The core lineup on the album consists of David Lowery, Jonathan Segel, Victor Krummenacher, Greg Lisher, Chris Pedersen and David Immerglück, 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 1980s heyday. The album also features some songwriting and musical contributions by Johnny Hickman, the guitarist in Lowery's band Cracker, who was also a member of the Estonian Gauchos, an early-1980s precursor to CVB that had also featured Lowery and Molla. Cracker drummer Frank Funaro and accordionist/keyboardist Kenny Margolis, both of whom were featured in Camper's live shows prior to the album's release, are listed in the credits as "live band blood and guts." 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 20 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 space aliens, 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 typefaceTimes New Roman. One of the songs, "That Gum You Like Is Back In Style" is derived from a line in David Lynch's cult TV showTwin Peaks. Another, "Come Out", is a cover of a piece by minimalist composer Steve Reich.
Novel
In 2018 a novel based on the album was released, called New Roman Times, authored by Evan Brown. Lowery and Segel had the following to say about the story:
"How did it come to all this anyway? It’s been a very confusing time, hasn’t it? Well, here’s one of the many complicated stories that should bring some understanding of the real players involved, to bring you up to speed on the events of today. So much of it rides on the tales of these characters.”
-Jonathan Segel
"New Roman Times was intended as a kind of commentary on the fakish red/blue narrative that emerged in the media in the lead up to the Iraq war. The crazy conspiratorial elements were thrown in because it’s a Camper Van Beethoven album. The fact our 2003 unreality better matches 2018’s reality should bother us all."
