A far superior effort to
Sloan's scattershot debut, 1994's
Twice Removed is a clever and varied collection of smart and catchy pop songs. Without the grunge-era production that smothered some of the best songs on
Smeared, the sparkling wit of the lyrics and catchy directness of the melodies shine through. All four members write and sing, which accounts for the variation between songs like the punkish opener, "Penpals," and the chiming guitars and "ba-ba-ba" chorus of the sublime "People of the Sky," the highest of the album's high points. Other goodies include the puckish media slam "I Hate My Generation" and the dreamy, largely acoustic closer, "I Can Feel It," with its harmonies by
Jale's Jennifer Pierce. Not everything works quite so well -- the seven-minute "Before I Do" is at least two and a half minutes too long -- but
Twice Removed was the first indication that
Sloan was more than Canada's answer to
the Lemonheads. ~ Stewart Mason