The Double Cross

Following their most critically-acclaimed albums to date, -- SPIN called Never Hear the End of It, ''the best British Invasion best-of you've never heard,'' and Pitchfork called Parallel Play ''almost flawless'' -- Canadian pop iconoclasts Sloan are ready to celebrate. Their recent albums would be reason enough but 2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of the band, and how better to honor such an occasion than a brand new album prolific with power pop gems? Sloan delivers just that with their 10th album The Double Cross, a titular shout-out to the band's 20th (or XX) anniversary. The album kicks off as awesome as universal healthcare with ''Follow the Leader'' and the sure-fire sync license riffage of ''Unkind.'' In addition to releasing one of their best albums to date, the band will be celebrating all year long with special shows, an exclusive one-of-a-kind album artwork series and much more. So raise your glasses to Jay, Patrick, Chris, Andrew and 20 years of Sloan. Here's to 20 more!