Camper Van Beethoven and friends filmed at “the first annual camp out live at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace.” Where ever the hell that is? To be perfectly honest, I don’t care. For you see, joining these mavericks of alt-country are the side projects and solo outings by the likes of Johnny Hickman, Victor Krummenacher, and the ominous sounding Monks Of Doom. Along the way a few other band members get shine time of their own. Connecting all the offshoot bands together, besides their involvement with one of the two core bands, are their alternative country/ cow-punk sound.
The disk kicks off with CVB launching directly into “The Long Plastic Hallway” and moving quickly into “Tania” and that’s when things get good. “Tania” is where the sound of CVB is captured best, described as a band of gypsies (not the Jimi Hendrix band) meets the Charlie Daniels Band. Fiddles and mandolins soar as the solid rhythm section keeps time with lead singer and co-founder David Lowery’s vocals. The momentum keeps going as the band slides smoothly into “Eye Of Fatima Pt. I–II” and, as with most two-part tunes, this one turns into and ends as a raucous jam.
The last two songs are truly where it’s at for CVB. The thundering country rocker “51-7” is where the band comes together and lets it all roll. “Take The Skinheads Bowling” is the cult classic that is seemingly a solution to a social concern, yet it’s not. In fact it’s pretty much a little ditty about nothing at all. But it sure is fun to sing along with when you can find it.
The second act on this DVD is a complete change of pace: the acoustic set by Cracker’s guitar-slinging, songwriter Johnny Hickman. Accompanied only by his guitar and harmonica, Johnny captivates the audience with three tunes written in a Dylan-esque style. “The Great Decline,” “Beauregarde’s Retreat,” and “Little Tom” are awesome tunes that showcase Hickman’s writing style and his “tuff” baritone voice. “The Great Decline” is a remembrance of things past and contains a good line about our politicians being drunk with greed. While “Beauregarde’s Retreat” is his happy song about the simple things in life and not being distracted from the light. I say “happy” because as Hickman himself points out, his songs have a tendency to be a bit on the darker side of things. A good example is “Little Tom” about those who fall through the cracks. With this review and my previous one on Cracker, I am now a real Johnny Hickman fan and must search out his solo work
Article comments