Another Way I Could Do It

Hey, winter's finally here. No snow yet, but it's bone-chillingly cold out there. It got down to the low teens last night. Of course, I was out in the middle of it, because I was in the People's Republic of Cambridge to see the mighty Sloan play at the Middle East. I got there toward the end of the first act and got to talking to Sloan's merch guy, who turned out to be Mike Nelson, their road manager. Nice guy. We hung out and drank a couple of beers and talked about the band, who are on a quick five-city jaunt of northeastern/midwest U.S. cities (the others include NYC, Buffalo, Detroit and Cleveland). Their excellent new album, Never Hear the End of It, just came out in the U.S. on Yep Roc last week; of course, I ordered it last fall through MapleMusic and reviewed it for the fine Clicky Clicky establishment. Reviews have been almost uniformly positive (New York Times, Billboard, Associated Press, Boston Herald, etc.).

The band is taking time off after the end of the month because guitarist Patrick Pentland's about to become a father for the second time. The touring starts up again in March with an appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Austin.

Last night, the show was a typically great power pop-tastic event. I made my way up front and planted myself in front of bassist Chris Murphy and guitarist Jay Ferguson. The band ripped through a 90-minute set, filled mainly with material from their 30-song new release, but peppered with classics like "Penpals," "Money City Maniacs," and "The Good in Everyone." Highlights from the new album included "Ill-Placed Trust," "Living with the Masses," "Fading Into Obscurity" and "Right or Wrong." All four members write and sing their own material, and they switched instruments from time to time as drummer Andrew Scott stepped up to sing and play guitar on some of his songs, while Murphy did his spastic Keith Moon impression on drums. They had a keyboard player with them, which was the first time I've seen them with someone else; usually, they share keyboard duties. I've always enjoyed Pentland's AC/DC-influenced rock riffage, but last night the low-key Ferguson really impressed with his guitarwork. Murphy hammed it up as usual with his high-kicks while Scott pounded the crap out of his little drum set.

The crowd was definitely subdued (despite the club being three-quarters full, which is not bad for a Tuesday night in January), which might have been a combination of unfamiliarity with the new stuff and it being a midweek show. At one point early on, Pentland asked, "Is it a worknight?" By the end, though, the place was rockin' (at least near the stage anyway). Even though I was dragging ass today at work and will probably skip hockey tonight so I'm not doing the same tomorrow, I'm glad I went. And now, I'm off to visit the couch.