Tegan And Sara: So Jealous

Herald rating: * * * *

Tegan And Sara's first two albums, This Business of Art (2000) and If It Was You (2002), were twee and left no impression at all. On So Jealous they declare in the first song that "I wouldn't like me, if I met me", and you know they've made the album they should've been making from the start.

Theres something coy about them, but the devotion and conviction with which they deliver these, at times, ditty-ish songs, is infectious.

I Bet It Stung, with its galloping bass and deeply strummed acoustic guitar, takes off on such a highly flown tangent that U2 would be embarrassed that Tegan and Sara were able to play it all by themselves.

Their songs know exactly where to rark it up, calm down and then be beautifully melodic.

They can do pop too, like on I Know I Know I Know. With its young and sultry vocals, and Grease-like lyrics, it verges on a Gwen Stefani-type love song.

Two-person bands are common and their coolness might be waning. But what Tegan and Sara are is an absolute delight, and this is an album of brilliant, unpretentious simplicity. 

Label: Sanctuary/Vapor