Sloan -- Never Hear The End Of It

It's only January, so this might be a premature notion: Sloan, the quartet from Nova Scotia, definitely has the potential to earn many compliments this year, most involving the word "best." This is the band's eighth effort, with previous releases spanning back to 1992. They have been around, and their influences are very distinctive, with some critics comparing them to The Beatles. "Fading into Obscurity" sounds like Paul McCartney and Neil Finn morphing into a vocal mish-mash of heaven. This might also be presumptuous, but their influence on present bands seems very evident -- "Before the End of the Race" sounds like Indie newcomers Voxtrot within the first two beats. The album includes 30 songs, a few of which are less than a minute long. The end result is an ADD-infested album that grabs your attention within the first few seconds of a song, before an abrupt ending fades into the next song that might not have been worth putting out at all. Within the first 25 songs, there is an amazing effort going -- especially with the two singles, "Who Taught You to Live Like That" and "Ill Placed Trust," plus the gem that is "Listen to the Radio." But as the album nears the end, songs like "I Know You" are definitely lacking. It sounds like they were listening to Tommy Page or New Kids on the Block, which can only mean one thing -- crap. Overall, the album is phenomenal despite the eagerness to get all their frenetic brainwork into 30 songs. The exceptionality definitely outweighs the weaknesses. (Daniele Pfarr) Grade: A