The Double Cross (2011)
Unsurprisingly nominated for a Juno Award in the category of Best Rock Album of the Year, The Double Cross shows the band finding their footing for a new era without abandoning the sensibilities of the classic Sloan. Named after the Roman numeral for 20, it is a matter-of-fact celebration of the band’s 20th anniversary, clocking in at a to-the-point 34 minutes. It’s their shortest album, but it manages to use its time wisely. While it’s not unusual to feature variety on an album, spanning decades of influences from ’60s rock, ’70s disco and ’80s punk all in a half-hour is definitely enterprising even for Sloan. The members manage to blur through songs so seamlessly that it’s entirely possible for a song change to go undetected. They even venture to reprise each other’s songs, particularly with Murphy’s “Shadow of Love” and Ferguson’s “Beverly Terrace.” Collaborative efforts shine throughout.
The Double Cross was the band’s tenth album in twenty years, and in recounting the history that brought them here, there is an evident sense of pride in foregoing external input, to the point that they seem protective over their individual creative processes. Bookended by tracks written by Murphy, the album opens with its single, “Follow the Leader,” throwing back to their radio-friendly 70s pop-rock influences, and it ends with “Laying So Low,” featuring a surprising piano-driven bridge that makes the track much more memorable.
Recommended: “Beverly Terrace” (Ferguson), “It’s Plain to See” (Pentland), “She’s Slowing Down Again” (Scott), “Shadow of Love” (Murphy)
Pretty Together (2001)
“This song is dedicated to you, because this song is for people who know what rock is about!” shouts Chris Murphy, kicking off Sloan’s 6th album rather presumptuously. When it comes to discussions about Sloan albums, Pretty Together remains chronically, and tragically, underrated.
The album, despite earning the band another Juno nomination for Best Rock Album of the Year, largely goes by the wayside in favour of its singles. The band’s scandalous (and alleged) Andrew White (Broken Social Scene)/Leslie Feist/Chris Murphy love-triangle-gone-wrong single “The Other Man” and the Juno-nominated Single of the Year “If It Feels Good Do It” both stand out as two of the band’s most memorable songs. “If It Feels Good Do It,” which included a public commentary (and a cameo from Danko Jones) on what rock and roll is, in fact, about, won them and director Noble Jones an East Coast Music Award for Video of the Year.
Pretty Together was also the first album to be recorded after Sloan also moved their Murderecords label from MCA/Universal to BMG, and their first album to be recorded digitally.
Recommended: “The Great Wall” (Scott), “Are You Giving Me Back My Love” (Ferguson), “It’s In Your Eyes” (Pentland), “I Love A Long Goodbye” (Murphy)
Never Hear The End Of It (2006)
Never Hear The End Of It is a vastly varied cornucopia of sound. Even the song lengths range from 5-minute tracks to blink-and-you’ll-miss-them 50 second-long interludes. Never Hear The Of It came as a breath of fresh air for fans and was hailed as a rejuvenation of their sound. They pulled out all the stops, showing the true scope of their abilities, and garnering comparisons to The Beatles’ Abbey Road.
Sloan needed to shed some restrictions after the growing pains of Action Pact, their difficult foray into America and the heavy-hand direction of producer Tom Rothrock. This album became an “anything goes” demonstration of their versatility. Coming off an album that had skewed the band’s democratic nature by completely omitting the work of Andrew Scott, they made sure to free Scott of his creative shackles and let him explore his full range of motion no holds barred. This album gave him the freedom to explore his unique, almost psychedelic sounds, which can most effectively be heard on “Golden Eyes”.
If you didn’t know Andrew Scott was a musical genius before, you will after listening to this album.
“Who Taught You To Live Like That” and “Ill-Placed Trust” were singles on this album, which landed them their first chartings on US radio. It also earned Sloan another Best Rock Album of the Year Juno nomination.
Recommended: “Fading Into Obscurity” (Murphy), “Hfxnshc” (Pentland), “Right Or Wrong” (Ferguson), “I’ve Gotta Try” (Scott)
Between the Bridges (1999)
Produced by Brenndan McGuire at Chemical Sound Studios in Toronto, Between The Bridges is a great example of the band mastering the art of stringing their songs together. Notably, it is the band’s first truly democratic album and includes a balanced three songs from each member. Arguably, this is the last album to possess a distinctively vintage Sloan, before branching out from their ‘60s rock influences.
Between the Bridges also stands out for being the only release to open with a song by Andrew Scott. His track, “N.S.,” was also featured in the 2000 film Dancing With The Iguana.
While the video for their single “Losing California” is not pulling out any big stops, it does hold a special place in the hearts of Sloan fans for incorporating a multitude of their characteristically democratic instrument swaps.
This album was also the only one to have a Juno nomination for Best Album Design of the Year.
Recommended: “Don’t You Believe A Word” (Ferguson), “Sensory Deprivation” (Scott), “All By Ourselves” (Murphy), “A Long Time Coming” (Pentland)