I closed my last review with the sentiment that “no band can push itself forever.”

Welp.

Okay, look, it’s not that Republic is bad. It’s fine. But “fine” is about all it is. The songs, they just kind of lay there, a casualty of the narrowing production range that, in New Order’s best work, has resulted in some truly hypnotic recordings, and there’s nothing especially transcendent or boundary-pushing about this record that makes up for the lack of really great songs. Case in point: the opener, “Regret,” sounds like something Band of Horses might have put in one of its more recent records. That’s not necessarily a criticism, but it’s not an exuberant compliment, either.

The good: “Ruined in a Day,” full of weird, blink-and-you’ll-miss-them instrumental flourishes (is that a The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly sample?) and melancholy–even melodramatic–lyricism and vocal delivery is a clear standout here, as is the undeniably hummable, albeit adult-contemporary-ready “Liar,” which has a successfully big, catchy chorus that I can’t deny. And then there’s “Time Changes,” which, basic rap interludes notwithstanding (seriously, between this and “Radio Song” on Out of Time, was there some sort of requirement for ’80s alt-rock veterans to include lame raps in their ’90s debuts?), makes good use of atmospheric samples and what sounds like maybe a mellotron to create a comfortably downbeat sonic space for listeners to occupy.

But none of this is really all that interesting. (Mostly) gone are the house/techno influences from Technique, and the dance beats have been mostly culled back to fit within more standard pop structures and sounds, even for 1993. It’s a fine listen, but not one I’m going to rush back to again and again.