Tegan and Sara Album: “The Con: Special Edition [PA]”

The world of pop could use a lot more pop like Tegan and Sara's, and less posturing on MTV with a computerized voice.

And the identical twins show even greater variety in their fifth full-length album, three years after the Juno-nominated "So Jealous." In "The Con," they basically polish their existing guitar pop, but fill the sprightly melodies with confusing experiences and sorrowful romances.

It opens with a delicate piano ballad, framing a pretty, poignant song about the confusion and struggles of gay people. "To my heart confusion rose against/the muscles fought so long/to control against the pull of one/magnet to another magnet to another magnet," Tegan and Sara Quin sing together in shifting melodies. "I look into the mirror/for evil that just does not exist..."

Things get much more sprightly for the swirling pop of "Relief Next to Me," or the songs that it lays the groundwork for: rapid-fire dancepop, mellow piano ballads, bouncy little indie melodies, mellow acoustics, dark urgent pop stabbed with drumbeats, and energetic powerpop that doesn't let its bounciness keep it from staying intense.

Don't listen to "The Con" just once. Listen at least twice.

On the first listen you hear a rush of peppy indiepop that's fun and catchy, even when it's being serious. But the second time around you hear all the delicate interweaving of acoustics and keyboard, and the wistful, mournful look back at love and growing to maturity.

The Quin sisters play some nimble, swirling guitars, with some bass guitar beefing up songs like the rock-y "Hop A Plane." Ted Gowans also underscores some of the songs with sprightly piano pop, and he also weaves ribbons of glimmering synth through the earthy pop melodies. There are moments of messiness like "Like O, Like H," but usually they smoothly twine into a layered, solid pop melody.

They sing everything in girlish, harmonized voices, but the sisters also provide "The Con" with its bittersweet, confusing songwriting. And they've gained more maturity here as well, with lots of enigmatic lines, recollections of the past and lovelorn memories ("If I forget or God forbid die too soon/hope that you'll hear me know that I wrote to you...").

The up-and-down of lyrical romantic angst ends with the painful "Call it Off," which is all about how one of them is in love still, but knows the relationship is doomed ("You take your time coming over here/I think that's for the best/Call, break it off").

Tegan and Sara reach a new level of musical skill with "The Con" -- it's brilliant pop, but filled with heartfelt problems and uncertainty. Definitely a winner.

This album clocks in at a VERY lean 35ish minutes, and I was disappointed at first, but then realized in short order there was a very good reason. Listen to the lyrics, read the songs - In the end I have no doubt that each song stands as a brilliant story, more than in any of their other albums. So much is told in so short a period of time. Prior to The Con, I never believed anything could match up to what they did on So Jealous, and the first listen I was iffy, however every listen after that, including the two listens live, made me realize that this was such a growth, and so much was told - It's pretty amazing. Chris Walla really helped make an emotional journey for these girls. To give that in-depth a look into themselves, it's not something you hear often enough these days.

I'll admit that at first I wasn't crazy about this album. I missed the simple upbeat and pop sound of So Jealous and initially The Con isn't that. It isn't this because it is so much more. The lyrics take more time to sort out. The melodies are more diverse. It is altogether a much more mature.

But, some songs - such as "Hop a Plane" "Back In Your Head" "The Con" "Burn Your Life Down" etc - do have the pop sound that can be found in their previous So Jealous album. While other tracks seem to have the folk influence of their even earlier albums.

It wasn't until I had some peace and quiet to really listen to the entire album that I fell in love with it. It's nearly impossible to make an accurate decision on if you like a song or not if you're doing seven other things while attempting to listen to The Con.

I was scared at first, after having loved So Jealous so much. However, Tegan and Sara have not let me down! I am majorly looking forward to hearing them in concert this November, as this CD is now my favorite, over all, of theirs!

....been a Tegan and sara fan for a while now and i have to say this is No "sell out" downhill album! this is one of the best things i have heard in a LONG time! not only is the album intelligent......it is also adorable! maybe you cant understand that but thats what it is! ...hehe....in conclusion........i want to hug tegan and sara.....theyve done such a brilliant job on this thing..........................

love