Label: Pitch-a-Tent Records

Produced by: Jonathan Segel (edited by?)

Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk is a deeply weird album for the band, either indicative of overreach, or brilliance, or indulgence, or excessive creativity, or… all or none of that.

It is also deeply weird that college rock art slackers Camper Van Beethoven would cover the album in full – and wiki has since clarified that it was a typical dodge from the band to claim it was recorded back in their heyday, which it was actually recorded prior to their reunion in the 00s, which kinda makes it more weird? – but the connecting thread here is that the album itself is an oddball, which gives CVB plenty to latch on to.

Camper’s Tusk, for the most part, is very much a CVB project, crossing lines from their post-debut maturity (e.g. self-titled, Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart) to the modern incarnation’s more mature Americana: it’s got plenty of funky little touches tossed in there – electronics, samples – and lots of stylistic crossover with ska and folk and punk. Lowery’s vocals are incredibly animated and soulful throughout, and the source material gives the group’s playing focus, versus a penchant for a more ramshackle approach; dedication to the latter also sees others coming forth on lead vocals, which vibes further in giving this an all-hands-on feeling, as opposed to a kitschy lark.

Being a CVB project, though, the group’s own overreach and indulgences sneak in on occasion – the cover art features a jackalope, for goodness’ sake – as though wearing a straight face for too long gave them pause, and some hijinks had to be inserted. For each “side” of this 2-CD set, that tends to come in about 2/3rds of the way through, with each disc starting out very strongly, very emotionally, and then the group gets restless and playful, using some of the more experimental tracks to buck against the borders of the originals. Which really wasn’t necessary: within the template of these tracks, the group finds plenty of room to be themselves, making Fleetwood’s poppy and swoony originals a bit more edgy and raw, painted with a slacker ‘tude.

However, once you’re used to these sidesteps and have been through the album in full a couple times, they start to feel more at home. In other words, after the initial amusement of this being a cover has subsided, it really does pass as a full-on Camper disc, and maybe a great one, as the straight-faced passion adds urgency to the tunes. And with that separation, it allows more appreciation for the translation that occurred, and I also am finding it’s given me more enjoyment when listening to the original as well…

Somewhat dismissed at time of release, CVB’s Tusk is quite an excellent album, regardless if you hear it without any Fleetwood Mac context or not.