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Biography
In 1991 bassist and vocalist Chris Murphy and drummer Andrew Scott met while studying at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and with the addition of Patrick Peatland on guitar and vocals and Jay Ferguson on guitar, formed Sloan. A year later the band made their recording debut on the Halifax, Canada CD compilation “Hear & Now” before releasing their debut EP “Peppermint” (1991) on their own label Murderecords. In 1992 Sloan signed with Geffen Records and released their full-length debut “Smeared”.
The band’s 1994 follow-up “Twice Removed”, despite the lack of promotion by Geffen Records due to artistic disputes sold well in their home nation of Canada but not so well in America. The record was undisputedly simpler and more melodic than its predecessor despite the label’s best efforts for Sloan make it noisier and for them to fit into the grunge scene. The album was named “The Best Canadian Album of All Time” by one poll and revered by many other and the band supported the album with a relentless tour of Canada thereafter.
During a small hiatus in 1995 where members pursued their own musical interests, Sloan returned in 1995 and released the single “Same Old Flame”. The single made way for another hugely popular album in Canada “One Chord to Another” in 1996. It was recorded on a very tight budget however eventually got a well-received U.S. release when the band signed with EMI subsidiary Enclave in early 1997.
Sloan subsequently released “Navy Blues” in 1998, the double live album “4 Nights at the Palais Royale” in 1999, “Between the Bridges” in 1999, “Pretty Together” in 2011 and “Action Pact” in 2003. The latter of which was recorded in Los Angeles with Tom Rothrock in the production seat in the hope of appealing to a U.S. audience. Its successor, the 30-track long “Never Hear the End of It” in 2006 saw all members of the band contributing a section of songs and became Sloan’s highest charting album in the U.S.
In 2008 Yep Roc Records released Sloan’s ninth studio album “Parallel Play”, followed by the EP “Hit & Run” in 2009 and the full-length studio release “Double Cross” in 2011. “Commonwealth”, released in 2014 is an extensive double album with each of the four sides written by one of the band members to allow their personalities to blossom.
Live reviews
Super fun Canadian power-pop rockers Sloan are, for some reason, little known outside of their native land, but much-loved in Canada, having been, throughout the course of their 20-year history as band, nominated for nine Juno awards (aka the Canadian Grammy), and having won themselves one. Their catchy mix of 90’s grungy alt-rock with a hefty dose of power hooks and witty lyricism has won over their home fans, and it’s easy to see why the appreciation is spreading. The band initially signed with the infamous Geffen records to release their first full-length album, ‘Smeared’ in 1992, which is still regarded as one of the all-time greatest Canadian albums. A unique aspect of the four-piece, founded by Chris Murphy and Andrew Scott, is that each member contributes to the songwriting process and even go so far as to constantly rotate their instruments- this is a rally cool feature of their live shows, as you get to see just how talented each of them are at playing everything! Another pretty impressive piece of trivia is that Sloan’s line-up has remained unchanged since their beginnings- something almost unheard of in the world of music. I had a complete blast at their concert back in 2010 at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon, where they played as tight and precisely as in the studio, and their fully-loaded set included chant-all-the-words hits like ‘Everything You’ve Done Wrong’ and ‘Oh Dear Diary’, which had everyone in the crowd headbanging and jumping around. If you get the chance to see some of Canada’s finest pop-rockers, don’t miss out, as it will definitely be an awesome night.
louise_h
As always, Awesome. True professionals.
The One Chord to Another set was great. This was one of the few times that a straight through album set worked-seeing each band memeber do their songs in the context of yhe full album accentuated what each member brought to the finished product and highlighted just how high the waulity of the song writing is.
The second set spanned their whole career. With as many great songs as Sloan has in their catalog there are always a few songs you might wish they had played but the set was excellent and the guys looked like they were having a lot of fun.
First time at the Grog Shop. Cool venue.
mfranko
Sloan played two full sets of amazing music (Navy Blues front-to-back and then a second set of songs from their entire career), and absolutely rocked the house.
I used to listen to them obsessively, so I was able to shout-sing along to almost every song they played. Easily one of the best concert experiences I've had in a few years.
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