Peppermint EP (©1992 Murderecords)

1: Marcus Said 2: Underwhelmed 3: Pretty Voice 4: Lucky For Me 5: Sugartune 6: Torn

From such humble beginnings Sloan embarked on their musical journey to be the biggest derivative band in the land. Adeptly mixing elements of alt rock with hints of 60s and 70s rock attitude.

However at this early juncture they were a pure alt-rock act. You can hear them sounding around for their musical voice, with early versions of "Underwhelmed" (which dang it should be a word!) and "Marcus Said".

Sonically it’s a bit fat and muddy. What it does have is a lot energy and spark. Not a great album, heck, it’s not even a good album. Well, that may be a little harsh – but it’s hard to maintain any perspective backwards through a decade’s worth of tunes. If I’d gotten on the bandwagon early on, I’m sure I’d be more overwhelmed (look kids a play on song titles) by this early effort.

In time the boys would strike a chord (at least three of them) and put out some wicked ass music. Peppermint isn’t as fresh as it could be, but it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Reviewed October 29, 2003

Smeared (©1992 Murderecords)

1: Underwhelmed 2: Raspberry 3: I Am The Cancer 4: Median Strip 5: Take It In 6: 500 Up 7: Marcus Said 8: Sugartune 9: Left Of Centre 10: Lemonzinger 11: Two Seater 12: What's There To Decide?

The first full length effort by Sloan found them gazing at their shoes and taking their first baby steps to finding their own sound (dang, I was trying to find a way to fit "their" in at least once more in that sentence).

A few songs from the E.P. make an appearance here, and that's a good thing. I've been listening to this one off and on for a couple of years and as a result it's had more time to settle in. This is a decent album, and has a number of cool songs, and I have to tell myself that this was 1992, and rock and roll was going through one of its weird transitions. The guys start off pretty strong here with a one, two, three punch ("I Am The Cancer" is kickin') and then the albums sort of meanders to the final cut, which is one of the more interesting atmospheric moments the guys have ever laid down. So if Smeared sounds a little unfocused (dare I say smeared?), and at times disjointed it probably had more to do with t not being clear on where to go more than anything.

For those who are only familiar with the bands later material, their (ah, today's favourite word) early stuff makes for interesting listening.

Reviewed December 13, 2005

Twice Removed (©1994 Murderecords)

1: Penpals 2: I Hate My Generation 3: People Of The Sky 4: Coax Me 5: Bells On 6: Loosens 7: Worried Now 8: Shame Shame 9: Deeper Than Beauty 10: Snowsuit Sound 11: Before I Do 12: I Can Feel It

I figured I should get on the Sloan bandwagon at some point. I’ve liked their stuff for years (at least the songs I heard on the radio), but have resisted picking up their stuff. Mainly because I have this thing where I won’t just buy one of their albums, oh no, not me – I can’t be normal. So the other day I bought not one, not two, but four of their CDs. This one being the first one I put on.

Well, it’s a good solid record, and at times the guys sound like a bunch of kids practicing a garage, a sound I’m sure they practiced for hours trying to get right (listen to Deeper Than Beauty, and you know the guys must have knocked of practice early that day). They balance between power pop, and retro with ease. It’s hard at times to separate Sloan from some of their contemporaries. They’re good here, but they’re vanilla ice-cream good.

Strangely enough considering the time that’s elapsed since 1994 this sounds remarkably fresh, and the lead off track Penpals sounds like something off the new Soundtrack of Our Lives album. I guess that’s the beauty of playing good old fashioned rock and roll.

Here’s to some good Canadian kids.

Reviewed October 16, 2003

One Chord To Another (©1996 Murderecords)

1: The Good In Everyone 2: Nothing Left To Make Me Want To Stay 3: Autobiography 4: Junior Panthers 5: G Turns To D 6: A Side Wins 7: Everything You've Done Wrong 8: Anyone Who's Anyone 9: The Lines You Amend 10: Take The Bench 11: Can't Face Up 12: 400 Metres

Describing a Sloan album is never an easy thing to do. Terms like retro, derivative, on and on - they don't do the band any credit. I'm sure they have enough detractors without me adding any fuel to the fire. All the guys (Patric, Chris, Jay and Andrew) take turns writing and singing which is kind of cool.

