Sloan – Pretty Together
(murderecords)

Early reports that the new Sloan album would be a return to the days of Smeared proved to be completely false with the release of this record. Supposedly, the only connection between the new album and Smeared was in the similarity of the songwriting process the band used for both albums. Within a few seconds of listening, it is clear that the songs on Pretty Together sound nothing like the distortion heavy, feedback drenched pop songs that first catapulted Sloan to stardom.

No, as a matter of fact, this record is just what I would expect from Sloan at this point in their careers. They continue to submerge themselves in old 70’s rock and nostalgia, and to be honest, the whole thing is starting to seem really pretentious. Sloan were at their best when they were writing fun, catchy Beatle-esque tunes, but more and more they are starting to seem like boring old farts who are just trying really hard to seem hip.

Take the cover artwork for instance. I suppose it could be seen as a tasteful indication of the serene and shimmering soundscapes contained on the album. Then again, maybe it just shows a group of aging shaggy-haired dudes watching the sunset over their careers.

The songs on Pretty Together generally have a mellow, dreamy feel to them. This, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. The album cannot be dismissed simply because it is mellow; after all, some of the best Sloan songs are slow numbers, and I do, in fact, feel that this album has some worthwhile moments on it. The vocal harmonies on “The Great Wall”, the orchestral-sounding instrumentation in “Who You Talkin’ To?”, and the subtle moog near the end of “It’s In Your Eyes” are all highlights.

The songs that seem cheesy and forced, though, are the few slightly more straight-ahead rock tunes, like “Pick It Up And Dial It” and the album’s first single, “If It Feels Good Do It”. Now, if that song title’s not a feeble attempt to grasp at one’s lost youth, I don’t know what is.

It’s seemingly difficult to discuss the flaws in this album without bordering on nitpicking territory. I will say that the production kind of bugs me, in particular the overdone vocal effects. Also, the songs seem to lack satisfactory endings. They either trail off aimlessly, or abruptly stop just when it seems like they are about to make some sort of transition. This makes many of the songs seem incomplete and wasted.

The last two Sloan albums took a while to grow on me, but in the end, I learned to appreciate them. I have now given Pretty Together ample time to set in, but it still has yet to grab me in any way. I don’t think that’s because it’s a horrible record, but I do think that it is somewhat dull, and certainly not as much fun as the Sloan I once knew. I guess you can’t expect a band to stay the same forever, but is it unreasonable to ask them to avoid getting old? I didn’t think so. — Sean