Soooo Appealing

In the basement bar-schmooze area of the Bowery Ballroom last Wednesday night, a man and a woman sat examining a postcard promoting the latest Tegan and Sara album, So Jealous. "I'm, like, soooo jealous!" the guy mocked in a Valley Girl squeal. The woman rolled her eyes at him. He soooo doesn't get it. That little syllable isn't a girlish embellishment; it represents the utter devastation of heartbreak. Anyone can relate to that, even people without ovaries.

photo: Cary Conover

Try to tell them apart.

Details

Tegan and Sara
Bowery Ballroom
January 12

Related Content

• Live: Bowerbirds Light Up Bowery Ballroom
  March 26, 2012
• WORKING FOR 

THE WEEKND
  April 25, 2012
• SLUMBER PARTY
  March 21, 2012
• Live: Buraka Som Sistema Impart Sweaty Joy At The Bowery Ballroom
  January 12, 2012
• Live: Caveman Heat Up The Bowery Ballroom
  January 23, 2012

More About

• Tegan & Sara
• Ani DiFranco
• Calgary
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: (Sent out every Thursday) Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Because the Calgary-born Quin sisters have ovaries, and they sometimes strum acoustic guitars, and their lyrics talk about feelings and stuff, the 24-year-olds are often relegated to the Kotex ghetto alongside Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls, artists they sound nothing like. If Tegan and Sara's music recalls anybody, it's Cheap Trick and the Cars, as this sold-out show confirmed. Their three-piece backing band added rhythmic crunch to "I Won't Be Left" 's tick-tock guitars and the synthesized buzz and swoon of "Speak Slow" and "So Jealous," while the leading ladies traded powerpop licks. Sara's shrill ululations contrasted with Tegan's supple emoting; it was one of the few ways to tell the identical twins apart, since both sported fashion-mullet hairdos, blue jeans, and cutoff black T-shirts (Tegan's had the word "AMAZING" written on it).

As devoted fans know, the music is just a small part of the T&S live experience. It's really all about the between-song banter. "We've been trying not to talk so much," Sara said early in the set. "We're running out of things to say." The crowd groaned, but the warning proved to be false. In between the usual sisterly teasing, they found plenty to discuss: basketball, children's books, New York City, their appearance on Conanthe night before (Mom called to say it was "OK"). After relating a tale of their grandfather's adventures in a Mexican strip bar, Sara apologized for all the family chatter. "I don't know why we're talking about our grandparents so much. We sound like a Christian band."

That sense of unguarded intimacy, in both their music and their stage personas, is what makes Tegan and Sara so appealing. They act like they want to tell you their secrets, to share inside jokes with you, to be your friends. And everybody needs friends. Even boys.