Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Ode to Sloan

I've been meaning to write about Canadian music talent and well, I will start with one of my all-time fave bands - SLOAN.


When I first came to Canada ('92), my twin and I were really into rock music and we were so willing to listen to any cool bands. Much Music during the early 90's actually played music videos and actually cared about music (I know, astounding!). So I got exposed to some cool Canadian bands. One of them was Sloan.



Why I fell in love with Sloan?  I was 16 when I first heard their single "Underwhelmed" and I thought they were cute. What else is there? Seriously, I really liked the video and the song, the laziness of the video really caught my attention. Plus, Chris Murphy's voice hooked me. Also, the video for 500 up - awesome!! I would squeal whenever it came on. Check it out:
http://youtu.be/fGBKGd0ma5Q It was simple but so good! Got to hear Andrew's voice for the first time - a shocking experience.  Who knew his voice was so deep?


Later on, I met my now hubby, and he loved Sloan as well. He got to buy all the CD's and still does. Their albums are in rotation whenever we are on a road trip. I have seen them live a couple of times, but he has seen them like ten times - a true fan. If you haven't checked them out, do so on their next tour - they are worth it.  Now I will let you know my favorite songs from Sloan, I like a lot of them, but the ones below are the ones that have truly impressed me:


Coax Me
"It's not the band I hate, it's their fans..." Love that line. Chris rocks it, hitting the high notes pretty good. Almost a falsetto? So different from his regular voice. The video is cool too: http://youtu.be/Uj6d-CQNJ-c

The Lines You Amend
I think that this is Jay's first single and I really, really enjoy listening to him. When I saw them play this song live, I melted. The mix of Jay and Chris, it was just... can I say genios? Whoever thought about it deserves a medal. 

http://youtu.be/xmvVvcf8mBE

The Other Man
Musically, this is one of my favorites from them.  Lyrically, it's haunting.
"I know you've got a man in the picture, but it hasn't stopped me yet
We've all been in one situation or another we regret..." 
I so don't condone cheating, but really, who hasn't at one point in their lives liked someone who was attached and wished they would break up for you? I know I wished that when I was a teen and all the "good" ones were taken. Good thing Ryan was single, or else... ☺
 http://youtu.be/kslDI0CZlOY 
The video wins points with me for the Beethoven reference - my favorite composer.

The Good in Everyone
One of Patrick's best, in my opinion. It also helped how cool they look in the video!
http://youtu.be/Qffy6uHkcTU
I love the ending of this song.

Everybody Wants You
Really dig this song, but there is no video for this one, so you will have to buy the track or the album Never Hear the End of It.

As you can gather, I really like Sloan. An awesome Canadian band that really deserves so much more. True musicians compared to some of the manufactured talent out there. Really funny tidbit of trivia - one of the guys that tours with them as part of the band, is the guy responsible for introducing my husband to me. For him to end up playing for Sloan, is pretty cool. So, I urge you to check them out if you haven't yet. If you have, what are your favorite songs?