One of the things I really like about Sloan is their ability to make their music sound simple. This isn't as easy as it sounds as these kids are really laying down a lot of complex patterns and arrangements that only sound easy. One of the things I've really come to enjoy is the guitar work of Jay and Patrick. Initially I wasn't all that blown away, but the closer I listen the more layers and subtle twists emerge. They are quite deceiving.

"The Good in Everyone" is one of my favourites on this album. Don't get me wrong here, I'm a Sloan fan - and this is a good solid album, it's just not a great album.

Musically the guys borrow from everyone. CCR, T-Rex, The Beatles ... pick one and you'll find little nods here and there. Sloan is an interesting band to listen to, as over time you can hear them changing from musical chameleons to a band with their own sound.

Reviewed July 15, 2005

Between the Bridges (©1999)

1: The N.S. 2: So Beyond Me 3: Don't You Believe a Word 4: Friendship 5: Sensory Deprivation 6: All By Ourselves 7: A Long Time Coming 8: Waiting for Slow Songs 9: Losing California 10: The Marquee and the Moon 11: Take Good Care of the Poor Boy 12: Delivering Maybes

Oh my. Somewhere along the way I’ve become a proselytizing fanatical pundit for Canada’s other fab four (BTO being the first). Once upon a time I could listen to these guys and dis and praise ‘em whenever I felt like it. But after a steady diet of Sloan albums over the last couple of years I’ve found my ability to be objective has gone out the proverbial window. I’m not quite at the point where an album of the guys breaking wind to a clever riff and a solid back beat would get four stars – but I’m close.

My original intent was to review their back catalog one release at a time in chronological order and mark their growth – but being lazy I soon lost track of where I was, and in no time was listening to them out of order. Even worse I was digging on their live album for a few weeks straight – which bent me all out of shape to the studio versions.

In short I was screwed, and it was just better to pull ‘em off the shelf and play them when I felt like it. At first Between the Bridges didn’t do much for me - it sort of sat there, and looked at me with those big puppy dog eyes. Yeah it was cute, but so what? If I raised my voice would the dang thing roll over and wet itself? So I put it away, not wanting to hurt it’s feelings by saying it wasn’t anything that put blood in my nether regions – that and I didn’t want it to pee on me.

Now you’re probably thinking, “What the heck kind of review is this? You gave it four stars you moron!” Ah, a really good point, and in my own way I working up to it. Slowly … just be patient and all will be revealed.

The guys are still boldly going where others have gone before. But they do it such style it sounds fresh and like nothing other than Sloan. They don’t get the credit they deserve which is a crapper – but life is generally unfair. It’s all part of being Canadian. Jay and Patrick are probably one of the most underrated dynamic duos in rock today. They crank, wank and noodle in a style that would bring a shit eating grin to Keith Richards. They are ably augmented by Chris and Andrew. This is a band’s band. They all write, they all sing (some better than others), they all play.

While Between the Bridges doesn't contain a monster stand out “that’s a hit for sure” track, all of the songs play really well off of each other, and are either cut right on top of each other or are cross faded into a long play experience. This is a 46 minute pop love fest.

To quote the evil troll, “Who goes on my bridge?”

Reviewed November 4, 2005

Pretty Together (©2001 Murderecords)

1: If It Feels Good Do It 2: In The Movies 3: The Other Man 4: Dreaming Of You 5: Pick It Up And Dial 6: The Great Wall 7: The Life Of A Working Girl 8: Never Seeing The Ground For The Sky 9: It's In Your Eyes 10: Who You Talkin' To 11: I Love A Long Goodbye 12: Are You Giving Me Back My Love 13: Your Dreams Have Come True

Okay, here's the skinny. Sloan freakin' rocks. Period. Yeah, yeah, I'm getting on the bandwagon a little late, but I'm along for the ride now. The album busts out of the gate with If It Feels Good Do It, and from there the boys don't look back. The guys have pulled out all of the stops and there's no good reason why they haven't become household names outside of their home and native land - well that's stretching it too, but they are pretty well known in Canada. The Other Man is another song I really like.

