Music review

By Chris Brower

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Making an album in which almost every song is good is almost unheard of these days. Especially when an album has 14 songs, you expect a few duds that are instantly forgettable. But none of this is true on Tegan and Sara’s latest effort, The Con.

With their previous album, So Jealous, it seemed Tegan and Sara had made perhaps the best album of their career. It had 14 tracks full of crunchy guitar riffs, biting vocals, and catchy hooks, but The Con finds Tegan and Sara topping that and making something even more exciting.

Tegan and Sara’s music is full of real conflict. This is an element missing from most pop songs where conflicts generally include things like what mall to visit or what character from Laguna Beach to imitate. Instead, they cover a variety of topics from gay marriage to dealing with a grandparent’s death.

Highlights include the catchy “Back In Your Head,” the push and pull of “Soil, Soil,” the edgy and spiting, “Like O, Like H” and the closing track, “Call It Off,” which showcases Tegan and Sara’s continuous theme of melancholy with lines like, “Maybe I would have been something you’d be good at / Maybe you would have been something I’d be good at.”

With The Con, Tegan and Sara show it is possible to make not only a good pop album, but more than one.

Tegan and Sara are performing at the Granada on Nov. 5.

Five stars

 

Related articles

Music Review: Soft Circle - 'Shore Obsessed'

KJHK's guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2011/feb/10/music-review-soft-circle-shore-obsessed/

MUSIC: Xavier Rudd, Dark Shades of Blue

/news/2008/aug/28/music_xavier_rudd_dark_shades_blue/

Music Review: Gym Class Heroes

/news/2008/sep/11/music_review_gym_class_heroes/

Music Reviews

/news/2005/sep/01/music_reviews/

Music review: El Guincho- Pop Negro (Young ...

KJHK's weekly guide to sonic consumption

/news/2010/sep/30/music-review-el-guincho-pop-negro-young-turks-2010/

Music guy

Your guide to music utopia

/news/2008/may/08/music_guy/

Music review: Roots Manuva Meets Wrongtom

KJHK's guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2010/dec/09/music-review-roots-manuva-meets-wrongtom/

Top Album: Factories

What’s topping the charts this week at KJHK

/news/2012/jan/25/top-album-factories/

Review- !!!

Music

/news/2010/sep/02/review-/

Music review: Maserati - Pyramid of the ...

KJHK’s weekly guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2010/dec/02/music-review-maserati-pyramid-sun/

Music review: Islands

KJHK’s weekly guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2009/oct/08/music-review-islands/

MUSIC: Pink, Funhouse

/news/2008/oct/30/music_pink/

Music Review

Marry Me by St. Vincent

/news/2007/oct/25/music_review/

Music Review: Slightly Stoopid

/news/2008/sep/11/music_review_slightly_stoopid/

Music: Kings of Leon, Only By The ...

/news/2008/sep/24/music_kings_leon_only_night/

Music Review: 'Eskimo Snow' By Why?

KJHK's guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2009/sep/17/music_review_eskimo_snow_why/

Olivia The Band

/news/2005/feb/03/jayplay_music_olivia/

Music review: Fruit Bats

FRUIT BATS – ‘THE RUMINANT BAND’ (SUB POP)

/news/2009/aug/27/music_review_fruit_bats/

Music guy

Your guide to music utopia

/news/2008/apr/24/music_guy/

Music review: Interpol (Matador | 2010)

KJHK's weekly guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2010/oct/07/music-review-interpol-matador-2010/

Music Review: Mystic Roots Band-"Cali-Hi"

KJHK's weekly guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2011/mar/17/music-review-mystic-roots-band-cali-hi/

under the blacklight

Rilo Kiley

/news/2007/oct/18/under_blacklight/

Music review

The Hives: The Black and White Album

/news/2007/nov/29/music_review/

Music review: Public Strain

KJHK’s weekly guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2010/sep/22/music-review-public-strain/

Music: Umphrey’s McGee, Mantis

'Jam Band' earns rave reviews

/news/2009/feb/05/music_umphreys_mcgee_mantis/

Music review: Beach House "Teen Dream"

KJHK's weekly guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2010/feb/11/music-review-beach/

Music guy

A road map to music utopia

/news/2008/feb/14/music_guy/

Accessing jazz

Make jazz more accessible by checking out local acts.

/news/2010/apr/29/accessing-jazz/

Listen: SNMNMNM, As Best as We Can!

/news/2005/apr/21/jayplay_music_snmnmnm/

Q&A: Eric Frederic of Wallpaper.

Because we have questions. Celebrities have answers.

/news/2010/dec/02/q-eric-frederic-wallpaper/

Music: Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist

/news/2008/oct/09/music_nick_and_noras_infinite_playlist/

Music review: J+J+J - High Voltage Feast ...

KJHK’s weekly guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2010/nov/04/music-review-jjj-high-voltage-feast-almost-started/

Listen: Hot Hot Heat, Elevator

/news/2005/apr/21/jayplay_music_heat/

Roesler: Quality hip-hop isn’t far from home

New artists playing at local bars show a different side of the ...

/news/2009/nov/09/roesler-quality/

Reliving the music dream

Mark Gottschall, journalism resource center supervisor, recorded an album in Spain 35 ...

/news/2008/apr/16/reliving_the_music_dream/

Q&A with Davey Pierce of the band, ...

We have questions. Celebrities have answers.

/news/2010/oct/21/q-davey-pierce-montreal/

Music Review: Fall Out Boy - From ...

/news/2005/may/12/jayplay_music_boy/

Homegrown Punks— And Best Friends

A local group's underground recognition and the formation of a new Lawrence ...

/news/2012/apr/05/homegrown-punks/

Music: 'Watch my fall' by Jay Reatard

KJHK music staff’s guide to tasty sonic consumption.

/news/2009/sep/03/musicreview/

Music review: The Mountain Goats

KJHK’s weekly guide to sonic consumption.

/news/2009/nov/12/music-review-mountain-goats/

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment

Advertisement