Copeland - Beneath Medicine Tree 
Label: The Militia Group
Rating: 
 

Conventional wisdom would say that Copeland's Beneath Medicine Tree album is backwards. Not so much lyrically or conceptually but musically. The album starts out with a sad little ballad and gradually builds in tempo, though it never builds up to anything danceable or screamable.

Copeland's sound is softhearted without being mushy or middle of the road. All of the songs maintain the qualities of ballads and the spirit of indie rock. It's a little difficult to settle into at first listen, as the opening weeper "Brightest" leaves the listener trying to figure out if lead singer Aaron Marsh is a female singer/songwriter or just another high-voiced emo kid gone awry. Some may think the song a fluke, expecting a barrage of loud guitars at the beginning of the second track. None of these options end up being the case, as the guitars pick up only slightly on "Test the Strong Ones" and throughout the rest of the album.

Due to Beneath Medicine Tree's rather continuous sobering mood, it's hard to pick out certain songs as overall standouts. "Brightest" certainly is a head scratcher, but "Coffee" seems to elicit the most repeat spins, with its tale of suburban kids who seem to think they can only pretend to act like real people: "We do the best we can in a small to town to act like kids in love when the sun goes down," which leads them to hang out in diners "like big city kids." Instrumentally, the mellotron on "California" is also a nice touch.

VERDICT: Beneath Medicine Tree feels like the ballads of a bunch of indie rocking emo and MOR albums thrown together in a compilation like so many of Toad the Wet Sprocket's younger cousins. Melodic and moving but never building up to something, the album is perfect for background music on a quiet day.

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