Sloan - "Commonwealth"

Sloan - the Canadian indie rock institution - is set to release Commonwealth, their eleventh album today via Yep Roc Records.  The band boasts four equally great and able songwriters and they share the wealth on Commonwealth with each songwriter providing a side to the double LP, allowing for each individual’s style to shine through.     

The 15-track album opens with five tracks from Jay Ferguson who blends his cherubic voice and Beatles-esque melodies into their 70’s-loving power-pop with standout tracks, “You’ve Got A Lot On Your Mind” and the melodic piano-led “Three Sisters”.  Chris Murphy takes the second side with five songs that showcase his penchant for jangly, shimmering chamber-pop with clever lyrics and the upbeat standout track, “Carried Away” is the perfect example.  Patrick Pentland puts the power in “power-pop” on his side with four tracks including the buzzing and propulsive “13 (Under A Bad Sign)” and the standout first single, “Keep Swinging (Downtown)” with its pounding piano and raucous riff and rhythm.  The album closes out with Andrew Scott’s dynamic and psychedelic “Forty-Eight Portraits”, an 18-minute-long opus that takes up the final side and highlights everything that the bands does best..    

Even though each side represents one of the songwriter’s styles, the album as a whole is still distinctly “Sloan” with layers of close-knit harmonies and infectiously catchy melodies, resulting in their best and oddly enough, their most cohesive album in years. 

Stream “Keep Swinging (Downtown)” here:

For more info: http://sloanmusic.com/