Sloan: Commonwealth Sloan is a very rare and unique sort of band. Comprised of four equally gifted, and prolific, singers and songwriters, their albums have always resembled something more like a collection of tracks from four different solo albums, stitched together into a harmonious whole. They often work on their own, utilizing their colleagues to flesh out their songs and find clever ways to run their songs together. This worked for ten albums over twenty years. While Sloan may not be huge in the States, they have been wildly popular in Canada, with good reason. Their albums are spectacular. For album #11, however, Sloan had a new trick up their collective sleeve. Rather than jumble the various members’ works into an album, the plan was to do a double album and give each member one side of the vinyl to do whatever he liked. Somewhat inspired by the four Kiss solo albums from 1978, but scaled down to a more manageable length, the result showcases the band’s individual talents but also makes Sloan seem stronger for it. Commonwealth is Sloan’s second double album. Their first, 2006’s Never Hear The End Of It, is a 30-track puzzle of song fragments and experimental bits, amidst more standard songs. It is a bit of a mess, though I suspect that was on purpose. Commonwealth, however, feels cohesive. Even though it’s a double album, the running time is not that long – each member gets about 18 minutes or so to put together his own suite of music. This is a smart move, not only artistically but financially as well. While they are no big-business band, Sloan still is a brand name. There is no universe where a Chris Murphy solo album, for instance, would sell more albums than Sloan. So to do it…