Review Summary: It’s all a numbers game for these long-serving Canadian indie rockers.
Any band that decides the best number of tracks for their next release is 30 can’t be that bad, right? Right. Well…sort of.
Hugely loved and respected on the scene in Canada, but basically unknown here in my homeland of Australia, Sloan have made a sundry record that is hugely enjoyable on many levels (yet overlong and forgettable on others).
The record kicks off with the Beatles (circa “Revolver”)-meets-Jack White (circa “Get Behind Me Satan”) pop of “Flying High Again”. And just when you think you know where the song is going to go, it flows right into first single “Who Taught You To Live Like That?”, a real old-school rocker and a highlight of the album. This record has a real flow right through- it barely pauses or stops for breath in its whopping running time of seventy-six-and-a-bit minutes. This has its good and bad points- if you’re willing to sit through through a seventy-plus minute pop record, then there’s nothing holding you back; but if you like things slower, not as long and more accessible, then take this record in bits. Otherwise you will definitely go crazy from the experience.
Musically, the band is spot-on. Self-produced (mostly) and ability in all instruments played, this gives them far much more freedom in their playing, and as a result, how it sounds. Also, the use of different lead vocalists on different tracks works to perfection. The lush vocals on “Listen To The Radio” and “Ana Lucia” contrast well with the Lennon-inspired vocals of “People Think They Know Me” and “Who Taught You To Live Like That?”. The band definitely wear their influences on their sleeves, both lyrically, and, especially, musically. The flavour of the day is the 60s, and 70s guitar pop is the preferred referfence point for this band. In turn, influences also appear to be songwriters in the vein of Neil Young, George Harrison, John Lennon, James Mercer, Evan Dando, Paul McCartney, Jack White, even a bit of John Lydon or Joey Ramone shines through on standout (and only punk number of the whole album’s repertoire) “HFXNSHC”…and the list goes on.
Listening to this album, one of the bad ponts that one notices is that, well, when you’ve got thirty tracks on the one record…there’s going to be some great tracks, but they’ll be easily forgettable. Just when you’re really getting into a track on the album, it rolls into the next track in an instant. This isn’t help by the fact that not many tracks move over the three-minute mark. In fact, the longest song on the album, the five-and-a-half minute acoustic joy of “I Understand”, is probably the best song on the album. Because it’s memorable; because it sticks out. Tracks near the beginning also stick in your head more, which is a pity because a lot of the best material is based after “I Understand” (track fourteen).
This is a pop record that takes you everywhere from the past to the future and then to the past again. You might not enjoy parts of the trip, and it may seem a little too long. But you’ll enjoy it for what it is.
Not that you’ll remember, of course.
