Really, the style of music Hoover’s Ooover makes is oh so charming. Unfortunately, every single track they produce has the distinction of sounding exactly the same as something else they’ve recorded in the past.

This fact hit home pretty hard when I went to watch them live a few months ago - despite enjoying their set, I could not recognize a single song they played by name and trying to rack my brains by cycling through their albums only served to confuse me even more with how similar everything sounded.

The same can be said of Kotae wa 156-page, their 5th full length album. It’s all so cheery, so catchy, so hummable, yet so, so familiar. Fine for first-time listeners but for people familiar with Hoover’s Ooover - it’s déjà vu to the extreme. The only exception is the ballad Stove, showing a tender side to the band you won’t hear too often.

Not a bad album; too bad it’s the same one they’ve been making since 2000.