Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 9.0
Production: 8.5
Originality: 8.0
Tracklisting
2. Eat, Sleep, Repeat
3. Control Freak
4. Careful Now
5. Love Affair
6. I'm Safer On An Airplane
7. By My Side
8. Cover What You Can
9. The Last Time He Saw Dorie
10. I'm A Sucker For A Kind Word
11. When You Thought You'd Never Stand Out
When Copeland burst into the industry with 2003’s “Beneath Medicine Tree”, followed not long after by their sophomore record “In Motion”, they were touted as one of the scene’s premier melodic rock bands. The band’s latest effort, “Eat, Sleep, Repeat,” certainly lives up to the hype.
Initially, the album presented me with some concerns. The demise of the band’s pop sensibility as they progressed from album to album was certainly disconcerting. “Beneath Medicine Tree”, as did a sizable portion of “In Motion”, provided the listener with instantly gratifying, solid pop/rock rhythms. While the new record isn’t chock full of slick, catchy pop hooks, it charms the listener in it’s own regard.
Songwriter Aaron Marsh has a knack for tackling some somber subject matter. However, he has always been able to counterbalance by highlighting the more lighthearted and jovial as well, which “Eat, Sleep, Repeat” is seemingly lacking. If you’re looking for the standard, standout Copeland pop-anthem, you may not find it here.
Copeland’s new direction in delivery, which started to take shape on “In Motion”, is now in full force. The opening track, “Where’s My Head”, though it certainly highlights Marsh’s signature vocal abilities, greets us with minimal instrumentation. Things slowly pick up with the disc’s title track, but don’t really return to true-to-form Copeland until “Control Freak”. The single may be a welcome transition for some nostalgic, fair-weathered fans.
Marsh’s unabashedly earnest lyrics, teamed with the newly evolved, and remarkably idyllic, instrumentation only bolster Copeland’s reputation as it relates to ingenuity and their ability to create stunningly ethereal melodic rock records. In my opinion, standout tracks include the quasi-political “Safer On An Airplane”, as well as “I’m A Sucker For A Kind Word.” The jazzy extended jam, which includes horns and a captivating little piano riff, that closes “Love Affair”, is perhaps my favorite instance on the entire record.
Copeland, you grow as I grow, and for that I applaud you. The band first established themselves as pop/rock mavens, but are now slowly working their way up the rungs of the ladder where esteemed songwriting and sophistication reign supreme.