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Tegan and Sara
If It Were You
10/18/02
reviewed by Mike Reistano
Thanks to Kelly for Providing the Articles.


This Canadian duo has appeared with Neil Young at his annual Bridge School Benefit Concerts in Mountain View, CA a handful of times, and the influence of Young’s heartfelt, singularly passionate delivery has rubbed off on Tegan and Sara more than just a little bit: Their latest long-player, If It Were You, is chock-full of emotionally-baring lyrics and capably-concocted pop rhythm tides so earnest and heartfelt that it would make Comes a Time-era Neil blush.

Unfortunately, the group’s sweetly naïve sensibilities wear a bit thin as the record nears its close: Where Hayden (another Canadian) wears his droopy, melancholy sentiments on his sleeve yet goes out of his way to involve his listeners with differing types of ballads and crooning love songs as his albums play, Tegan and Sara suffer from a bit of ye olde “everything sounds the same” syndrome.

The hook to “Monday Monday Monday” is diverting enough, but over the course of If It Were You, they tread lyrical water: “Damn your mood swings!” is the chorus mantra in one of the album’s first tracks, and almost every song following it fills the same void.

However, this listener found himself humming tunes long after his initial spins, so while Tegan and Sara may not be leaps and bounds ahead of the singer/songwriter pack, the fact that they can sucker-punch an unsuspecting listener with a catchy pop hook makes it apparent that while If It Were You may not be a stellar record, these Canucks may have a couple aces up their collective sleeve.