''Smeared'' is the debut studio album by

Canadian rock Rock music of Canada is a wide and diverse part of the general music of Canada, beginning with American and British style rock and roll in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern po ...

band Sloan. It was released in Canada on October 1, 1992, and in the United States in January, 1993, on

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. 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 ''The Top 100 Canadian Albums'' is a book by journalist Bob Mersereau, published in 2007 by Goose Lane Editions. Mersereau surveyed 600 music journalists, retailers, musicians and disc jockeys of all ages, from all parts of Canada, who each submi ...

'' by music journalist

Bob Mersereau Bob Ellis Mersereau is a Canadian arts journalist.Rockingham, Graham �"Randy Bachman: lord of the song"''The Spec'' He is a music columnist and longtime arts reporter for CBC Television in New Brunswick.alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

scene. In an interview with GuitarWorld, in December 2022, Patrick Pentland stated that a Smeared 30th Anniversary reissue is in the works, slated for 2023.

Overview

Like their first release, the ''

Peppermint EP ''Peppermint EP'' is the debut EP released by Canadian rock band Sloan. It was released on their own label, Murderecords, in 1992. The EP was recorded at Sound Market Studios in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada by Terry Pulliam, who also engineer ...

'', ''Smeared'' received comparisons to

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

and

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

. Three songs from ''Peppermint'' re-appear on ''Smeared''; one of these ("Underwhelmed") was entirely re-recorded, while the other two ("Marcus Said" and "Sugartune") are the same recordings with new mixing. The band had originally intended to name the album ''Gluegun''.

Music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s were produced for the tracks "

Underwhelmed "Underwhelmed" is the debut single by Canadian alternative rock band Sloan. The song was originally released on the DTK Records compilation ''Hear and Now '92: The Best Of The East Coast's Independent'' in 1992 and was later included on the band' ...

" and "500 Up", with both receiving moderate rotation on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

in the early 1990s. Jennifer Pierce, of fellow Halifax band Jale, sang backing vocals on "I Am the Cancer".

Commercial performance

By September 1993, the album had sold more than 150,000 copies worldwide. The album was

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in Canada on July 12, 1995. By February 1997, the album had sold 60,000 units in Canada.

Track listing

All songs credited to Sloan. Japanese Bonus Tracks

Credits

* Jay Ferguson – guitar, vocals *

Chris Murphy Christopher Scott Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States Hou ...

– bass, vocals, erased guitar *

Patrick Pentland Patrick Pentland (born 20 September 1969) is an Irish rock guitarist member of the Canadian rock band Sloan. All four members of Sloan write, produce, and sing their own songs, but Pentland primarily plays lead guitar for most songs. He occasiona ...

– guitar, vocals, bass * Andrew Scott – drums, vocals, guitar *Jennifer Pierce – backing vocals ("I Am the Cancer")

References

{{Authority control Sloan (band) albums 1992 debut albums Murderecords albums