SLOAN Is The Word | By Daron Faught

This Canadian rock band formed in 1991 and has continued to evolve ever since. Still with all its original members, Sloan became a minor chart success in 1992 with their debut album "Smeared" and its hit single "Underwhelmed." The song reached #25 on the US Modern Rock Chart but that has been their only charting song in the U.S. They've had five Top 40 singles in Canada, won a Juno Award (the Canadian Grammys), and garnered eight other nominations. Each member has written and sung at least one song on every album they've released.

Their first two albums were released in the U.S. on Geffen Records. The company was impressed with the band's distorted grungy sound that was all the rage at the time. However, when they released their 2nd album, "Twice Removed," in 1994 they became more of a melodic power-pop band. The label was unhappy about the change in tone and did little to promote the record. This album has since been voted the best Canadian rock album of all time in several different polls.

Since then, the band started their own label, Murderecords, and has released 10 more great albums and the newest one, logically called "12" was just released this spring. It's difficult to compare them to other bands because their brand of alternative rock contains more upbeat and fewer 'woe is me' lyrics. The closest contemporary band I can think of would be Foo Fighters, but I would heartily recommend streaming some of their songs or watching some of their videos on YouTube with all members contributing and singing different songs. If you don't like the first one, try a different one. You'll probably end up loving it.