Rhythm & Views

Sloan

Sloan
Yep Roc
ASIN: B000JJRXG6

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You'll almost never hear the end of Sloan's eighth full-length album; with 30 tracks (and two more you can download for free if you buy the limited edition disc), it seems like it just goes on and on and on. And on. The songs bleed into each other, making the record sound like 76-minute-long medley of every trick Sloan has in its '70s rehash pop-hook bag, but since it's so damn long, some of those hooks get all tangled together.

Which actually makes the really great ones stand out all the more. Never Hear the End of It can't take the place of records like 1996's One Chord to Another or 1994's Twice Removed, but the lyrics for "Someone I Can Be True With" ("someone to hate all things new with / someone to watch Gremlins 2 with") and the swooning hook of "Who Taught You to Live Like That?" make them contenders for Best Song on the Album, running ahead of competition like "I Understand" (for its jangly guitar and CSNY-like vocal harmonies) and "Ill Placed Trust" (for its anthemic cry of "ill-placed trust"). But then there's the out-of-place "HFXNSHC" (A punk song? What were they thinking?) and too many other boring tracks to list here that make listening to Never Hear the End of It a lot like rifling through a junk drawer for treasures. Never the Hear the End of It will certainly steep you in '70s nostalgia for an hour plus, without garnering much of your attention--it's your call as to whether that's a good or bad thing.