In a special artist-on-artist chat, The Junior League’s Joe Adragna talks with Sloan’s Jay Ferguson.
I will not pretend to be non-partisan when it comes to Sloan. They are, to my mind, one of the best bands ever and one of the few bands that, since their inception in 1991, have consistently created strong albums and have avoided the usually-inevitable weak one. The Toronto-based four piece, fresh off my favorite record of 2006 (that would be thirty-track epic Never Hear The End Of It), are back with Parallel Play, the latest release in a career that’s flown under the radar of the U.S. mainstream.
The group has four distinct songwriters and multi-instrumentalists: Jay Ferguson, Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland, and Andrew Scott. Each member contributes at least three songs to Parallel Play (Scott clocks in with four), and their individual songwriting styles are well represented. The great thing about Sloan’s White Album approach is that it’s kind of like getting four different flavors of ice cream—it’s all tasty, and you don’t have to decide between cherry vanilla and rocky road. Ferguson, the band’s resident pop confectionist, delivers one of the album’s high points with the melancholic (but bouncy) “Cheap Champagne;” Murphy’s clever lyrics and gifted melodic sense shines on “All I Am is All You’re Not;” Pentland brings his brand of the rock with the catchy lead-off track, “Believe;” and Scott blasts through the garage-like “Emergency 911.”
Of course, I could go on about really geeky production points or fantastic parts on Parallel Play—like the great chorus of “Living The Dream,” with its fantastic ascending bass line; or maybe the “You Keep Me Hanging On” guitar part on “If I Could Change Your Mind;” perhaps I could discuss the echoy, Moby Grape-ish shuffle of “Down in the Basement;” or I could go on about the fabulous harmonies on the chorus of “Believe.”
Instead I’m just going to tell you to go get Parallel Play and enjoy the latest release from a band that will earn an honored place on your turntable/CD player/MP3 player. (more…)
