gistfile1.txt

Ferguson:
 Who Taught You To Live Like That?
 Green Gardens, Cold Montreal
 Pretty Voice
 The Lines You Amend
 
Pentland:
 The Good In Everyone
 HFXNSHC
 Money City Maniacs
 I've Gotta Know
 
Murphy:
 Autobiography
 G Turns To D
 She Says What She Means
 Fading Into Obscurity

Scott:
 Forty-Eight Portraits
 A Side Wins
 Seems So Heavy
 Emergency 911

Jay Ferguson's songwriting, like his voice, tends to be understated, relaxed, subtle. He writes with a sly wit and lyrical cleverness that belies the often heavy emotion. His songs have a groove, and he manages the difficult feat of being equally accomplished writing intimate, quiet acoustics and stadium anthems.

Patrick Pentland has written many of the band's biggest singles, and is probably responsible, with songs like Money City Maniacs, for Sloan's reputation for power pop. His songs have urgency -- they are usually short, the lyrics are short, even the riffs are compressed, as if having stated the premise he is eager to move on. He often eschews chorus and break entirely: I've Gotta Know is 1:22 and half of that is just repeating "I've gotta know." A less confident songwriter would add a full chorus, a third verse, repeat the first verse and then guitar wank his way to 4:00.

Chris Murphy is often as exuberant as Pentland is reserved, never afraid to add another 8, break it down for hand claps, repeat a chorus. "So many stories I could tell," he sings on Fading Into Obscurity, a four minute symphony comprised of a loose five movements and coda. Indeed: his songs are short stories, bittersweet and playful, and built on surprising chord progressions and structures.

Andrew Scott is a tinkerer, the one most interested in mucking about in the booth with tape cuts, overdubs, samples, and random noises. His songs change the tone of the record, wandering off from the tour to explore; he reminds me of Brian Wilson in his willingness to plumb the depths of a musical idea.