Dearly Beloved's Rob Higgins Is A Hockey-Loving Repo Man

Toronto's Dearly Beloved have made their new RepoRepoRepo album available as a download before they put the CD version in stores in March.

Singer/guitarist Rob Higgins — who has been a member of Change Of Heart, By Divine Right, Tristan Psionic, Rocket Science and Doctor, and occasionally played bass on tour with Our Lady Peace — is the driving force behind Dearly Beloved. As odd as it seems, considering his resume, RepoRepoRepo will be his first sophomore album.

"I've been fortunate enough to have six records released in the 11 years I've been writing, but I was never lucky enough to get the chance to create a follow-up," says Higgins.

Higgins was joined on the follow-up to last year's You Are The Jaguar by singer/bassist Niva Chow (Sticky Rice), guitarist Damon Richardson (Danko Jones) and drummer Hayden Menzies (Change Of Heart).

Lead single "Candy-Coated," "Carnivale," "The Butcher's Dog" and "Who Knows?" can be previewed on Higgins' MySpace page.

When Higgins isn't playing music, he's talking hockey on XM Satellite Radio's NHL Home Ice channel and the Live From Gretzky's radio show that's carried by XM and terrestrial sports radio stations.

"It's been a lot of fun, and some hard work, but it's something i'm really digging — meeting ex-NHLers like Phil Esposito and Rick Natress as well as working with broadcast pros like Jim Tatti and Dan Blakely has been a real treat for a puck-head like me," Higgins wrote in a recent MySpace blog entry.

Dearly Beloved will play at The Salt Lounge in London, Ont. on Thursday.

Here are the songs on RepoRepoRepo:

"Candy-Coated"
"Acceptance Corporation"
"Who Knows"
"Dress It Up"
"The Butcher's Dog"
"Fire Escape""Carnivale"
"When Slow Is The New Fast"
"Unsee"
"Bit My Lip"