Tegan and
Sara may seem like a gimmick—identical twin
lesbian Canuck rockers—but their music is
anything but. The Con is their latest triumph.
You say you
haven't heard Tegan and Sara's new CD yet? Ex-squeeze me?
The fact that
T&S are Canadian lesbian identical twin sisters who
look like Kiki Dee is beside the point. The Con
simply rocks—it's one of the best albums of the year.
You think they
couldn't top the pop perfection of 2004's So Jealous?
The album with "Walking With a Ghost" and "You
Wouldn't Like Me"? Well, you've been served.
The Con kicks off with "I Was Married," and you
think, This is the poem I want to read my
husband/wife/partner on his/her/their's deathbed.
It's fudgin' gorgeous.
Like the girls
themselves, all 14 songs are utterly strange and
beautiful. You try to wrap your head around lines like "That
thunder moves / Like damn drawers slamming in my frame
/ Slamming in my framework" on "Relief Next to
Me"; or "I'm taken, I am yours / I'm up and doing
circles / I collapse" in "Are You Ten Years
Ago?" Only Björk has better song titles.
What do the songs
sound like? It's all over the place, in the best
way. Guitar-crunching rap on "Hop a Plane." Upbeat
melancholy à la Tori Amos on "Burn Your Life
Down." "Dark Come Soon" sounds like it could have come
out of the speakers of your mom's station wagon, like
a song that stays with you for two decades.
For those new to
T&S (Where have you been? This is their fifth
album!), you may be worried their stuff is way too esoteric
for you. Wrong! All the songs are completely
accessible—the title track will get you
pounding your fist and screaming "Nobody! Nobody! Nobody!
Nobody! Nobody!"; and "Back in Your Head" will be stuck in
your head for weeks, but not in the Fergie way.
So, get thee to
Amazon.com, ASAP. I have not been paid by Sire Records.
I'm just way into T&S.
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Broverman is The Advocate's associate editor.
Photo: Autumn DeWilde