The Con
by Tegan & Sara

Album details

US: 24 July 2007 on Sire
UK: IMPORT ONLY

The fifth album (and Sire debut) for Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin was produced by Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla. Some versions come with a bonus DVD that details the recording process and provides a glimpse into the sisters’ lives.

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The critical consensus

The twins were poised to make a commercial breakthrough with their major-label debut. Could The Con live up to increased expectations, at least in terms of quality? The critics answered that question with a fairly resounding "yes."

The website Aversion found an album that’s "light-years beyond the usual clunky clichés" associated with music about relationships, concluding, "The Con isn’t just the sisters’ most mature record yet, it’s their best." All Music Guide agrees that the sisters keep getting better, calling The Con "an impressive step forward in their already commendable discography." Similarly, Spin says their "new-wave pop hooks are stronger than ever," and the Boston Globe, too, is in the best-yet camp, admiring the album’s "much richer" instrumentation and more mature songwriting. Entertainment Weekly also enjoys the twins’ "angsty, catchy pop," and The Onion likes the disc’s "agressive sound," noting that it has "an almost Spoon-like fascination with defying conventional notions of rock rhythm."

Billboard finds The Con "not as immediately satisfying" but "more sonically adventurous" than 2004’s So Jealous. Harp Magazine actually didn’t like that preceding album, but likes The Con, which is "abundant with darkly melodic, unshakable songs" and a "disarmingly personal work." While Stylus notes "too many sturdy, banal rhythms and predictable melodies," Sputnik finds portions of the new album "underdeveloped," but otherwise feels it "proves that Tegan and Sara have immense talent." And the Washington Post is a little hesitant to fully recommend the album due to the twins’ "high-pitched and saccharine" vocals, but otherwise says The Con represents "a new high point in the sisters’ catalogue." Only Kevchino and Pitchfork truly have reservations, with the former finding the album "cold" and lacking melody, and the Fork questioning some of the sisters’ "weird choices."

Somehow “The Con” is even more obsessive sounding than Tegan and Sara’s earlier work, and it’s probably even better; it could well be one of the year’s best albums.

- Kelefa Sanneh, The New York Times

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. I Was Married
2. Relief Next To Me
3. The Con
4. Like O, Like H
5. Are You Ten Years Ago
6. Back In Your Head
   
   
7. Hop A Plane
8. Soil, Soil
9. Burn Your LIfe Down
10. Nineteen
11. Floorplan
12. Knife Going In
13. Dark Come Soon
14. Call It Off

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• T&S @ MySpace