Copeland - Dressed Up and In Line
Rating
RIYL
MaeDashboard Confessional
Straylight Run
Tracklist
1. You Love to Sing (Slow Version)2. Thanks To You
3. Sleep (Premix)
4. Chin Up (Demo)
5. Careful Now (Acoustic Version)
6. Black Hole Sun
7. No One Really Wins (Acoustic Version)
8. Interlude
9. Every Breathe You Take
10. May I Have This Dance
11. That Awful Memory Of Yours
12. Second Star To The Left, Go Til’ Dawn
13. Brightest (Acoustic Version)
14. When Paula Sparks (Alternate Version)
15. Thanks To You (DJ Cakeface Remix)
Users RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
Your RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
As with any B-sides or rarities collection, you really have to be a fan of the band to appreciate the material, and that is doubly reinforced on Dressed Up & In Line. As a first encounter with Copeland, this collection might turn off new listeners. But surely those doe-eyed fans of Aaron Marsh’s incessantly pretty music and lilting voice will appreciate all these... err, gems wrapped up in one neat package.
There seems to be an entire generation of starry-eyed romantics with floppy hair and skinny pants who gobble up the type of heartfelt, acoustic-based, sometimes piano-driven travesties perpetrated by bands such as Copeland. Unlike, say, Dashboard Confessional, however, Copeland lacks a distinct personality. Marsh just drones on about whatever it is he sings in his soft, delivered-from-above voice, never convincing listeners (or, this listener) to care.
“May I Have This Dance” is perhaps the best (worst?) example of how Marsh’s writing of pretty songs overrides any urge to continue paying attention, with the entire song overridden by the falsetto “oooohs.” Not that there’s much to get from a song whose lyrics sound as though they were written by a lovesick schoolboy (“May I have this dance / I saw you sitting lonely / I hoped you would say yes”).
Here’s a question: How did Copeland’s cover of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” (included here, along with a distinctive, if a tad boring, take on The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.”) end up on Punk Goes ‘90s? Not only does the band suck the life out of a song that was already the least inspiring of that Seattle giant’s career, but when has Copeland ever been a punk band? Even on its more aggressive, guitar-driven songs (such as “Second Star to the Left, Go ‘Til Dawn”), the feeling is just short of early-‘90s college rock sincerity, but miles away from punk earnestness.
To be fair, a few tracks save this disc from total dismissal. The “premix” version of In Motion’s “Sleep” has a cool, slow-groove beat accompanied by some Silversun Pickups-style fuzzbox. And the DJ Cakeface remix of “Thanks to You” gives the song a haunting texture reminiscent of The Postal Service.
But except for hardcore fans of Copeland, who probably already have these songs in their collections anyway (as Marsh wrote in an AbsolutePunk.net posting, “many of these tracks are out there already”), Dressed Up is best left out of line when you’re at your local record shop.
--PJ Perez
Comments
Berlin, Germany
However, I think, there is something innocent , magical about Marsh's voice in combination with the band . It might be highly subjective, but in this case I am with the mass of people who feel the magic of these 'type of heartfelt, acoustic-based, sometimes piano-driven travesties'.
ps: 'Beneath Medicine Tree' is naive, but great.
Atlanta
Berlin, Germany
Sin City
Well, to be honest, my review was highly subjective. But I did recognize that an awful lot of people do like that sound. And I can see why. It still just seems to be kinda hollow to me. Marsh is a great songwriter, but I just can't get onboard with those songs, ya know? Thanks for commenting!!
Spreading love and joy since 1976.
Bloggery: Bleeding Neon
Atascadero, CA
wish i could clone him 10x.. seems like it encourages more discussions. he's only around til february did he say? kinda disappointing really.
Decoymusic.com (CEO/Founder)
Blue Reef Design Studios (Web Development)
http://aarontroy.tumblr.com
Atlanta
January actually, but i'll only be gone for a couple of months.