We would die for hippy chix

[vovat]

I played a bit of Paper Mario 2 at GameStop today. It was pretty fun, although I'm sure it would be better if I really knew what was going on. The demos of games like that often leave out some necessary back story. I didn't buy anything at the store, although there were a few things I wouldn't mind having. Maybe it's time to add some more stuff to my Amazon wish list.

So, I've had a chance to listen to New Roman Times, the new Camper Van Beethoven album, a few times. I don't think I'll do a song-by-song review (not just now, anyway), but I do have some thoughts on the record.


First of all, I really do like the title, which is a clever play on words, especially in the current age of fonts becoming known to the general public. It's a concept album, telling the story of a soldier from an alternate Texas that's a republic separate from the United States. That's what I've gathered from various articles on the album, anyway. The parallel universe thing isn't really described in the liner notes, although there are short descriptions of each song that explain how they fit into the general story. Fortunately, I don't think it's necessary to know the story to enjoy the songs. There's a mention in "New Roman Times" about Las Vegas being a province in the Republic of California, which makes more sense if you know about the concept, but since when do Camper songs have to make sense?

One thing that struck me about this album was the amount of explicit drug references. I mean, I got the impression that the band members did drugs, but I don't recall their being mentioned so often on previous CVB albums. I see that as more of a Cracker kind of thing. I guess that's not really a good or a bad thing, although my personal anti-drug stance makes me a little bit uneasy when listening to songs about drugs. I realize that I don't have to agree with the songs I like, though, and it isn't like the songs are exactly ADVOCATING drugs, anyway.

Anyway, the song that really stands out for me, as a person who tends to go for the catchy, energetic stuff first, is "Militia Song." I'd heard the demo back when it was called "Unabomber Song," and I thought it was good then, but it's even better (and faster) now. I've seen it suggested that the name of the song was changed so it wouldn't be such an obvious reference to Ted Kaczynski. For what it's worth, Kaczynski really DID "study mathematics at Berkeley." He was an associate professor there for a short time. Anyway, I have to give CVB credit for coming up with such a fun song about an insane mail bomber.

"51-7," "That Gum You Like Is Back In Style," and "Might Makes Right" are other early favorites of mine. As is typical for a CVB album, there are several instrumentals, the best of which (both in terms of the title and the actual music) is "R 'n' R Uzbekistan." It's very reminiscent of some of the band's earliest instrumentals, and would have fit quite well on Telephone Free Landslide Victory. I will say that the album is somewhat front-loaded, as far as the easily accessible songs go. There's more weird experimental stuff towards the end, including a cover of a minimalist song called "Come Out," which I don't really like that much. I'll probably come to appreciate these songs more as time goes on, though. Anyway, "Hippy Chix," with a violin part somewhat similar to that in "Pictures Of Matchstick Men," is a catchy song that's near the end of the album, and "Hey Brother" is a good way to end the whole thing.

David Lowery must be very fond of the phrase "cigarettes and carrot juice." It was the opening line of Cracker's "Big Dipper," and now it serves the same purpose in "The Long Plastic Hallway." It was also the title of CVB's box set.

While parts of New Roman Times will take some getting used to, it's a very good album overall, ranking right up there with their earlier work. Certainly quite a feat for a band that hadn't released an album together in fifteen years or so.

Comments

[revme.livejournal.com]

I might need to pick that up. I'm a fan of Cracker, but a lot of Camper stuff doesn't click with me (although, I've only got Key Lime Pie, which I've heard is sort of a lousy album), and I kind of think of them as a Singles Band (the only other Camper thing I've got (aside from stuff like the Cracker/CVB Travelling Apothecary Show CD) is the Virgin Years Radio Comp, and I love all the CVB tracks on that).

Also, "Cigarettes and Carrot Juice" is a neat phrase. Although I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. Hasn't it actually popped up one or two more times? I seem to remember there being one or two like, maybe even Cracker songs with it. But I just woke up and only slept for 6.5 hours, so... yeah.

Also, w/r/t "That Gum You Like...", I'm a little surprised to see a Twin Peaks reference. That's pretty cool.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I like Key Lime Pie, but I do think it's one of the band's weaker efforts. It's kind of low-key overall. I also think it's somewhat back-loaded, in that most of the better songs show up towards the end of the album. I think one problem I have with the album is that "Jack Ruby" comes too close to the beginning. It's not a bad song, but as a general rule, I don't think one of the album's longest songs should appear as the first or second track. The only exception I can think of offhand is "Blast Off" on Frank Black's Dog in the Sand, which is by far the longest song on the album, yet it works really well as the opening track. So, anyway, yeah, KLP isn't what I would recommend as a good starting CVB album.

What's on the Virgin Years CD?

I can't recall "cigarettes and carrot juice" appearing any other places, but I could be wrong.

