It’s a problem that has plagued songwriters since the advent of the recording industry: what do you do when you want to mature your sound and really let everyone know that you’ve finally found your voice? Well, if you’re Copeland you record a CD on which every track sounds exactly the same. And by that I mean boring, uninspired, and sounds like the lyrics were written in the course of a day and done so by a middle-school girl. This entire album feels hollow and rushed and could use a few more months baking in the run-of-the-mill emo band oven. Every track is a slow piano ballad; the vocals hit the pitch, but lack the range of a school building fire alarm. Apparently Copeland has some huge fan base that will probably be shrinking back down to a few of their friends watching them play in their parents’ basement after this album gets around.
(The Militia Group, 13892 Harbor Blvd. Suite 4A, Garden Grove, CA 92843)