Album Details

• Artist: Sloan
• Album: Double Cross
• Label: Yep Roc
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: MusicCritic on 2011-05-31

Nostalgia is a powerful motivator for both audience and creator, and after 20 years as a band it’s fair to say that Sloan’s The Double Cross is not without a certain amount of it. A little angel and devil on your shoulders, nostalgia is those two friends from high school: the bad influence daring you to hate The Double Cross; and the one your parents wanted you to be friends with, reminding of you why you love them so much.

On first listen the devil friend is easier to believe. There’s no ‘Coax Me’ on The Double Cross, no ‘The Good In Everyone’ – so you write it off as, tweeting that “Joel Plaskett stole all the hooks in Halifax,” longing for a chorus you can sing along to. But you’re older now, grown up, and starting to realize that from time to time your parents were right and suddenly you find yourself, humming ‘The Answer Was You.’ So, you pull out The Double Cross for a second, third, fourth…tenth listen and realize, this album is a very wonderful marker of a stellar 20-year history of one of Canada’s (and your) favourite bands.

The Double Cross is a fantastic record and chock full of all the little Sloan gems one has come to expect over the years: Jay Ferguson’s clean and crisp guitar; Chris Murphy and Patrick Pentland’s immediately recognizable trade-off lead vocals; and Andrew Scott’s driving percussion. And the songs, one cannot forget the songs! ‘Unkind’ – the first single and a gift to listeners from Sloan’s new label Outside Music is a glorious little ditty with a particularly singable chorus, “I don’t know why/don’t why you have to cross that line/you crossed that line/well you can be so kind sometimes/and you can be unkind sometimes”. Other standout songs include ‘The Answer Was You,’ ‘Beverly Terrace’ and the album closer ‘Laying So Low.’

At the end of the day this is a really great Sloan record but there are no particular surprises on it. Sloan fans will be happy to hear the band at their finest and these clean pop songs will likely garner them a few fans too young to have jumped on the fan bandwagon the first time around and that’s all ok, ain’t it?

Michelle Kennedy

User Reviews and Comments

on 2011-05-19 dscanland Said:

I sort of fell off of the Sloan bandwagon a few years ago but I'm back on strong after hearing their new album, Double Cross. Good, catchy, pop-rock. You might even call it power-pop from time to time. If you don't have a lot of time, just try out Unkind. That's the song that made me want more.
Rating: 8/10