CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN
New Roman Times (Vanguard)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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The latest Camper Van Beethoven release has been on the shelves for a bit now, but since they took 15 years to get around to releasing another studio album, I don't feel too bad about playing it for a few weeks before putting fingers to keyboard. It's a lot easier to listen to CVB than to write about them, anyway, given their persistent eclecticism and the multiple textures of their music.

This time out they've created what I prefer to call a song cycle rather than a rock opera, but there's no question that it qualifies as well as anything that's ever received the latter designation. The story is as sweeping and textured as the sound, following a soldier's life from enthusiastic recruit to disillusioned vet, tracing that progression with evocative musical vignettes.

One reason it's so hard to write about CVB is their tendency to leave the listener slack-jawed, mumbling 'wow' and wondering how the hell they did that. Really, though, who cares how. I'm just glad they did, again, and hope they do again a lot sooner than 15 years from now.

Track List:

Prelude * Sons Of The New Golden West * 51-7 * White Fluffy Clouds * That Gun You Like Is Back In Style * Might Makes Right * Militia Song * R 'n' R Uzbekistan * Sons Of The New Golden West (reprise) * New Roman Times * The Poppies Of Balmorhea * The Long Plastic Hallway * I Am Talking To This Flower * Come Out * Los Tigres Traficantes * I Hate This Part Of Texas * Hippy Chix * Civil Disobedience * Discotheque CVB * Hey Brother

© 2005 - Shaun Dale