New Roman Times is an album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven

Camper Van Beethoven

Camper Van Beethoven is an American alternative rock group formed in Redlands, California in 1983.An eclectic band, Camper Van Beethoven mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk and alternative country, as well as various types of world music. Their aggressive musical pluralism created a...

, released October 12, 2004 on Pitch-A-Tent Records. It is the band's first studio album of new material since they released Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie is a 1989 album by Camper Van Beethoven, also known as CVB. It was the band's final album before breaking up in 1990, although the band has reunited and released new material in recent years...

in 1989 before dissolving in 1990.

The core lineup on the album consists of David Lowery

David Lowery

David Lowery is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter; he is the founder of alternative rock band, Camper Van Beethoven, and co-founder of the more traditional rock band, Cracker...

, Jonathan Segel

Jonathan Segel

Jonathan Segel is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has played with Camper Van Beethoven, Sparklehorse, Eugene Chadbourne, and Dieselhed.-Biography:...

, Victor Krummenacher

Victor Krummenacher

Victor Krummenacher is an American musician and bass guitarist who is a founding member of alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven. He also helped form CVB offshoots Monks of Doom and Camper Van Chadbourne and has pursued a solo career as a singer-songwriter...

, Greg Lisher

Greg Lisher

Greg Lisher is the lead guitar player for Camper Van Beethoven, from 1986 until 1990, and again from 2000 to present.He was the lead guitarist for the Monks of Doom, from 1986 until 1993, and again from 2003 to present....

, Chris Pedersen

Chris Pedersen (musician)

Chris Pedersen is an American-born musician, best known as the drummer of the groups Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom. He currently resides in Australia.-Musical career:...

 and David Immerglück

David Immerglück

David Immerglück is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom...

, all who played in earlier lineups of the band. With former Camper member Chris Molla participating on a few songs as well, the album features many members featured in the band's late 80s heyday. The album also features some songwriting and musical contributions by Johnny Hickman, the guitarist in Camper frontman David Lowery's other band Cracker

Cracker (band)

Cracker is an American alternative rock band featuring founders/songwriters singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. They are best known for their platinum-selling 1993 album, Kerosene Hat, featuring the hit songs "Low", "Euro-Trash Girl", and "Get Off This".Founders Lowery and Hickman...

, who was also a member of an early Camper Van Beethoven lineup. Cracker drummer Frank Funaro and accordianist/keyboardist Kenny Margolis, both of whom are featured in Camper's live shows, are listed in the credits as "live band blood and guts," though it is not clear if they actually play on the record or not.

The album is set in a surreal, alternative universe in which the United States is split up into separate, hostile countries. Texas is a right-wing, Christian country, while California is a left-wing utopian state, although in the story it is engulfed by civil war and occupied by right-wing security forces. This is a cryptic commentary on the red state/blue state political division that exists in the US.

The main character is a Texan around the age of twenty who enlists in the army after an event similar to 9/11 occurs. In the beginning of the story, he is very nationalistic and gung-ho about defending his country. He fights in the war and is wounded, losing a leg. He returns disabled and disillusioned with the fight. After an uprising in California, he joins the right-wing security force called "The Texas Bureau" that maintains peace there. After being disillusioned with that work as well, he joins the "rebels," who are portrayed as kind of hippie/skater/surfer eco-warriors who are allied with Mexico and with space aliens. At the end of the album, he prepares to be a suicide bomber, presumably for his new cause, although the album's deliberately obscure storytelling style makes the ending unclear. The album features other characters as well, including right-wing militia members, a retired intelligence officer, and mentally disturbed homeless people.

The title, in addition to commenting on the theme of the album, is a play on the typeface

Typeface

In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....

 Times New Roman.

Track listing

1. "Prelude" – 0:55
2. "Sons of the New Golden West" – 2:55
3. "51/7" – 4:44
4. "White Fluffy Clouds" – 5:01
5. "That Gum You Like Is Back in Style" – 4:56
6. "Might Makes Right" – 2:46
7. "Militia Song" – 2:10
8. "R 'N' R Uzbekistan" – 1:13
9. "Sons of the New Golden West Reprise" – 0:21
10. "New Roman Times" – 4:47
11. "The Poppies of Balmorhea" – 3:23
12. "Long Plastic Hallway" – 5:09
13. "I Am Talking to This Flower" – 2:30
14. "Come Out" – 1:44
15. "Los Tigres Traficantes" – 2:30
16. "I Hate This Part of Texas" – 2:45
17. "Hippy Chix" – 4:27
18. "Civil Disobedience" – 6:25
19. "Discotheque CVB" – 5:48
20. "Hey Brother" – 2:46