Date:September 12, 2007
Author:Matt Budd
Publication:huffingtonpost.com
Headline:Tegan and Sara: Riot Grrrls 2007

Oh sweet Tegan and Sara, how I love thee and your new album "The Con." Let me count the ways.

No seriously, these two sisters from Canada have put together a great collection of catchy rock meets techno dance meets indie rock pop songs. "The Con" is their fifth release and came out in July. I, of course being on the cutting edge, found out about it last week. Oy vey, I've got to get out more.

This is how I came to find out what I was missing. I was in Provincetown in early August when a local entertainment paper had an intriguing photo of both girls and a story of their album already in shops. Later that month, I was listening to Sirius Radio's "Left Of Center" channel (which I highly recommend, especially their great Blog Radio program) and I heard this amazing pop/rock song called "Back In Your Head" . Guess who? That's right. Tegan and Sara.

It's interesting how music industry folks talk about the decline of radio and the simple power of Word Of Mouth. When in my world it was a combo of several factors including radio. Maybe traditional radio is over and we are now getting our news and information from niche media outlets like Sirius' "Left Of Center" and local entertainment papers. The latest news is that Rick Rubin as head of Columbia Records is creating a Word Of Mouth department which is nothing more than street team marketing. Nothing new here folks. Anyway, I digress. Pick up "The Con" from Tegan and Sara. Each track is a surprise with it's own influences. It is produced by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla. Listening to "The Con" reminds me of the first time I found out about Sleater Kinney and listening to 1998's "Dig Me Out." I have the New York Times to thanks for that one.

"The Con" harkens back to some of that Riot Grrl stuff going on in the 90s, but Tegan and Sara manage to put a whole new spin on it and give us something fresh to listen to. Thanks gals and see you in New York this November. Oh by the way, got a spare ticket?