Review Summary: Tegan and Sara don’t pull many surprises, but use the atmospheric sounds of The Con to deliver a collection of pop tunes with the playability of their older material.
The first song I ever heard by Tegan and Sara was “You Wouldn’t Like Me” from So Jealous. I found this song catchy and addictive, with a “down to Earth” persona that you look for in a simple song. This worked for me, but when I heard “Relief Next to Me”, the differences were astounding. This song had both clever word play (‘The thunder moves, like curtains chasing in and out of wind, in and out of windows), dense sonic layers (all those keyboards!), and a light, tasteful rhythm section. This was the set-up for “The Con” to be viewed as the highlight of Tegan and Sara’s catalogue.
Going into Sainthood with this mindset, I was pleasantly surprised by the first song, “Arrow”. It starts off with heavy and interesting synth sounds with the light yet driving hi-hat of drummer Jason McGerr (who played on this album as well as the last). Then we hear the voice of Sara, fitting the “robotic” atmosphere the song pushes off with. This intro proceeds, with poppy accents of off-beat snare and bass drum as fitting. At 0:48, Sara delivers her chorus (I feel the breeze/the feathers of an arrow). This section has a less rigid feel, while still incorporating the electronic sounds. There’s just enough time for the listener to appreciate the vocal melody before the song returns to its “robotic” verse structure. The song plays out, stopping short with a single snare stroke with a clean guitar strum to end abruptly on. This is a tactic we’ve seen frequently by Tegan and Sara, who seem to have an incurable desire to shorten their songs as often as possible.
The sudden stop segues into the next tune, “Don’t Rush”. This song again incorporates heavy synth sounds, but with a more present guitar. Jason McGerr again shows us his vast knowledge of grooves and effective beats, giving song the pace it needed to be most listenable. This song offers its moments of catchiness and pleasure, but is nothing compared to the track that follows, “Hell”.
Hell starts off with a quick,classic punk-rock style tempo. We’ve seen in the past that Tegan likes to incorporate a bright “punk-rock” sound into some of her songs (I.E. “Hop a Plane”). This song is surprisingly addictive, which is evident from the first time Tegan breaks into her chorus with a melodic “I know you feel it too”. This song is the album’s first single and lets us know Tegan and Sara are back, giving us new perspectives of the same relationship issues they’ve always written about.
The next few songs continue in the same manner, with Tegan and Sara trading off songs and giving us variations on their sound and using simple beats, strumming guitars and synth sounds to keep them moving. “The Cure” is a more relaxed tune that will be a welcome addition to their relaxed live atmosphere. “Northshore” is very poppy and fast, albeit very short, which lessens its importance on the album. “Night Watch” is a good counterpart to this song, being short but spacious and dense. For the rest of the album the songs continue to be solid, yet not overly impressive. Album closer “Someday” gives us a hopeful chorus, with Jason McGerr supporting it with some intricate and tasteful hi-hat work. Overall it’s a nice finale for the twin Canadian pop heroines.
Sonically, this album has a lot to offer. Chris Walla, in my opinion, is the perfect producer for Tegan and Sara albums. His influence on “The Con” was very noticeable, and upped the level of sophistication in their music. In addition, the rhythm section did a terrific job. The bass on this album was exactly where it should have been. It seemed like they found the proper tone and placement for the instrument and kept it consistent for the entire album, which was another plus production wise. In the vocal department, the same harmonies and background lines we expect from the twins can be heard throughout. On every album it’s evident that Tegan and Sara put a lot of thought into the delivery of their lyrics. They are natural writers, and this is evident by their MySpace blogs and their website posts as well as their song writing.
Tegan and Sara don’t pull many surprises, but use the atmospheric sounds of The Con to deliver a collection of pop tunes with the playability of their older material. Sainthood is a success, and will sufficiently satisfy fans for another few years while they tour and let the world get to know their bright personalities.
