The Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company
	Produced by Monks of Doom and Oliver Dicicco
	Released on April 1989
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
PITCH 13 cover [high resolution scan]

T he Monks are back with a (voodoo) vengeance. The Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company is nothing short of sweet, beautiful mutiny. Morgan Fichter had left camp, and now the rest of Camper Van Beethoven minus David Lowery released a “real” second album that sounded like Swamper Van Beethoven. Their debut was interesting but felt like a side project. Their second favors songs that compare well to Camper: “The Evidence You Hide,” “Taste of Tendon,” “Broadcast at Midday.” There are still instrumentals (“Vaporize Your Crystals,” “Unexplained Murders”), but they’re so fresh and free that you don’t mind them any more than you did Zappa’s instrumentals. And I’ll hand out extra cool points to anyone who tackles a track by Snakefinger (“The Vivian Girls”). In comparing this to Camper, I usually arrive at that band’s swampier songs (e.g., “Borderline”). Lowery’s voice is sleepier than Victor Krummenacher’s, though they’re both very nasal. The Monks are also deliberately darker than Camper, ending the album with a ditty about a dead body (take that, abbey road). At ten tracks (eleven if you count the tribal reprise of “Voodoo Vengeance” sandwiched between the last two songs), The Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company is a little light. That’s the only complaint I have: I would have liked more of it. If you’re a Camper fan thinking of crossing over, consider this. I bought The Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company after buying Key Lime Pie and loving it. Then I bought two more Monks releases and never bought another Camper Van Beethoven disc. Not that I don’t like CvB anymore, but I got sidetracked. Side projects don’t divert your attention like that; this is a whole other road that leads into its own forest. Enter it here and you may never make it back to Camp either. There's also a review at All Music Guide.

PITCH 13 back sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. VAPORIZE YOUR CRYSTALS
2. THE VIVIAN GIRLS    (Snakefinger/The Residents)
3. ALL IN GOOD TIME
4. VOODOO VENGEANCE    (Eugene Chadbourne)
5. TASTE OF TENDON
6. TRAPPED
7. THE EVIDENCE YOU HIDE
8. UNEXPLAINED MURDERS
9. THE BEACH OF DECEPTION
10. (Hidden Track)
11. BROADCAST AT MIDDAY
    
    All songs written by David Immerglück/Victor Krummenacher/Greg Lisher/Chris Pedersen unless noted

CREDITS

DAVID IMMERGLÜCK -- acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel, mandolin, keyboards, vocals
VICTOR KRUMMENACHER -- bass, acoustic guitar, vocals
GREG LISHER -- acoustic and electric guitars, vocals
CHRIS PEDERSEN -- drums and percussion, vocals
Graham Connah -- piano and organ
Melanie Clarin -- vocals
Oliver Dicicco -- engineer, mixing
Monks of Doom -- mixing assistance
Jackson Haring -- executive producer
Andrew Norton, David Allen -- photographs

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