Tegan and Sara's The Con
Tegan and Sara started out as two ladies with guitars, and on The Con, they’ve upgraded to a less folky but no less personal sound.
The Con abounds in empty spaces. Heady pauses, mismatched drum beats, and soft echoes contrast effectively with the duo’s stark vocals, highlighting the often brutally personal lyrics: “Like O, Like h,” has the gem, “S.O.S. to my mother / Take the hinges off the door,” and “Knife Going In” features the raw feelings of betrayal: “I feel the knife going in / ...not enough to kill me, / I thought it’d happen fast.” ...
While Tegan and Sara succeed in pushing their musical boundaries, some of the best material on this album features a definite pop structure and their familiar rocking guitar work. “Burn Your Life Down” is perhaps the most lyrically straightforward song on the album, but it’s also one of the most powerful. Tegan and Sara succeed equally in both the adventurous and pop-focused musical arenas on The Con.
