Five years ago, they would have called it Dawsons Creek Music. Now however, the catch-all term for indie with a big gay heart is OC Music - funny how the barometer of taste changes, yet the songs they use do not.
Theoretically, Tegan & Sara** are no real different to say, Sixpence None The Richer - sweet, sweet female-vocal indie with a soft center and the potential to sell a billion records. Theoretically though, Seth OC is a potential indie studmuffin. The same applies - I just don't make the connection. Then again, Tegan & Sara are a little bit different to most...
Hailing from Calgary, Canada, the sisters who are known as much for their onstage banter as their bittersweet burbling indie-tronica have made this, their fourth album. The key to 'So Jealous_' is that it's a mall-prancing hit jukebox but with, y'know proper non-bubblegum pop sensibilities.
It's a classic mish mash of sweet and sour, such as the unrequited sunshine of 'Take Me Anywhere', or 'I Know I Know I Know_' - one of those classic balladic efforts with plaintive bass and tired vocals that should be really hackneyed and cliched yet seems to emote more than it possible should with sweet, burbling keys on top.
'Walking With A Ghost' is equally engrossing, combining yelping vocals with murmuring pop guitars. Yet it's 'Fix Up Up' which is the OC killer - as the duo croon "im not feeling it enough". See it brandished all over your heartbreak airwaves next season. Maybe.
It would be a crime if it didn't...
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8Gareth Dobson's Score