I Feel Dirty

I do, really. I feel so dirty right now. My hair is soaking wet, and it's turned into a 'white-boy-fro'. The temporary auditory fatigue is deep. I won't be able to hear very well until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Picture it: St. Andrew's Hall, Detroit, May 23rd, 2004. The weekend has been full of apocalyptic weather complete with lightning, hail, serious dripping wet humidity, and rain. A thousand faces glistening with sweat, but every one of them is happy. They're seeing Sloan, the A-number-one import from Halifax, Nova Scotia. You don't know Sloan? How could you not? This was my fourth time seeing the band in seven years. They never fail to satisfy. It wasn't until tonight, approximately ten minutes before Chris Murphy (guitar/vocals/occasionally drums) turned his guitar and pointed at the KISS sticker on the back that I realized how much Sloan has in common with Kiss. Think about it: ridiculously hooky pop songs that are seriously rockin'. It's just like Kiss. Except Sloan hasn't cultivated an image that involves sci-fi costumes, fake blood, or five-foot platform shoes. If you take all of that away from Kiss, they were just another great rockin' pop band from the '70s. There's one problem with Kiss. Not all of their albums have been solid. These guys have put out eight albums since 1991, starting with "Smeared" (big hit: "Underwhelmed") and most recently, "Action Pact," which was just released in America. The band has always had a problem finding American distributors/labels regardless of all the good press and awards they get from their homeland. This makes no sense considering the thousand voices I heard singing along to EVERY song tonight, and I know this goes on at every one of their shows. It's not just a Detroit thing. They've always been big here, but I know that all of their shows do well. There are always at least a few hundred kids who know every single word, and they live to see the band.