Never Hear the End of It

Yes, I am still in Memphis. Day 7. More of the same. Cold, bored, ready to go home.

I decided to kill some time by listening to my Ipod. I brought my big Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Headphones to block out the noise of the competition. It works! I scroll through my playlists and land on Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Song & Chanteys. It is a 2 disc compilation that was released last year in conjunction with the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. A few seconds into the first song, I go back to my playlists and jump to Never Hear the End of It by Sloan. Yes, that is what I want to hear right now!

This is their latest record and it is a great one! In my opinion, Sloan is the best band that no one in America seems to know a thing about. They are from Canada and from what I understand they are quite popular in their native land. I bought their first record, Smeared, back in 1991. I couldn't get enough of it. I anxiously awaited their next release, Twice Removed. It is quite different from Smeared, but I actually enjoyed it even more. It is still probably my favorite Sloan record. At the time, I remember an article in Spin Magazine about the best albums by bands you've never heard of before. Twice Removed made the list. Unfortunately, I had to wait an exceedingly long time for their next record, One Chord to Another. Geffen records, who released the first two Sloan albums, wasn't happy about Sloan being the best band that no one in America was listening to, so they severed ties. I don't know the full story, but this is why I had to wait to hear a new album from one of my favorite bands. It was worth the wait! One Chord to Another is definitely another Sloan classic! Soon after I got to hear Navy Blues and then Between the Bridges, 4 Nights at the Palais Royale(a live double album), Pretty Together, Action Pact, A Sides Win (a compilation of singles) and now Never Hear the End of It. An album with 30 tracks and some of the best music Sloan has ever produced. It just may be a perfect record! It is a great place for anyone who has never heard their music to start because it covers everything they have ever done while still moving forward. This is an album to be listened to straight through. If you put it on an Ipod, you should join all of the tracks together so that it plays with no breaks in the music. This is the way it is meant to be heard. Trust me. So set aside about an hour and fifteen minutes and discover some great music that everyone else in America is missing!