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I don’t know if
it’s because they’ve been playing fairly decent mid-size venues (less than
hockey arenas, bigger than clubs) up North for a few years now, or what, but
a superficiality has overtaken Sloan’s songwriting. As always the playing is
tight and the harmonies spot-on, but to what end? I’m sure "If It Feels Good
Do It" works well blasting to a crowd of a thousand or so, but sitting here
at home it comes across as all veneer, no viscera. I could just be
projecting, but it seems like they’ve "gone over to the dark side" of the
‘70s: Maybe CHR radio has been waiting for a Toto revival ("The Other
Man"), and they, and RCA, figure that’s how they’ll get out of the 200-500
capacity rut they’ve been in for the last decade down here, but it just adds
to my depression. And I don’t even know what to say about the short hop from
"Pick It Up And Dial It" to ELP’s "Karn Evil 9, First Impression"
("Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends…") This is not to
say that relegating them to nodding interest, like R.E.M. since Green,
is a foregone conclusion. Because there is something still there, stuck at
the back in the sequence of "Who You Talkin’ To?," "I Love A Long Goodbye,"
"Are You Giving Me Back My Love?" and "Your Dreams Have Come True." A
quartet of Soft-Rock plaints reminiscent of less treacly McCartney/Wings
("Are You Giving…" extends into the realm of Supertramp with it’s
high, feathered vocals). It might just be de facto, but for me they form a
small song cycle about continually leaving their "better halves" behind as
they go to work, in their case across thousands of miles. Including the
accent provided by the synth strings & bits, and the trumpet on the final
number, there is a substantive core here of melancholy and regret, not to
mention nicely wrought melodies. (10/02)
David M. Snyder |
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