306) Camper Van Beethoven - Telephone Free Landslide Victory

I have mentioned I used to stick a blank tape on and record John Peel and would listen back the next day to see what nuggets he could provide me with. I have him to thank for my love of The Fall and That Petrol Emotion, I may have mentioned them.

Now I never took to Napalm Death of The Bhundu Boys so there was a lot of fast forwarding, a bit like when you watch an old Top of the Pops on the iPlayer and it’s an episode with Five Star, Wet Wet Wet, Big Fun and Brian Adams is number one for eight hundred weeks and you fast forward the whole thing and watch the only good bit, five seconds of Aztec Camera on the chart breaker and remember that not all music from the 80’s and 90’s was good.

Anyway, where was I, just as the C90’s tape was running out Peel played a brilliant song something about Skinheads, but I never heard the name of the band, bloody hell!!

Now this was 1985 and I’d pretty much had enough of school so used to wander down to RS McColl’s every Thursday morning and buy Record Mirror magazine and then walk up to school and sit and read it up the back of the classroom. It published charts and there in the Independent Chart was Camper Van Beethoven with Take The Skinheads Bowling, I cannot remember half of the rubbish I was taught at school but this was an important moment because I could now buy the single and do my usual thing of boast about obscure music, remember I have long realised I was a dick back then.

I know this is one of my rambling reviews where I tell you absolutely nothing (some have said these are their favourites!) but I saw that this record was released for Record Store Day this year and had to listen again.

This is a bizarre eccentric record, Skinheads still exhilarating, The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon as brilliant as it sounds. There are one too many instrumentals for me but much to enjoy a slowed down cover of Black Flag’s Wasted, an up-tempo organ swirl around on Oh No! and a laid-back country number called Where the Hell is Bill?.

I Don’t See You romps along with added violin and the album ends on a high with Club Med Sucks and The Ambiguity Song

I would be surprised if you did not enjoy.

7/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Take the Skinheads Bowling