Tegan and Sara Quin, twin sister musicians from Canada, joined forces around the year 2000 and have since made their chuck-shaped footprints on the indie punk scene. Their newest album, The Con, seems to the twins to be a more “cohesive” collection than past albums.
The Con is framed with the concept of the injustice of gay marriage bans and the hurtful idea that there is no room for gay love in American society. Though, it is not without its simple love ballads and the angst of unrequited love.
Tegan & Sara’s Musical Style
Perfect music for youthful, subtly stressed, confused, hopelessly romantic and passionate rockers, Tegan & Sara deliver a high, unified, slightly nasal, gritty yet melodic sound, similar to that of The Beatles. Rarely employing harmony, they shout out their melodies in unison, giving their work the rough skin of rock while keeping the pure, childlike, indie style at the heart. These endearing vocals are complimented with unique and smooth instrumentation that shows a mature understanding of musical composition.
They might possibly be the only known women able to pull off mullets.
The songs in The Con have a lot of momentum, building guitar, percussive, and vocal dynamics as the songs progress. Even in softer songs like “Dark Come Soon” and “Call It Off,” the volume and complexity build, and the beat remains relatively fast in “Call it Off.”
The sisters each write their own songs. Tegan’s songs tend to be upbeat and energetic—hard to listen to without dancing—whereas Sara’s songs are usually slow and mournful ballads. Sara writes mostly of heartbreak and uncertainty. Tegan’s songs usually ask the listener to just let loose.
Lyric about Difficult Relationships
While having different styles and purposes, both Tegan’s and Sara’s songs center around difficult relationship situations. A repeated theme is a pronoun change to reflect similar blame or distrust on both sides. “You Wouldn’t Like Me” claims “I feel like you wouldn’t like me if you met me / I feel like I wouldn’t like me if I met me.” Also, “Call It Off” sadly expresses “maybe I would have been something you’d be good at / Maybe you would have been something I’d be good at.”
A conflicted voice in “Where Does the Good Go” on the 2004 album So Jealous asks the listener, “Look me in the eye and tell me you don't find me attractive / Look me in the heart and tell me you won't go.” After a disgruntled realization of someone who is “not feeling it,” the album ends begging, “don’t move so slow.” The Con hardly ends more optimistically. The speaker seeks understanding from the listener for lying because “I lie to me too,” and because “everything I say, I say to me first.” The final song asks the listener to “call, break it off / call, break my own heart.”
If song content has anything to do with life experience, then hopefully relationships will start to look up for such talented musicians. But like always, their indie-punk fans will continue to show their support and love.
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