at a glance...

Hometown: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Year Formed: 1991

Members :
Jay Ferguson -guitar, vocals
Chris Murphy -bass, vocals
Patrick Pentland -guitar, vocals
Andrew Scott -drums, vocals

Bands In The Family:
Kearny Lake Road, Superfriendz, The Sadies, Maker's Mark, Spent, The Flashing Lights

Notes:
Sloan have released one E.P. (1992's Peppermint EP) and six albums to date, Smeared (1992), Twice Removed (1994), One Chord To Another (1996), Navy Blues (1998), the live album 4 Nights At The Palais Royale (1999), and the concept album Between The Bridges. Hailing from Halifax, they've now moved on in order to pursue their dreams of rock stardom, and are enjoying increasing success in the U.S., Japan, and Australia. Meanwhile, they've kept up a stream of Canadian releases on their own murderrecords label, which they retreated to after their first two money-makers on Geffen.

When I talked to my friend in Toronto the other day, and she mentioned that the new Sloan single was dominating the Canadian airwaves, I imagined a bubbly, guitar-driven hit like their seminal "Underwhelmed." Wrong again. Things have changed for Sloan since I left Canadian soil. Between The Bridges starts off with Ringo Starresque drums and Elton Johnesque/Squeezesque melodies. A few la las later, and we're neck-deep in the '70s. Is that Roger Daltrey crooning? Keith Richards on guitar? Or is John Lennon back from the dead, playing in a Canadian pop band? After titillating songs like "Median Strip" and the aforementioned "Underwhelmed," I would never have expected Sloan to grace the airwaves side by side with soft-rock like Steely Dan, or classic-rock like Bad Company. Is this some kind of cheap trick?

Whatever it may be, at least Sloan play their retro-rock with gusto, unlike a lot of other bands out there. This isn't the sound of a luke-warm cover band at a bar mitzvah, but of the Bay City Rollers pulling out all the stops at the roller rink bender of all time, teenage girls swooning by the wayside. The song which sticks out for me the most is the touching ballad "A Long Time Coming." Second place goes to the epic finale, "Delivering Maybes," with its endless chorus. Unabashedly pop. Unabashedly '70s pop. Unabashedly well-crafted '70s pop.

If you like Sloan, check out:
Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Sloan Navy Blues
XTC Oranges & Lemons
John Lennon Mind Games
Suede Suede
The Flashing Lights Where The Change Is

-- Lars Rosenblum Sorgenfrei