Eat Sleep Repeat

Vinyl LP pressing. Copeland formed in Lakeland, FL in 2001. The band's first album, Beneath Medicine Tree, came out in 2003 on indie label The Militia Group. Virtuosic vocals from frontman Aaron Marsh, at times pay homage to tenor legend Jeff Buckley with belting confidence, or gleam with elegance and passion in the vein of Coldplay's Chris Martin. The songwriting is splendid, blending pop sensible melodies, lush harmonies, and moody lyrics with ambient guitar leads and clever arrangements encasing everything that is beautiful. The layered melodies, combined with Marsh's thoughtful, emotive croon, immediately engaged music fans, offering a nuanced take on the emo music of the early '00s. Copeland returned in 2005 with In Motion which fully captured how much the bad had grown, both lyrically and melodically in the wake of their debut. Third outing, 2006's Eat, Sleep, Repeat was a different kind of indie pop album, one that's over-the-top in it's melodic directness, yet retains it's DIY craftsmanship. It's the sound of a band stretching itself, from the first moments of tinkling vibraphone, manipulated drums, and sighing strings that open the album ("Where's My Head?") through soaring cautionary pop balladry ("Careful Now") and gnarled guitar lines that threaten to strangle airy choruses ("I'm a Sucker for a Kind Word"). In the end, it's an album that is as massive as it is immediate, as uncompromising as it is accessible, a sound big enough to fill a stadium but nuanced enough to require headphones.