429

Before Stephen Malkmus, there was David Lowery. As chief songwriter in Camper Van Beethoven, Lowery reigned as the early indie era’s manifestation of golden California laconicism. In the band’s 21st century alignment, Lowery’s bottomless drollness that remains the group’s most impervious resource, an undiluted insurance against the depravations of rock reunions. On the collectively written La Costa Perdida, the Camper Vans expand on their perennial fascination with their Northern California environs, a rich vein as far back as 1986’s We Saw Jerry’s Daughter. Lowery turns in near-perfect cosmic-politan ballads “Come Down the Coast” and “Northern California Girls,” but the jam session songwriting sometimes falls into faux-Zep boogie ( “You Got To Roll” ) or jamband folkska masquerading as eclecticism ( “Peaches in the Summertime” ). Even so, one imagines that when civilization finally collapses and goes post-literate, Lowery’s eternal wryness might unite what Esperanto never could, whole sects springing forth from La Costa Perdida.