They don't have drivers' licenses and they live across the continent from each other, but Tegan and Sara may be the most idiosyncratic band to emerge from a Canadian indie scene that also features Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Metric.
Featuring lesbian twins Tegan and Sara Quin, the band wrote about the pain of breaking up on its last record, 2007's The Con, a theme that it continues on Sainthood, a record that continues moving the two towards the mainstream while maintaining their intelligent lyrics and aesthetics.
The record, which was produced by Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla, boldly states that the band is moving in a new direction. The drums and guitar on Hell
the album's first single, for instance, are much more intense than they are on the band's five previous albums.
The songwriting on this album is much more cohesive than before - there is an auditory schizophrenia on Tegan and Sara's older albums that is likely the result of the sisters writing their music separately, as Tegan lives in Vancouver and Sara lives in Montreal. For this album, the sisters met up in New Orleans for a week, working on developing the chemistry that is necessary to any effective collaboration.
Many of the songs are deeply personal, as the record delves into the reasons for the end of both Sara's long-term relationship and the sisters' parents' divorce. By staying so intensely personal, the two are capable of creating catchy music while not compromising themselves lyrically.
On Northshore which is vaguely reminiscent of the riot girl movement, the sisters sing, Don't bend don't blink
don't beg
don't scream
don't whine
don't fight
don't tell me
don't tell me
don't tell me.
At other times, however, the sisters sound more like Jenny Lewis. The album's final track, the Rilo Kiley-esque Someday
features the lyric, Might paint something I might want to hang here someday
