If there were college courses for contemporary power pop, certain artists would inevitably appear on the syllabus. The Posies. Matthew Sweet. Teenage Fanclub. Weezer. Brendan Benson. And, most certainly, Sloan. To date, the Nova Scotians have released 11 albums over two decades with nary a dud in the mix.
“Commonwealth” maintains Sloan’s straight-A report card, and in a callback to a similar gambit by Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter, each band member claims a side on this double album. Fortunately, “Commonwealth” yields infinitely better results than the KISS solo albums. Ferguson and Murphy bring their usual guitar-pop goodness, dosing songs sweet as confectioner’s sugar with just the right amount of guitar squall, Pentland cranks the volume and dabbles in crunchy psychedelia, and drummer Scott closes with 18 minutes of sprawling weirdness, unwittingly creating the power-pop equivalent of Beastie Boys’ “B-Boy Bouillabaisse.” Which is to say, other than Scott’s contribution, Commonwealth sounds like a Sloan record. And really, isn’t that all you need to know
The Fat Angel Sings 