LISA MARK
Chris, Andrew, Patrick and Jay.
When Sloan dropped
Navy Blues in 1998, it was after a few tumultuous years of attempted solo side projects and the hard work of cracking the U.S. market. Perhaps the reason why people went so nuts for the record was because it was proof their favourite band had weathered the storm—and still had its same sense of irreverent rock 'n' roll
in a post–
One Chord To Another world.
Or perhaps the band that made everyone believe we were the
Seattle of the North needed no
redemption arc. Perhaps the fact that the entire album slaps, even today, is enough.
Regardless of which camp you fall in, Sloan fans will be psyched to hear the four-piece
is coming to Halifax to play the record in its entirety followed by a set of classic hits on
May 2 at 9pm at The Marquee Ballroom. Tickets go on sale Jan 31 at
sonicconcerts.com for $38.49, so warm up that credit card.
In the meantime, fuel your excitement/nostalgia with
this definitive ranking of all Sloan songs, from worst to best—and the time Halifax voted Sloan's turmoil—"from them breaking up to them not breaking up, with lots of bitterness about the band moving to Toronto"—
the worst thing in the live music scene in 1998 in that year's Best of Halifax Readers' Choice Awards.