Saturday, June 21
Sloan

North Tonawanda’s entry in the WNY free concert series sweepstakes kicks off with some fellas originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia who combine—–sort of like one of those old Japanese cartoons—to become one powerful machine. Or maybe it’s more like a four-headed monster... Either way, with the hooks upon hooks approach and shared writing and singing workload that has made Sloan a great rock democracy, mwmbers Jay Ferguson, Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland and Andrew Scott are at it again. The band’s brand new record Parallel Play (Yep Roc) might be seen as a back to basics, even though Sloan never really lost sight or grasp of the elemental things that make them one of rock’s most unsung acts (and that’s the songs, dummy). The notion behind that thought is that Parallel Play clocks in at half the time of—and with roughly half of the tracks of—2006’s sprawling Never Hear The End Of The End. Whether Sloan is truly best when practicing cogency and compact pop restraint (Parallel Play) or stitching together a broader, longer framework of multi-textured-tracks (Never Hear) is up for fan debate. Parallel Play keeps it short and sweet but still finds Sloan pulling a little bit from every corner. “Emergency 911” goes into ably entering punk territory while “Down In The Basement” funs on Highway 61-era Dylan. There’s enough of the crowd-pleasing standards—like “The Other Side” and “I’m Not A Kid Anyway”—to keep the singalongs at their live shows fresh. It’s likely they will test that out this Saturday. Among the local support acts for the opening night at Gateway Park is Johnny Nobody. The three-piece powerpop/heavy rock outfit has not only shared the stage with the headliner in the past but also unabashedly claim Sloan as a key inspiration. It’s nice to see the circle come around.

-donny kutzbach

Gateway Park Concert Series at Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda