Toward the end of 2001, with the so-called garage rock revival quickly gathering steam, RCA Records briefly turned its attention to Sloan, a frustratingly undervalued band of power-pop geniuses who appeared doomed to remain a cult act outside their native Canada. RCA arranged a proper US rollout for the band’s Pretty Together album and sent them out on the road with their signature opening act, a scruffy NYC act called the Strokes.
That seemed like can’t-miss programming at the time. Both bands were full of snazzy dressers who dabbled in the sounds of yesteryear. The major-label execs were probably hoping the kids wouldn’t notice that the guys in Sloan were in their mid-30s. While the RCA association and subsequent tours with flavour-of-the-moment acts like Jet did little to raise the band’s profile, Sloan would carry on undeterred and somehow continue to hit new creative peaks with every new release.