Camper Van Beethoven

Even amid the ferment of punk and indie rock in the early 1980s, Camper Van Beethoven didn’t quite sound like anyone else, crossing R.E.M.-style jangle-pop with ska and surf rhythms and traditional European string melodies. Not that they made a big deal out of it. Laid-back, laconic, and tongue-in-cheek was their way, and especially on their brilliant debut Telephone Free Landslide Victory, it often seemed like they were simply winging it. That charming quirkiness gave way to more serious rock, inspired in part by a desire to garner some radio airplay. While they got it with their excellent cover of “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” intra-group enmity spun off singer David Lowery to form the less interesting Cracker. These days, the hatchet is buried, the nostalgia tour booked, the vault material re-released. In August, they put out a track-by-track cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, and in November Cigarettes & Carrot Juice, collecting early studio records and a 1990 live set. First Avenue, (612) 332-1775, www.first-avenue.com