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MUSIC REVIEW
Band: Camper van Beethoven
Album: "New Roman Times"
Label: Pitch-A-Tent Records
Back after 15 years and as cool as ever. With each song, New Roman Times becomes more and more addictive. It is a challenging and impressive thematic album about the political divide in the United States. Brilliantly theatrical and quite an ambitious undertaking, the album proves to be quite effective and alluring.
New Roman Times follows the journey of a young Texan who enlists in an elite force and heads to the Middle East to fight the war on terrorism but returns home feeling jaded and craving sanctuary.
The album really lures you in with the hypnotic, bracing "51 7" -- "Nothing to believe in except for god and country/ can't stand to see 'em pushed around/ give me a chance to show the world what we're made of/ come on, come on, 51 7" and ranges from the psychedelic and kick-ass irreverence of "White Fluffy Clouds," -- "My baby's an M4 Carbine/good for close combat/gets you home alive...My baby's an 82A/for less than 10 dollars/ take a jet plane down" to a slower, hypnotic and somewhat wistful "That Gum You Like is Back in Style" to the punk-infused edginess via kicky strings of "Might Makes Right." Hillbilly country twists flow through "Militia Song," while "R 'n' R Uzbekistan" envelops the listener with its urgency and passion. New Roman Times is a trippy, contemplative journey.
The band infuses eclectic instrumentation, unusual craftsmanship for rare effect and a truly memorable, solid collection of songs. When I was listening to the Cure in high school, Camper Van Beethoven was considered one of the most influential indie rock bands. Being in a music Mecca like Boston, I was marginally aware of some of the band's earlier work, but New Roman Times allows me to appreciate the band's talents to a greater degree. I think one needs a level of maturity to embrace it.
Vocalist/ guitarist David Lowery [Cracker], violinist/guitarist/keyboardist Jonathan Segel, bassist/vocalist Victor Krummenacher, drummer Chris Pedersen and later addition David Immergluck (guitar/strings) reunited to produce a winning album that is as fresh as anything they created over a decade ago.
New Roman Times is clever and brazen and kitschy and sincere and ironic and mystical all wrapped with a big bow. Superb.
Grade: A
By Amy Steele
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