Wednesday Wadio: Sloan's 'I Can Feel It'.

"Sure, these songs might sound like a lot of shit you've heard before... but as you listen, Sloan's affectations and flourishes materialize and you hear the band for what they really are-- not a cloying, uninspired rip-off, but an intelligent band with a sense of humor and a great ear for pop hooks." - Pitchfork

Listening to Sloan's first album, Smeared, reminds me of peeling potatoes. When I first arrived at Guelph University in 1992, I got a job in the kitchen of the biggest on-campus pub. While I would eventually go on to run that joint and several others by the end of my 6 year professional scholastic stint - I spent a good 3 semesters covered in grease, throwing poutine across the slick counter to drunken frigtards. Or, my peers, if you want to split hairs.

There was a Crisco-encrusted boom box in the back with several gummy mixtapes that we used to listen to during those long nights in the galley as I grew to call it. One of which had Sloan's remarkable first single, Underwhelmed as the first song on side 2. The mix belonged to a coworker who'd jammed it with all kinds of mediocre Canadian bands of the era - Watchmen, Tea Party, Grapes of Wrath, 54-40, Wide Mouth Mason - and the anticipation of the Sloan tune, which stood out from the rest of the flotsam like a ray of light, kept me going. But it was ultimately another song from their soon to be released second effort, recently voted the #1 Canadian album of all time, Twice Removed that would endure until today as my favorite by these special sons of Halifax.



"Sloan's Twice Removed album was nearly rejected by its label and caused the band to lose their record deal. It also caused certain members of the band under serious duress and nearly broke them up. So how does that become the most beloved Canadian album of all time?" - Chart Attack

I Can Feel It is jammed in at the very end of the record, and I admittedly overlooked it for a few years as a result. But it's stood the test of time and I wanted to 'big it up' right here on Radio Pye. It starts with a cheery guitar riff that sways along so, so very catchily. The bass doesn't conform to standards and plays its own little melody at points. The lyrics are simple, but I've surmised after many listens that the protagonist is a jilted lover who can take a little solace in the fact that "at least I'm still cool to one girl" - his little sister.

Whether the duet is supposed to be between him and the girl he "can feel" actually really digs him (but just doesn't know it yet) - or his sister - remains a bit of a creepy mystery to me. Jennifer Pierce from Halifax band "Jade" sings along starting at the first chorus and then comes and goes intermittently for the rest of the tune. It's an unusual structure for a song which also ends quite abruptly. But I will always love it and I hope y'all get a little something out of my own personal obsession.

And I was happy to see Sloan only recently played Peter Clark Hall at Guelph. Because I used to run that too.