Tegan and Sara: The Con

Artist: Tegan and Sara
Release: The Con
Label: Vapor/Sire

On their 2004 breakthrough, So Jealous, Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin locked in on the sound they had hinted at on 2002’s If It Was You and left behind the Ani-Difranco/Lillith Fair acoustic folk that made up their first two albums. The duo’s latest offering, The Con is another work of “Grey’s Anatomy” ready pop perfection.

The Rentals’ Matt Sharp, who had lent the keyboard work that defined So Jealous’ sound returns here, but only for bass duties that he shares with AFI’s Hunter Burgan while the girls handle the keys themselves. Sara continues to expand on some of the more non-traditional song structures that she explored on their last album and succeeds here with “I Was Married” and “Relief Next to Me” but misses with songs like “Knife Going In” and the almost annoying “Like O, Like h”. Tegan, however, plays it safe with the 4 chord verse-chorus-verse approach and produces many of the album’s finer moments (“The Con”, “Call it Off”).

One noticeable difference on this album from every one before it is that both sisters do not appear on every song. Split down the middle with 7 songwriting credits to each for the albums’ 14 tracks, Tegan only appears on 2 of Sara’s songs while Sara is missing from 2 of Tegan’s. What you would assume would be a close relationship, given that they are identical twins, doesn’t come across at all on The Con and it is not helped by the fact that the two currently live 3,000 miles away from each other on opposite sides of Canada. You’d think the twins distance and separation would influence some of the album’s lyrical content but it instead focuses on much of the same romantic woes as before. The girls continue to paint the unflattering portrait of love and heartbreak and do so on almost every track from the lead single “Back In Your Head” to the closer “Call It Off” and it’s chorus of “maybe I would have been something you’d be good at, maybe you would have been something I’d be good at”. In their patented pouts, the pair easily pull off what would be otherwise cheesy lines like “I felt you in my legs before I ever met you” (“Nineteen”) and “All I need to hear is that you’re not mine” (“Hop A Plane”).

Ditching the production team of David Carswell and New Pornographer John Collins, the girls enlisted Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla to record and produce The Con. Walla added some nice production touches here including a 80’s hair metal/arena ready drum sound via fellow cutie Jason McGerr on “Nineteen”. One of the album’s stand out tracks “Are You Ten Years Ago” is so because of a frenetic electronic beat that was orchestrated by Walla that when coupled with Tegan’s hushed vocals make it sound like the soundtrack to an anxiety attack.

What at first listen doesn’t live up to the near perfection of So Jealous, The Con grows with each repeated listen and drives each of it’s catchy hooks and lines you’re your mind to where you find yourself singing them throughout your entire day. And despite their different approaches to writing, The Con is a cohesive fluent offering that marks another great step for the Quin twins.

-Dane Sundseth