View Full Version : Camper Van Beethoven: New Roman Times
noddin0ff
01-26-2007, 02:30 PM
Man, I love this album. It rocks.
I'm going home with this rock anthem stuck in my head...
I would fight for hippie chicks.
I would die for hippie chicks.
We might stop and surf a bit,
But we would die for hippie chicks.
We might stop and skate a bit,
But we would die for hippie chicks.
Grblgrbl
01-30-2007, 10:39 AM
Great album.
nobody
01-30-2007, 11:29 AM
Never listened to that one, but always loved their debut with that great cover of Wasted and Take the Skinheads Bowling. Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweeheart is a great album from start to finish, and personally I really liked their self-titled release, I think it was their third or fourth record, even though it seldom gets mentioned. Good Guys and Bad Guys off that one is a great song.
Would like to hear the more recent release sometime, but never have come across it...may have to go download some samples or something.
noddin0ff
01-30-2007, 01:14 PM
NRT is very solid. I can upload a track if you like. It's got a cute story threaded through it, so I suppose that would place it in the concept album category. It is certainly influenced by the current war. Anti-war with humor. I have to agree with all your comments about the previous albums. If your repetoir is that deep, there's much to like on this one. When I ordered it I was wondering how much like Cracker it would sound. I like Cracker, but thankfully this is definitely a CVB album.
I try to pick a track to upload...
noddin0ff
01-30-2007, 01:32 PM
Here you go...I love this song, but I think That gum you like is back in style might be my favorite...or maybe I hate this part of Texas which isn't really a song...
Hippie Chix (http://www.mediafire.com/?2maztzj2ydd)
More great lyrics found in 'Militia Song' in kind of a ska/hoe-down style
Studied mathematics at Berkeley
Now I don't like society
Got me a little old shack in the woods
Gonna mail you off some explosive goods
...da da da da da
noddin0ff
01-30-2007, 02:19 PM
3 downloads
Slosh
01-30-2007, 02:44 PM
3 downloads+1 :)
noddin0ff
01-31-2007, 07:42 AM
8 downloads...
So, I mentioned that it’s a concept album with a story… Since I’ve been listening a lot, I felt an urge to get the story together -- with help from the web and the liner notes. First, New Roman Times is, I believe, a comment on the imperial presidency that has emerged post 9/11 and not some fascination with the font Times New Roman (although it does appear that Times New Roman is used throughout the insert, so I could be wrong).
The Plot:
(I copied this from this web link. It says it better) (http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/c/campervanbeethoven-newroman.shtml)
After a catastrophic attack on the US, forces convene to reshape the country as we prepare for war. The main focus is on a young Texan man who joins the military to fight for his country and is shipped to the Middle East. While there, he begins to doubt the justice of his mission, but things come to an end when he loses a foot in combat and is shipped back home. He returns to Texas jaded and broken, finally taking to the road to escape himself and winding up at an oasis where he samples a narcotic flower.
During his tour of duty, things in the Republic of California have heated up and right wing militias and civil unrest have conspired to leave the state in the hands of a quasi-governmental corporation named TexSecurIntellicorp. The soldier joins the company and works as a go-between for arms and drug traffickers while continuing his spiral into narcotic addiction. Finally, hitting rock bottom and realizing that he hates working for the fascist forces in California, he seeks out the rebel resistance organization, winkingly called the CVB, and tries to join up. When he finally contacts the group, he learns that they're supported by aliens who've decided to intervene for the sake of humanity's future. Finally, having joined the CVB and supported by some sort of spiritual vision, the former soldier decides to become a suicide bomber for the cause, bringing the whole story disturbingly full-circle.
Hippie Chix is (from the liner) when “The ex-soldier takes the oath and joins the CVB”
The contact in the CVB is code named 9 mile beach. Greys are the aliens…
I see a winter scene inside a
tiny plastic globe
Old European castles a
sinister Santa Claus
The salesgirl’s really hot
but I can’t talk to her right now
I’ve come to meet field marshal
9 mile beach of the cvb
(chorus/oath)
9 mile beach he’s so crunchy
wearing skater knitted caps
He takes my oath but doesn’t
even smile or laugh
They got this alien technology
he’s just a holograph
Projected next to me
While TBI aims at my my traitor ass
(chorus/oath)
They bring the Greys into the room
I say man this just ain’t for real
True Christian Church of Texas
teaches aliens are the devil
The Greys the tell a different story
of humanity upon the brink
Of ecological disaster they have come
to save our asses.
Stone
01-31-2007, 07:50 AM
Man, I love this album. It rocks.
Sorry, but I can't agree with you. I think this album is decent, but really pales in comparison to CBV's heyday. Also, it's too long for my tastes. I'd recommend any of their other proper albums before this one, starting with Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart.
noddin0ff
01-31-2007, 08:31 AM
No need to apologize. For sake of counter-point…
I wouldn’t go so far as to say ’pales'. Revolutionary Sweetheart is very likely their best ‘Album’. It’s got a nice quirkiness and a lot of sweet sincere songs. But I say this at the risk of falling from favor, when I want to really listen to CVB I usually pull out my CD The Third Album Plus Vampire Can Mating Oven. Which has the aforementioned Good Guys and some other sweet songs like Never Go Back, Heart, and Photograph…More than that, though, I also really dig the concept stuff like The History of Utah, Stairway to Heavan (Sic), and Peace & Love and the Floyd-ish Jams of, obviously Interstellar Overdrive and Surprise Truck.
So I guess, if you lean toward the more solid tracks, it’s hard to top Our Beloved, and certainly NRT doesn’t have the small indie charm of Telephone Free Landslide Victory. But, if you got disappointed with Key lime Pie, NRT is more ‘on track’.
I also kinda appreciate concept albums and I think that puts it in a different listening category. CVB seems to almost always hint at concept albums and I think it’s cool they really went for it. It’s clear they all showed up for business when they got in the studio, they had some thoughts on their mind, and they’re not sittin’ around planning a reunion tour to try to breath new life into Where the Hell is Bill?
noddin0ff
02-05-2007, 11:35 AM
11 downloads to date. Be curious to know what anyone thought... my goal was to stimulate discussion with a sample...
nobody
02-05-2007, 12:54 PM
I gave it a listen and was kinda in the middle. The track was good, but nothing I haven't really heard from them before. It's musically in the vein of Revolutionary Sweetheart, but with a bit more of the quirkiness of their earlier records stripped away. It did almost remind me of Craker as much as Camper Van Beethoven...but not quite, the fiddle keeps it in CvB territory.
I guess it made me slightly curious to hear the rest of the album, but not so curious as to seek it out as I'd be pretty shocked if it got more than a couple listens before finding itself back on the shelf while I grab for one of the old stand bys whenever I get the urge to hear CvB.
Still, was nice to hear these fellas still going at it. You never know what they could come up with.
Dusty Chalk
02-05-2007, 03:42 PM
You do realize that 99% of links are downloaded by lurkers who never discuss nuthin'...?
noddin0ff
02-06-2007, 07:37 AM
You do realize that 99% of links are downloaded by lurkers who never discuss nuthin'...?
yeah, just tryin' to call 'em out (as a former, now reformed, lurker in my formative stage as a contributer). But I also appreciate hearing the comments of the regulars. You all have a very deep knowledge/experience of a lot of stuff, and I get a lot out of it. Thanks!
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