Sloan: Smeared LP

Smeared is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Sloan. It was released in Canada on October 1, 1992, and in the United States in January, 1993, on Geffen Records. The album was recorded at a low cost of $1,200. The album is ranked 86th in the 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums by music journalist Bob Mersereau and is widely considered a seminal album of Canada's 1990s alternative rock scene. Sloan's debut album, Smeared is a bit of a mess, as the group tries to combine catchy pop melodies with punky rhythms and washes of dissonant feedback borrowed straight from Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine records. Those aren't the only two influences that are apparent on Smeared -- references to all sorts of American indie rock, from the Velvet Underground to Nirvana, are scattered throughout the record.