“I HATE MY GENERATION”: CANADIAN MALE IDENTITY IN SLOAN’S TWICE REMOVED

Abstract

In the early 1990s, a Halifax band named Sloan broke Into the alternative rock scene with their debut album Smeared (1993), released by Geffen Records, which received critical and commercial success in both Canada and the United States. Their sophomore album, Twice Removed (1994), was a drastic sonic shift from their first record, causing Sloan to be dropped by Geffen and receiving little attention in the States afterwards. However, Twice Removed garnered both critical and commercial success within Canada, cementing the band’s important stature in the Canadian music scene. This thesis aims to examine ways in which Sloan’s success in Canada, and lack thereof in the States, is largely due to the band representing an identity that connects to young, white, Canadian males through their use of nostalgia, humour and egalitarianism.