![]() As Tegan And Sara’s legacy has solidified over the years, the young and queer people that they inspired would help to reposition their place in the canon. When The Con was released in 2007, Pitchfork characterized them as “tampon rock” Rolling Stone prefaced their review by saying that they were “lesbians who never reference their oppression or sexuality.” Those crass dismissals stung - the duo recently posted a note reflecting on how harshly the press treated them early on - and they also made those that loved them fiercely loyal to and defensive of them. Since the start, the sisters were unwilling to shy away from or feel ashamed by their sexuality, and they also refused to become defined by it, no matter how much outside forces attempted to make that the only part of the conversation. Through YouTube videos and personal blog posts and the songs themselves, they created an intimacy among fans that would in turn make those fans more comfortable and willing to create themselves.Ī decade on, Tegan And Sara have become a respectable institution, but for the first half of their career they were plagued by the sort of sexism and homophobia that, unfortunately, is exactly what you’d expect from an industry dominated by straight dudes. In an early social media age, Tegan And Sara leveled the playing field between listener and artist, feeling more like friends than some unattainable other. ![]() Music can often feel like such a nebulous thing, but Tegan And Sara were eager to show how it lived and breathed, to display the hard work and labor that goes into the creative process. Watching that was the first time I ever saw what the inside of a studio looked like and got a sense of how it worked. The full-length The Con documentary that accompanied every CD felt almost as vital and important as the album itself. Starting with So Jealous, the Quin twins documented practically everything they did while creating an album, letting their fans see inside their process in what felt like real-time. Tegan And Sara’s ascent was gradual and not at all easy, but part of their rise can be attributed to how accessible Tegan And Sara felt, especially to an awkward 15-year-old queer kid growing up in the suburbs. It served as not only a catalyst for my own personal transformation, but marked a turning point for the duo, who a few years after this would make the transition from indie stalwarts to fresh voices in the pop world. Tegan And Sara acted as a gateway for a lot of people, and The Con - which turns 10 today - is perhaps their most enduring legacy. The duo just announced a covers album featuring 14 different artists covering each of the album’s songs, and last week NPR published a great feature with recollections from some of the contemporary musicians that were inspired by the Canadian twins, and most of them had discovery stories similar to mine. I’m not the only one that feels this way, which I’ve only realized over the last couple years when talking to people who were impacted by Tegan And Sara in the same way. Before, songs were just songs and albums were just albums, but The Con started me down the path of actually wanting to write about and be involved with music - interrogate what makes it work and figure out why it doesn’t when it doesn’t. It was my gateway to really giving a shit about music - how it’s written, the way it’s made, the personalities behind it. When your heart feels like a stone in your breast, The Con will prove a perfect, sweetly addictive companion.If I had to point to one album that completely changed the way that I think about music, it would be The Con. Their haircuts may be unfashionable, but the Quins' ear for a melody and their emotionally naked lyricism remains special. The Tegan-penned title track, a brittle confessional about clinging to feelings for a former lover, builds to an irresistibly swooning chorus 'Back In Your Head', with its unnerving insight into relationship scruples, is built around an unsettlingly cheery piano hook, while the jangly guitar subtext to 'Burn Your Life Down' is tenderly sad and sexy. Recorded with Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla, it hammers home the notion that the Quins are consistently excellent songsmiths and offers an abundance of high points. ![]() Better still, it doesn't muddle emotion with overwrought hysterics. On The Con, their fifth album, the writing has acquired a melancholy, sophisticated bloom - the 14 songs here have a burnish that initially disguises end-of-the-affair wretchedness. They are lesbians, yet the sentiments here speak to anyone who has ever had their heart mangled. The tunes possess a peculiar, heart-twisting radiance: an infusion of piping harmonies, polished exuberance and introspective angst. ![]() Their songs are sour visions of love, full of forked desire, infatuations past and present, and self-flagellation.
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