3 and a half stars
Tegan and Sara make catchy songs about loving not wisely but too well.
They've defined themselves with sunny, self-loathing power pop,
peaking with 2007's The Con. Here, the girls just wanna have fun: With
squawking synths, clipped vocals and head-snapping New Wave drums,
their latest is an Eighties dance party. "Alligator" recalls early
Madonna, "Red Belt," Eighties post-punk. The chirpy "Go steady with
me!" chorus of "On Directing" makes you wonder what Toni Basil is up
to lately. That's not to say happiness rules. On "Northshore," they
cap a laundry list of "don'ts" with a declaration "My misery's so
addictive!" True, that.
Key Tracks: "Northshore," "On Directing," "Someday"