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Tegan & Sara | Get Along

Warner Bros. (2011)
By RYAN REED  |  November 22, 2011
2.5 2.5 Stars

TEGANSARA
Trust me — I've searched, but I haven't found a more adorable band than Tegan & Sara: Canadian lesbian twins with squeaky-thin voices and ramshackle skills, banging out earnest pop epics with lyrics ripped straight from their diaries, delivering more heart and sweat in a single track than most bands could muster in two careers. There's absolutely nothing not to love about the duo, and I find myself rooting for them, defending them against the haters, even when they obviously don't need my help — their 2007 masterpiece, The Con, still runs laps around any other "indie-pop" album released then or since. But I still find myself aching to defend their first live album, Get Along, even though, musically speaking, it's a mixed bag. My issue isn't with the actual songs, which cover stand-outs from recent efforts like Sainthood and The Con, stretching back to their earlier, more Lilith Fair–styled milieu. No, the problem lies with the actual live performances, which are charmingly low-key at best (the striking acoustic take on the once-funky "Alligator") and, at worst, painfully out-of-tune (the almost bearable "Back in Your Head"). Even when a track like "Alligator" reveals a new layer you hadn't anticipated, you're still way better off listening to the studio version, where they sound like they nailed it the first time.
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  Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Tegan & Sara, Tegan & Sara,  More more >
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 See all articles by: RYAN REED

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