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By: Carlye Wisel
Highlighting a certain musical maturity, Tegan and Sara's newest work isn't as immediately catchy or unabashedly simplistic as the hyper-pop melodies off of their previous album, So Jealous. But, with The Con's darker overtones and intricate arrangements standing on their own, the Quin Sisters have no need to pull the wool over anyone's eyes to get them to listen.
For the most part, each of the 14 tracks sound highly dissimilar from one another, like many different musical ideas congealed into one coherent concept. Actually, compared to So Jealous - which featured peppy, similar-sounding Grey's Anatomy-esque songs like "Where Did The Good Go" and "Take Me Anywhere" - the dynamic difference is staggering. The Con's duets have more depth, the vocals are harsher, and heavier percussion rounds out dissonant-sounding melodies in direct discordance with So Jealous's cherry toe-tappers.
The central theme of relationships remains the same. The identical twin sisters - both lesbians but (thankfully) not together, as some confusedly assume - love to sing about love. "Nineteen" is a beautiful, heart-wrenching rock ballad, while "Knife Going In" is one of the album's woeful best, with its driving drumbeats, dark yet infectious chorus and appearances by Kaki King on lap steel guitar and Death Cab For Cutie's Christopher Walla on bass. The uptempo, two-note keyboard repetitions on "Back In Your Head" make this lost-love song reminiscent of Tegan & Sara's earlier work, but the whining vocals and stripped-down instrumental changes its tone while simultaneously solidifying it as The Con's most accidentally addictive track.
Honestly, every song on their latest disc is fantastic in its own way. Utilizing the fact that they have similar-sounding voices, the record brilliantly highlights Tegan and Sara's wail-y, high-pitched singing that pairs a certain baby-like quality with their Canadian accents. Featuring questionably harmonic duets, interesting melodic choices and choruses that sound jarringly different from their respective verses, The Con is different, yet outstanding.
JamBase | Great White North
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