Sloan is a band where the sum of the four parts equals one great whole (what the hell does that mean?) Still, Patrick, Jay, Andrew and Chris have managed a feat few bands are able to pull off. They get better as they go along. I know a lot of people looked at Twice Removed as their brush with greatness - whatever, it was good, but this is better. Okay, there was Giving Me Back My Love, which reached a new level of cheesy. I mean, David Gates would be hard pressed to sing this one without wondering if even he'd gone too sucky.

Okay, I know I said they rock, and then they close their album with some 70s sounding derivative silliness. Hey, it's all part of their charm.

Reviewed February 23, 2004

Action Pact (©2003 Vik)

1: Gimme That 2: Live On 3: Backstabbin' 4: The Rest of My Life 5: False Alarm 6: Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore 7: Hollow Head 8: Ready for You 9: I Was Wrong 10: Who Loves Life More? 11: Reach Out 12: Fade Away

We interrupt this important review for a few words of unabashed gushing.

Slooooooaaaaaan, sloooooooooaaan, sloooooaaaaan.

Ah, where was I? Oh yes, the ever present Sloan bandwagon. Still helmed by Patric, Jay, Chris and Andrew the boys are back and in fine form. Musically this stuff sounds more simple than it really is … they guys are a tight outfit, and their music is twisted enough to not quite fit into the easy box. Who knows if the boys will ever really catch on in a big way to the rest of the world - It would be nice if they did, since the world could really use a really cool rock and roll band. They seem resigned to their fate of being big at home.

So until they get an iPod commercial, or the big break they’ll remain a well known secret in Canada.

Favourite cuts include: Live On (killer guitar solo), The Rest of My Life (brilliant!), False Alarm (the best song Greg Kinh never wrote 20 years ago), Ready for You (AC/DC lite), and the album’s closer Fade Away.

This is arguably the best album so far by a talented quartet. Twelve songs, just under 40 minutes. As they say “All killer, no filler.”

Reviewed May 5, 2005

Never Hear The End Of It (©2006)

1: Flying High Again 2: Who Taught You To Live Like That? 3: I've Gotta Try 4: Everybody Wants You 5: Listen To The Radio 6: Fading Into Obscurity 7: I Can't Sleep 8: Someone I Can Be True With 9: Right Or Wrong 10: Something's Wrong 11: Ana Lucia 12: Before The End Of The Race 13: Blackout 14: I Understand 15: You Know What It's About 16: Golden Eyes 17: Can't You Figure It Out? 18: Set In Motion 19: Love Is All Around 20: Will I Belong? 21: Ill Placed Trust 22: Live The Life You're Dreaming Of 23: Living With The Masses 24: HFXNSHC 25: People Think They Know Me 26: I Know You 27: Last Time In Love 28: It's Not The End Of The World 29: Light Years 30: Another Way I Could Do It

I've had this one for a while, and I've waffled between thinking it's the best thing the band has ever done, to wondering why they didn't have someone edit this thing down to 45 minutes of good material. For whatever reason the guys decided to throw it all to the four winds and go for broke. Throw enough shit against the wall, and some of it is bound to stick. So what happened? They built a shit wall. Most of the stuff stuck. Once this got under my skin it became my favourite Sloan album. It doesn't have my favourite Sloan songs on it, but as an album the short songs, and the long songs are interwoven into an aural experience that lasts over an hour and fifteen minutes. It's a pretty cool journey.

The boys had been chasing the dream for almost fifteen years when this one came out. The big break always just out of reach. They'd become a dependable staple in Can-con surfacing every couple years with a standard crop of retro laced rockers, getting some airplay, touring the country, and then going to ground for another year or two. So what do you do to shake things up when things become predictable? You take what you do best, add a few extra odds and ends (including a power saw), take total control and then release a collection of Sloan infused rockers that actually breaks new ground for the band. Not an easy feat. It's like the boys have resigned themselves to their fate: They'll be moderately big at home, obscure elsewhere else. It must suck, especially since the whole retro vibe thing is really starting to take off. Sloan should be at the front of the bloody parade tossing candies and waving to the crowd.

The boys took the pressure off themselves, released an album full of cool Sloan songs, and in the process breathed new life into their material. The future has never looked better for the band. I can hardly wait to hear what they come up with next.

Sloooo-aaaaan rocks.

Reviewed March 1, 2008