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Copeland, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

by Glenn Fullington
09/10/2007

I rolled through Wal-Mart at a quarter past midnight, headphones in tow. Copeland’s third full length record, Eat, Sleep, Repeat, was coercing my arms to keep mushing down the aisles in search of something.

The Monday morning shoppers were few and far between, and the posted weight limit in my mondo wheelchair of 750 lbs seemed to be exceeded by the heaviness of my soul thanks to the tunes.

The album is good. Genres seem to always be lingering in the background, afraid to come out from behind the melodic pop-done-well, but when they do it is superb. At times the sound takes on completely different personaes. The track "Love Affair" hopscotches from piano ballad to guitar solo to loungy crooner jam, with a jazz horn section to boot.

I am impressed by the band’s musical growth from their previous albums, Beneath the Medicine Tree (2003) and In Motion (2005). The album adopts an anti-avant-garde motif. Copeland doesn’t try to recreate the tragic love song, but instead just do it well and with passion.

Actually, I think the album is great. The theme is always present and presented on point lyrically with the music. All is fair in love and war, and that kind of sucks, but accept it and listen to this album.

With all this said, I must admit that one has to be in the right mood to enjoy Eat, Sleep, and Repeat. It is not the album to dance to, or sing to, or play bocce ball to (actually that would work.) You must be in the mood to relax and enjoy the melodic persuasion.

When I dismounted from my wheeled vehicle and exited the store I had the feeling that I took more than the eight items my receipt indicated. I left with a smile and an oddly reassuring focus on life. I thought to myself, “It's easy. Just eat, sleep, and repeat.”