Sloan is just awesome

What a great rock record. Great melodies over power chords. Usually on each Sloan record each member writes and sings lead on their song, but this doesn't have any contributions from drummer Andrew. But the album rocks anyway. Top-to-bottom. You won't be disappointed with any Sloan record starting with "Navy Blues" thru their newest release!

Few false notes

Sloan hit their stride on this album (and its predecessor, Pretty Together). The first couple tracks really power through the speakers, and when the band steps back a bit it's only to give you a moment to rest up for more rocking. Sloan sounds tighter than ever, and if there's a fault it's only perhaps that the music never gets a chance to unwind, stretch out and relax with a couple of easier numbers like on previous albums.

Sloan's Most Rockin'

Sloan always delivers the A+ power pop. On Action Pact, they turn up the amps a bit and really rock out. Tunes abound with hooks and harmonies. This is one of my top five releases of 2003. Stand out tracks include: I Was Wrong, Gimme That, The Rest of My Life, and Backstabbin', but there's nary a dud in the bunch. If you like this, check out their previous releases, starting with Between The Bridges.

One thing that no one can deny about Sloan is that they can’t be ignored as a band always willing to bring out the fun and the rock & roll. They always wear the hearts of their influences proudly on their record sleeves, but never succumb to loss of originality for the sake of trying too hard to impress upon the listener the validity of their roots. Action Pact expands upon Sloan’s muscular leanings, due primarily to the band’s decision to hire a producer for the first time in its history. Under the direction of Tom Rothrock (producer of artists as diverse as R.L. Burnside, Beck, and Elliott Smith), the songs gel like on no previous Sloan release. The band really plays to its strengths on Action Pact, showcasing remarkably tight vocals, the power of drummer Andrew Scott, and the arena-rocking, bouncy, handclapper songs that defined part of Sloan’s post-Navy Blues career. The only noticeable disappointment of this release comes in the decision not to include any compositions by Scott, whose songs have adorned every previous outing by these proud Canadians, but this doesn’t really hold back the power and depth of Action Pact; it just seems a bit dishonest to the legacy Sloan has built. Nonetheless, Action Pact is a streamlined album, recorded with minimal overdubs (read: no keyboards), which opens in the classic Sloan one-two punch with “Gimme That” and “Live On” by songwriters Chris Murphy and Patrick Pentland respectively. It’s on the fifth track, the Jay Ferguson-penned “False Alarm,” where the band starts to really stretch out into fresh territory that never lets up the intensity through the rest of the album. The brilliant pop of Pentland’s “I Was Wrong,” the jerky tension of “Who Loves Life More,” and the elliptical “Reach Out” are all magnified by the obvious inspiration Sloan have found while the lovely “Fade Away,” which, even with crunchy guitars, manages to hold onto the delicacy Ferguson always brings to the table and provides a perfect album closer. Lyrically, the members of Sloan continue down the more thoughtful path they first explored liberally on Pretty Together, tackling subjects from the troublesome dichotomy the touring musician faces when a hint of desire to settle down emerges to the defensive argument against the critics who charge the band with treading too close to its heroes. Action Pact is another step ahead for Sloan, which is an achievement they should be proud of considering the superb quality they’ve shown for the better part of a decade. – Gregory McIntosh