The idea of twin, lesbian, Canadian folk-pop singers sounds like something that was dreamed up by Trey Parker and Mat Stone for an episode of South Park. Yet, that is exactly what Tegan and Sara Quin are. But, that is the exactly what they are and they seem to wear it well.
The ground of slightly fey, folk-pop is well-trod ground for the college radio crowd. There has been Suzanne Vega, The Cocteau Twins, The Cranberries, and The Indigo Girls, just to name the most obvious points of reference that spring to my mind when I listen to this disk.
If you want a pretty good introduction to the work of the Quin sister, their disk of singles from 2002-2013 is certainly a very good place to start.
It has often been said that singers who are related to each other can harmonize tighter than other singers. That is certainly the case with this duo. Their harmonies are both sharp and enchanting. They work well in the folk-pop vein with plenty of chiming guitars and a hint of drums and keyboards.
Where to go in terms of recommending tracks from this disk? Well, the set certainly sets of with a bang with their newest single, the 2013, attraction, Closer. If you want some more variety for instrumentation, the 2002 single, Living Room, which ends the disk has some pretty tasty banjo licks to it and just a shade more grit to the vocals. Northshore, from2009 has some harder edge guitar to it and just a hint of punk rock to it. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Many punk and harder rock musicians have crossed over well to the folk world. So Jealous, from 2004 has some accordion or accordion-sounding keyboards in it and, again, make a nice change of pace.
This is a very good single disk retrospect for the duo and sets up their latest single well. People who like good harmonies and rock-tinged folk pop will be the obvious target for this album. It certainly accomplishes the task it sets out to do, which is to lay the groundwork of this duo and set up their future work well. Since I can certainly get into folk-pop, I can get behind what is going on here and recommend it to people who might like the same thing. It has just enough grit to get through the more ethereal moments well.