By Ryan Pike
In the two years since the release of their debut album, You Are the Jaguar, Dearly Beloved has been touring and preparing their follow-up. While not suffering from the dreaded sophomore slump, the strangely-titled RepoRepoRepo doesn’t have much to say.
From opener “Candy Coated,” Dearly Beloved unabashedly shows off all their strengths and weaknesses. The majority of songs on the album are all fast, energetic and short. The musical arrangements are clean and clear, allowing the band to effectively showcase their vocals. This poses a problem, as the music is toe-tapping fun, but the lyrics themselves are devoid of meaning. The album’s scant, 35-minute duration breezes by and Dearly Beloved seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere, but can’t seem to figure out where that actually is. As it stands, many of the song titles are much cleverer than the songs themselves, with smirk-inducing “Slow is the New Fast” ends up being one of many analogous songs. None of the songs are bad by any stretch but none stand out from the others.
Generally catchy and fun, Dearly Beloved’s latest is the musical equivalent of cotton candy; it’s enjoyable and runs its course fairly quickly, but leaves the listener wishing for something more filling.