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August 20, 2007
Are you into T&S?
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.
By Neal Broverman

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.