Sloan – Action Pact
(Vike)

Sloan are getting to that point in their career where it’s becoming difficult to remember a time when they weren’t actually around. With this, their 7th full length album, they’ve settled into that predictable groove that canonly be reached by bands that are in it for the long haul.

You know, the groove where they’re just trying to hang on to their livelihood. They’re still writing somewhat passable music, but they don’t seem to be as vital or refreshing anymore.From here on in, you can count onthe fact that Sloan will release a new album every year or two, continuing to regurgitate the past 30 or 40 years of rock music, without adding more than one or two noteworthy songs to their repertoire each time. The albums will serve only to pad out their discography and the eventual greatest hits compilation.

It’s strange how each subsequent Sloan release seems to make me appreciate the one that came before it that much more. Back when they put out Navy Blues, I balked at their borrowed AC/DC riffs, preferring instead to listen to more borrowed Beatles riffs. Now I find myself wishing that they were still rocking half as hard as they did on Navy Blues.

Action Pact is, for the most part, a middle of the road rock record. Although Sloan are great songwriters, it’s funny how they still haven’t been able to find their own unique style by now. On this record they tried for a more unified sound, recruiting Tom Rothrock (Badly Drawn Boy, Elliot Smith, Beck) to produce and select the best tracks for the album. However, in doing so they may have killed what is typically the best part of their albums: the balanced variety and versatility of contributions from 4 unique talented songwriters. There are no songs written by drummer Andrew Scott on the album, which is disappointing because he often brings some quirky piano-based tunes to the mix. We are given 12 guitar-based songs that essentially run into one another. Nothing really stands out, and what’s more, nothing really sounds much like Sloan’s past recordings.

The AC/DC cock rock riffs have been replaced by something that resembles Steppenwolf/Guess Who classic rock material, particularly the Chris Murphy-penned “Ready For You”. There is also an 80’s influence seeping into their songs now… just check out the cheesy ballad, “Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore”, complete with little echoey rattle sounds. The only song that is overwhelmingly “Sloan-esque” is the lead off track, “Gimme That”, which probably could have fit in on either Navy Blues or Between The Bridges.

The album’s best songs are probably the power pop moments of “False Alarm” (an unexpected one from Jay Ferguson) and “I Was Wrong” (Patrick’s always got a few of these up his sleeve), which sound more like Guided By Voices or some other vaguely familiar indie rock band than Sloan.

Overall, I can’t say that Action Pact is bad but I feel completely indifferent towards it. My life is no richer, no more enjoyable after having heard it. The songs just don’t stick in my head like most of their earlier ones did. I’ve gone from being a huge Sloan fan to someone who is just hoping that the next record won’t suck. On the one hand I want to defend them and give them another chance, but on the other hand I want to hold them up to the standards of albums like Twice Removed or One Chord To Another. Ah well, what can you do? Here’s to hoping the next one doesn’t suck worse than this. — Sean