SLOAN + Hexes & Ohs @ La Sala Rossa

By Fraser McCallum - F-Train 120 - 01/27/2007

On one of the coldest nights in the history of Montreal, I found myself taking in Murder Records’ flagship success story, Canadian rock icons Sloan. Riding the success of their recent mammoth of a double album Never Heard The End Of It, Sloan hit the boards at Sala Rossa supported by Hexes and Ohs and Percy Farm. The show was a good one but not the kind of show you think about for days and days afterwards. Although packed and rocking, the show went long in the tooth and needed a trim or two. That being said, Sloan definitely imported the goods on each and every track, and rocked out a passionate and wide-ranging set of tunes.

Pop-rock disco beaters Hexes and Ohs opened the night and although I had never heard of the Montreal-based two-piece, they did have some interesting melodies and instrumentation. Their basic premise was a jangly Fender Strat sound loaded with Death Cab-ish emo crooning, Mac laptop drums and some Korg keyboard thrown in for good measure. It was a shame that the lead singer had such a nasal and nauseating drone of a voice, as the guitar work and keyboard vibes were fairly strong. Unfortunately the crowd wanted none of it, chanting ‘Slo-ooooan’ throughout Hexes and Ohs’ set and shouting obscenities. Suffice to say, maybe the pop-friendly two-piece were not the best choice for a good ol’ Canadian rockfest.

Sloan took to the stage to huge applause and seemed to have a touch of grey and age to their step. The fivesome recently did a North American tour with the Rolling Stones, so perhaps some of the magic age dust rubbed off. Regardless, the Halifax rockers jumped into "Who Taught You To Live Like That?", a stomping Beatles-style gang vocals hit. The harmonizing was excellent and drummer Andrew Scott brought a wonderful wallop to the tom-toms. Bassist Chris Murphy took charge of the stage right away, making contact with several in the front rows and throwing out some pretty stand-up banter. The band features Murphy, Scott, Patrick Pentland and Jay Ferguson. All four members seemed fairly charged up for the show as apparently when Sloan was last in Montreal in 2004, Murphy did not sing at all as he had lost his voice. The band seemed very comfortable with Murphy heading the act this time though, as they played three new tracks from the new album, a bloated, 30-track disc. These tracks saw lead guitarist Petland and rhythm guitarist Ferguson taking turns at lead vocals, with Ferguson’s "Can’t You Figure Out", an upbeat and smooth number, really hitting home with the crowd.

From there, the show turned back to Murphy, who brought out one of the band’s biggest hits ‘The Other Man" from their sixth album Pretty Together. This song really grabbed me as it was craftily layered with a fat fat bass sound, charging rhythm, and Murphy at his best of the night, digging deep at hitting an impassioned croon. Given that I have not followed Sloan’s career terribly religiously, this was certainly a highlight for me, the song I knew the best going in, one that Sloan themselves are surely tired of playing by now, yet delivered with huge energy and fervor.

From there Sloan touched on a few other old hits before launching into a few more newbies, including the foot-stomping ‘Ill-Placed Trust’, complete with a wailing Hendrix-esque breakdown solo from Petland. Other notable new songs was the dark and sinister "Golden-Eyes" and a thumping Offspring-recalling punk rocker "HFXNSND" that featured a full band instrument rotation and Murphy more than holding his own on the drum skins. The same praise cannot be given to drummer Scott’s attempts at lead singing. His three songs bled together into a flat, unimaginative and yawn-inducing detour in an otherwise flawless first half. Note to Sloan: band-fronting democracy’s great and all, but let drummers drum -- especially this guy. On the other hand, I was quite impressed with the versatility of the band; all three main members seemed quite confident on vocals and on lead guitar and Murphy’s drumming was far beyond sufficient, often laced with lightning-fills and splashes.

Other nice show touches were keys player Dave Michaels, Murphy’s audience banter and new track "I Understand". This Petland-sung track sounded like something from the There’s Something About Mary soundtrack, a very happy and toe-tapping jingle. Petland has some talent, but at times wanders into a congested, nasal drone that can tarnish some otherwise great songs. The addition of soft organ and keys on many of the songs was a nice touch though, one that added a shimmering depth to some of the otherwise repetitive rock numbers. It seems that every road warrior Canadian rock band has added a bearded background keys player recently. Sloan has followed the likes of Matt Mays, Sam Roberts and even the poignant rock quartet and CJLO favorites Wintersleep in adding a mysterious keys player. Although surprisingly trendy, the added harmonies and depth of the organ sound bring many Sloan tracks to the next level.

Next on the menu was the old Big Shiny Tunes favourite "Money City Maniacs", another audience and personal favourite that although, modified this time around, was a great jangly rocker that had everyone singing along to the chorus. Murphy brought out one of his favourite stage tricks, the ol' fashioned jump kick -- never too late and always appropriate. Murphy seemed very relaxed and comfortable, cracking jokes and connecting with the audience throughout the show, an attitude quite contrary to the rumors of Murphy’s aloofness or arrogance. Murphy was very easy-going, excited but not scary excited.

The show did grow unfortunately lengthy after this and with a few more uncomfortable drummer-led tracks and rambling solos, the show went past its peak and then some. This repetitive overplaying seemed to pull the crowd out of their dedicated listening, as some even took off entirely. It’s always a delight when a visiting band treats audiences to a few extra unforeseen numbers, but for this show, the crowd, like the album, never heard the end of it.

All in all, it was worth it however. Murphy and company have made a stalwart career out of their passionate, energetic, harmonious and downright loveable rock sound. The band played a great cross-section of hits and no-name tracks, always maintaining their own interest first, and most often, the audiences’ too. One great thing about their act is there maneuverability between instruments. With the exception of the unfortunate drummer-led tracks, the variety of sights and sounds -- and maybe Murphy’s thrash rock drumming alone -- made for great eye and ear candy. The Ferguson-led songs were also of note, touching close to early Beatles territory but reinvigorated with good East Coast rock sensibility and acoustic cowboy chords. Sloan could do to edit their tracklist down a bit, but if it keeps Murphy in a fun-loving mood and keeps the depth charts flowing, then by all means, I’ll stay on board. Good times.

3.5/5 Sloan members

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