The Donner Party: Complete Recordings 1987-1989

The college-rock environment of the '80s was certainly conducive to goofy rock bands, but there was always room for grit amidst the wackiness. Camper Van Beethoven is perhaps the best example of a group that made its frequently silly songs compelling, and the same holds true for its more uneven peers in The Donner Party. At one point signed to Camper's vanity label Pitch-A-Tent, The Donner Party exudes a similar sense of laid-back West Coast humor to match its sloppy folk-rock and jangling pop. But at this point, the band's biggest claim to fame is singer Sam Coomes, later of Heatmiser (alongside Elliott Smith) and currently half of the indie darling Quasi. Coomes' singing and songwriting have come a long way from the silliness of The Donner Party: Several times throughout Complete Recordings—which includes for the first time on CD the band's two self-titled albums, material meant for an unreleased third (and also self-titled) album, and a few live tracks—he even cracks up at his own cleverness mid-take. It's all obviously pretty casual, but there are gems to be heard. The first album includes such wonders as "When You Die Your Eyes Pop Out," "John Wilkes Booth," and "The Owl Of Minerva," each of which are reminiscent of such benchmarks as R.E.M., as well as Camper Van Beethoven. The second album is a subtle improvement, boasting "Sickness," "Try To Imagine A Terrible World," "Lost In Hoboken," and "When I Was A Baby." "King Chico," "Notker The Stammerer," and "Kore Cosmu" from the third are more of the weird same, though they're a bit meatier. The band was of its time, but Coomes and bandmates Reinhold Johnson and Melanie Clarin sound wonderfully innocent, their music refreshingly free from pretense.