Home > Reno Music > CD Review > Tegan and Sara, "The Con"

Backstory: Canadian identical twins with serious musical cred—the pair were signed by Neil Young and have toured with such diverse acts as Rufus Wainwright, Weezer and both Ryan and Bryan Adams.

Why you should care: "The Con" is the duo's most-mature album to date (they wrote most of it while apart, sharing demos over 2 a.m. phone calls). "Like O, Like H" combines delicate acoustic guitar with heavy-handed studio beats, while the epic synth lines on the title track remind of the days when fellow Canadians Hot Hot Heat actually mattered. This album was obviously not made in a bedroom—the band's well-documented M.O. for previous albums.

Verdict: Longtime fans already seem to dig the release (the entire album was made available on MySpace after rampant P2P leakage). And who are we to argue with a sugar-buzzed blogger from Winnipeg?

X-Factor: Can't-whiff producer Chris Walla (of Death Cab For Cutie) headlines the list of all star collaborators, including his bandmate Jason McGerr, Hunter Burgan of AFI and the Rentals' frontman Matt Sharp.