About
Sloan
Thursday, July 7th
Sloan
www.sloanmusic.com
Sloan established themselves as a leader of the new wave of power pop groups of the late ‘90s. Billboard Music describes the bands distinctive sound as, “Beatlesque pop power.” They have a similar vibe to fellow ‘90s bands R.E.M. and Minutemen. This indie rock Canuck quartette formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1991 after Scott and Murphy met while studying at Nova Scotia School of Art and Design. Their hooky pop tunes were received with enthusiasm by Canadian fans and American’s were first exposed to Sloan in New York City when they opened for Sonic Youth. In April of 1992, they began a cross-Canada tour. In the crowd at one of their cross-Canada gigs was a representative from the major label punk rock kingpins DGC Records. Soon after signing with DGC Records, their debut album, Smeared went on sale in Canada in 1992 and hit the states that January.
After opening for the Lemonheads and fIREHOUSE, Sloan put out their sophomore album, Twice Removed. DGC didn’t agree with the simplified and subdued direction of this second album and failed to adequately market it in the United States, favoring the developing artists in the up and coming grunge music scene. In spite of DGC overlooking the albums potential, Twice Removed was met with much fanfare up north. Chart! Magazine named the album “The Best Canadian Album of All Time,” Spin Magazine called it one of the “Best Albums You Didn’t Hear This Year” and it also received a 1995 Juno Award nomination in the category of Best Alternative Album. Upon DGC not giving the band necessary support, the group went on hiatus to determine its future and the members pursued individual projects. In 1996, the group re-emerged under the recording company Enclave, a subsidiary of EMI recording company, which released their next album, One Chord to Another.
Another seven albums have followed including the 2005 release of their mid-career greatest hits CD titled, A Sides Win: Singles 1992-2005 and May 10, 2011 release of, The Double Cross. Supporting such bands as The Rolling Stones and The Foo Fighters, Sloan is here to stay. According to Spin Magazine, these lackadaisical rockers have, “never stopped releasing albums full of cleverly constructed and muscular power-pop.” They are ranked number six on Spin Magazine’s 2009 list of Top 10 Canadian Artists.