Tegan And Sara

Tegan And Sara, the twin sister indie duo out of Canada, have hit their mainstream stride with Heartthrob.

The album is rife with heavy beats by textured drums and thumping bass. The voices of the sisters glide along with a visceral energy, guitar and synth counter-melodies filling all of the space around it. This is dancing music.

The duo manages to provide variety within the cookie cutter structure of pop tunes—from the slower and keyboard-heavy “I Was A Fool” to the pounding “Closer,” the band changes up tempos and beats enough to maintain surface level interest.

But the interest remains surface level, because Heartthrob is slave to its average sound. The bass and drums keep a powerful beat, but it’s one that any Katy Perry song could give.

The guitars and keyboards are expertly arranged, but won’t cause any musicians’ ears to perk up. The songs are pleasant but won’t surprise, not being unique enough from each other or any-thing else on the charts to be satisfying.

Not only is the music predictable, but also the lyrics touch on love and breaking up and lust—topics that current listeners are all too familiar with.

The highlight is “I Couldn’t Be Your Friend;” the arrangement is vanilla, but the keyboard’s texture stands out and the music itself is more varied, if only barely.

Fans of Tegan and Sara will be glad to hear the driving vocals of the sisters and their signature guitar sound. The average listener will indulge in the full sound and repetitive lyrics. But, beyond that, Heartthrob doesn’t deliver anything special or new.