Sloan's Between the Bridges

This is a phenomenal album. Sloan is a band that everyone should check out because I think very few people know about them but they have a sound that would appeal to so many. I can't believe they're not a huge band. At least not here in America. They're a Canadian band and they have a little more success in Canada. Sometimes I think about moving to Canada. They really seem to know a bit more than we do up there about how to be better humans.

I am SO pleased about discovering this band. I saw them open up for Guided By Voices at the TLA in Philly several years ago. I can't remember the year. But it must have been around 1999 based on the albums that I went on to purchase. Their sound was so tight. It was pop so infectious that I went looking for Sloan records the very next day. (I've discovered so many bands that I like as opening acts. Sloan with GBV, the Elected opening for Supergrass I think, House of Freaks opening for the Bangles. Yes. I went to see the Bangles when I was in high school.) I first found their live album 4 Nights at the Palais Royale. I couldn't believe the audience reaction captured on this live album. I liked it so much , I looked for more. This one, Between the Bridges, was purchased soon after.

The title is a reference to the band's hometown of Halifax, with its two major bridges. It's a kind of concept album. Many of the tracks run together. (Which made using it for mixes difficult back when I was still mix-making on tape.) I guess it tells a kind of autobiographical story of being Canadian, being in a band, and playing shows trying to make it. The chorus in the album's opener, "The N.S.," begins:

But if you think that it's cold when you're swimming in the ocean
It's hard to believe you're a Nova Scotian boy

Clearly about being Canadian. I used to think the N.S. in the title referred to Nova Scotia, but apparently it's the nickname of a mental hospital in Halifax. I like this song because of the tempo changes between verse and chorus. When you hear the intro and the first verse, you think the song is slow and sad. I remember thinking I didn't care for it too much the first time I heard it. But when the chorus speeds up, you can hear it's a pop song. Grand piano chords, rock guitar licks, thick vocal harmonies, and a tight drum beat that intertwines with the melody nicely. I like this song a lot.

The album flows directly into the next song, and the next. The second track, "So Beyond Me," is a classic two-guitar rocker. It also features really good vocal harmony. The drum beat continues right through the end of this one to the intro of the next, "Don't You Believe a Word." This one is softer, with a really good piano base. But not a ballad. Even the longer phrases of the chorus are punctuated by a rhythmic bounce that threatens to speed up the song at any moment.

"Sensory Deprivation" is a great song. Another classic guitar riff. I hear an homage to the Police in between lines of the second verse. A guitar riff that reminds me of "Synchronicity." I read that Sloan played with the Police in Canada on their tour.

I also really like "Waiting for Slow Songs." It's a story I can relate to. It seems to be about the singer at a party when a girl he likes arrives. He's waiting for slow songs so he can dance with the girl, but she's waiting for her ride to pick her up to leave. I like the chorus a lot.

But you write the saddest song
Turn around and make it a singalong
The heart scratch melody
Means there's more than this for you and me

"Losing California" is yet another great rocker on this record. Another classic electric guitar riff with rests in all the right places. And more perfect vocal harmony on the chorus. This was apparently a big hit in Canada.

My favorite is "The Marquee and the Moon." The lyrics are poetry. And it has such a perfect bridge. I absolutely love the way the words marquee and moon are reversed at the end of the bridge. And using the word onomatopoeia? The logistics of phrasing that many syllables into the melody! I'm going to give all of the lyrics for this one.

Cabaret license
I haven't been by since
It goes against all that I've learned
But it seems that the tables have turned


But could we have stopped it
We all get co-opted
To some kind of system it seems
But they can't take away, can't take away all our dreams


Like the one where I'm in a balloon
Floating above I can see the marquee and the moon
The monkey, the dog and Neptune

They're all in good spirits
I'm happy to hear it
But haven't the sweetest idea
To me buzz is onomatopoeia


Will something be happening soon
To settle the difference between the marquee and the moon
They're passing the torch, knife and spoon


And so it goes
I guess there are those
Who want to get out like me
Yeah

Their clientele
Can go to hell
If they want to get in for free
But hell ain't a bad place to be
Yeah

Am I any different than either the moon or marquee
Oh, not a lot if you ask me


Cabaret license
I've been coming by since
The action continued past two
Before this what did we used to do

A very close second is the album's closer, "Delivering Maybes." They use a nice electric piano sound on a lot of songs, and you can hear it in the intro to this one. It reminds me of the piano in Queen's "You're My Best Friend." I love the lyrics of this one as well. I like the wordplay of interchanging "delivering babies" and "delivering maybes." This one combines all of the things I like about Sloan in one song. The piano sound, great guitar work, vocal harmonies and counter melodies, a killer bridge with a change in feel. Just a great close to a great album.

Like I said, I really wish more people knew about this band. Maybe after reading this you'll decide to check them out. I highly recommend this album.