I never actually watched Twin Peaks, so I didn't notice the reference.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I didn't like some of the Folkier/Worldier kinda tracks on KLP -- the stuff I like tends to be the more rockin' kind of stuff anyway. (Although I did have a Monks of Doom EP a while ago, and I really hated it and gave it away. I don't recall which one, but it had "Who Are the Brain Police" on there, the old Mothers song. Which made me wonder if it's one of those things where I'm less a CVB/Cracker fan as more of a David Lowery fan, since most of the Virgin Years tracks were him.) Also, the Virgin Years disc is 16 tracks, split between CVB and Cracker, with the last two CVB albums (well, at the time...) and the first two Cracker ones. Anyway, here's the tracklisting: 1. Camper Van Beethoven: Eye Of Fatima Parts 1&2 (edit)
2. Camper Van Beethoven: Turquoise Jewelry
3. Camper Van Beethoven: Waka
4. Camper Van Beethoven: One Of These Days
5. Camper Van Beethoven: Sweethearts
6. Camper Van Beethoven: (I Was Born In A) Laundromat
7. Camper Van Beethoven: All Her Favorite Fruit
8. Camper Van Beethoven: Pictures Of Matchstick Men
9. Cracker: Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)
10. Cracker: This Is Cracker Soul
11. Cracker: I See The Light
12. Cracker: Mr. Wrong
13. Cracker: Dr. Bernice
14. Cracker: Low
15. Cracker: Get Off This
16. Cracker: Euro-Trash Girl

And, basically, I love all the CVB stuff on there. And I got KLP because of, well, it was the only CVB album Circuit City had at the time, and I loved the four tracks from Virgin Years, so... yeah.

And Twin Peaks is pretty good, although I'd hold off on picking up the DVD set, since I guess in 2005, Paramount's going to release them again, only with the Missing Pilot and Second Season which haven't appeared on DVD yet. (though, it could be awesome to rent the set at a video store. Unless you're Not A Fan(tm) of David Lynch, in which case... yeah. It's David Lynch.) Anyway, "That Gum You Like..." is one of the "clues" Agent Cooper gets in one of his dreams.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Those first four (or five, if you count the two parts of "Eye Of Fatima" as two different songs) are all from Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, CVB's other Virgin release, which I like quite a bit better than KLP.

Was that Monks EP The Insect God? I downloaded that from eMusic, and it does have a cover of "Brain Police" on it. (Incidentally, there's also a version of that song on the CVB rarities collection Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead, Long Live Camper Van Beethoven. It's very similar to the Monks' version, but doesn't contain as many samples.) I thought it was okay, but not as good as I would have hoped. I'd probably pick up another Monks CD if I were to see one for a low price, but I don't really expect to be thrilled. I do like their one album title, Soundtrack from the Film "Breakfast on the Beach of Deception" (or something like that), but that doesn't mean the actual album is any good.

I'd say David is pretty much the leader of both Camper and Cracker, although the core of Camper seems to be larger, with Cracker's core being just David and Johnny Hickman. Camper went through some personnel changes as well (Jonathan was absent from the band for KLP, for instance), but NRT boasts all of the original members. I think Johnny also plays on a few songs, though, and what with that and Victor and Frank Funaro being part of the regular touring group for BOTH Camper and Cracker, I've heard it said that the two bands are becoming less distinguishable. I guess we'll have to wait until the next Cracker album to know for sure, though. For what it's worth, I don't think Camper would have released an album like Countrysides.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Ah, OK. I couldn't remember which album was The Other CVB One on that disc, even though it does say on the back (I just found a discography and copy/pasted the tracklist in, heh). I do think it's pretty cool that they're releasing the out-of-print-forever CVB albums, though, since my first song that I heard was "Good Guys and Bad" from III (right?)... which I suppose made the thing about "explicit drug references more of a Cracker thing" sorta seem a bit weird, heh.

I think it might have been Insect God -- it's been years, but that sounds about right. And yeah, "SftF"BotBoD"" is a great title, and, well, "Monks of Doom" is actually a pretty good band name, too.

That's kinda funny about Johnny being on the new CVB album -- you mentioned him, but I wasn't sure if it was Johnny Hickman or another one (since I'm sorta hazy on the CVB members. It's like David Lowery, Victor Krummacher, uh... Jonathan Segal? Maybe? And some other guys?) And Countrysides is pretty awesome. And I'm glad that it's a rare album-that-got-the-band-dropped-that-ended-up-being-released-on-time-anyway. (I found that funny that Countrysides got them dropped from Virgin, just because Up Until That Point, Virgin seemed to be all into Cracker, doing the Ltd. Ed. 2 disc sets of both Garage D'Or and Forever...)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I do think it's pretty cool that they're releasing the out-of-print-forever CVB albums, though, since my first song that I heard was "Good Guys and Bad" from III (right?)

The second album is actually called II & III, because it was originally supposed to be two albums, or something like that. The third album (the one with "Good Guys And Bad Guys") is self-titled, but I guess it would be appropriate to call it III.

which I suppose made the thing about "explicit drug references more of a Cracker thing" sorta seem a bit weird, heh.

Yeah, and at least two CVB songs mention "cowboys on acid," so maybe I just wasn't remembering all of their drug references when I wrote that.

I'm almost certain that Johnny Hickman appears on NRT, but I don't have the liner notes with me right now. In addition to David, Victor, and Jonathan, CVB has Greg Lisher on lead guitar, and Chris Pedersen on drums (although he doesn't tour with them anymore). David Immergluck also plays with them occasionally.