Four voices, steady hands

Halifax hooks, still sharp

Sloan formed in Halifax and has kept the same four-piece since 1991, so the story here is continuity and craft, not reinvention. Their show plays like a shared mixtape, with each member taking a turn at the mic and the others adapting to that writer's style. Expect staples like Underwhelmed, The Good in Everyone, Money City Maniacs, and If It Feels Good Do It. The crowd skews multi-generational: longtime Canadian indie devotees, guitar-record collectors, and newer fans who found them through playlists, all singing the middle eights. A neat quirk is the onstage instrument swaps, where the drummer steps out to guitar and the bassist handles the kit for a song block. They also run Murderecords, a label that helped seed their scene and keeps their catalog curated on their own terms. Heads-up: the set choices and any production flourishes mentioned here are educated guesses and could change show to show.

Murderecords Mindset: The Sloan Scene

Power-pop lifers, not nostalgists

Little rituals that feel local anywhere

You will spot well-loved Murderecords shirts, 90s indie tees, clean sneakers, and a few button-covered denim jackets. Fans trade favorite B-sides in line and compare vinyl pressings at the merch wall, often leaving with a poster by a local designer. When the siren sample cues up, the room whoops on instinct, and during Coax Me the line about the band and their fans gets sung like a wink to the past. Between songs, you hear polite chatter about which songwriter is up next rather than loud requests, a nod to the shared-credit culture. People come ready to sing harmonies on the second choruses and to clap on the twos and fours when the band leans into a big outro. It is a scene built on records and memory, but the mood is forward-looking, more about how these tunes hold up tonight than reliving a yearbook page.

Tight Corners, Big Choruses: Sloan Onstage

Four leads, one engine

Arrangements built for lift-off

Live, the hooks land because four different lead voices keep the tone changing while the band locks into crisp downstrokes and steady backbeats. Guitars favor bright, mid-gain crunch, with one part carrying the riff and the other adding chime or a simple counter line. Bass lines are melodic rather than boomy, often outlining the vocal melody so the choruses feel wider without extra tracks. One recurring trick is nudging the verse a shade faster than the record, then easing the chorus back to give the hook a springy release. They will extend an outro for handclaps or a quick call-and-response, but they rarely jam; the song forms stay tight. The drummer plays open-handed on a right-handed kit, which gives the hi-hat patterns a relaxed sway even when the tempo is brisk. Lighting tends to warm up on big refrains and cool for verses, framing the music without stealing focus.

If You Like Sloan, Try These Kindred Chimes

Power-pop cousins on the road

Hooks, brains, and backlines

Fans of The New Pornographers will hear the same blend of brainy lyrics and sun-bright choruses. Teenage Fanclub fits too, sharing jangly guitars and calm, stacked harmonies that feel hand-made rather than glossy. If you like the lean, engine-room groove of Spoon, Sloan's rhythm section keeps songs moving with similar no-frills snap. The crate-digger energy and deep catalogs of Guided By Voices line up as well, especially for fans who enjoy short, sharp sets with lots of era-jumping. All of these groups prize melody, economy, and a live show that trusts the songs more than spectacle.