Sloan is that rare band that has an ethos that accompanies its discography. From those early gigs in the basement of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design to the present day, the band has eschewed the typical star-making machinery that puts one member as the driving creative force, with the rest of the band serving as trusted accomplices. Sloan boasts four singing, songwriting multi-instrumentalists, all of whom contribute to the final fabric woven into each album. As a result you have a depth and breadth of music that defies simple characterizations like “power pop” or even “indie rock” – 2001’s Pretty Together balances ornate chamber pop with fist-pumping rockers, while later efforts such as Never Hear the End of It and 12 contain multitudes in their track listings, ranging from Dylanesque streams of consciousness to short, sharp shocks of hardcore. But somehow, it all remains quintessentially Sloan. 19 + only