Heartthrob
by Tegan And Sara

From paladisiac TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/30/2013 15:44 | #63392 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Many artists have refashioned themselves under a pop-dance music mold. The stylistic shift has worked or not to varying degrees. Speaking of just the last 20 years, the first example that comes to mind is the dizzying plummet of liz phair from indie rock grace to major label puppet. That also brings to mind jewel's transformation from folk poet to her blatantly saccharine "0304". When it comes to rock music, U2's "pop" succeeded in places of blending the techno sound of the time with their patented stadium rock. The biggest success story in dance pop transformations is ben gibbard joining forces with dntel for the superb Postal Service album. But of course, others like Bright Eyes ("digital ash..") have attempted the same to a far less successful degree. For the most part, the dance infusion is problematic for an artist who already has an established pop/rock sound. It sounds forced and/or phony.

I discovered tegan and sara opening for ryan adams circa 2000. I loved their upbeat acoustic tales of love's complications and scorns in support of their "if it was you" album. That was the first (and only) time i exited a concert wanting to immediately purchase the album of the opening act. It was sold out at the venue but i picked it up the next day and wasn't disappointed in the least. "monday monday monday" and "underwater" were/are my favorites on an album replete with catchy upbeat pop/rock songs bouncing atop the twins' personalities. They make simple music based upon not-so-simple relationships and the emotions involved.

They've transformed their sound in small increments over time, from the acoustic pop/rock "if it was you" to a more "new wavey" pop/rock sound infused with more electric guitars and aggressive musical approach. Those increments left me unprepared for what i heard on "heartthrob", a full indoctrination to today's dance music. On first listen, the album immediately made me think of "pink meets robyn" but with a hollow liz phair center. Any actual instruments used are buried under a drum machine and (at times, wall of) synthesizer. The charm of a tegan and sara album is derived from what feels like their authentic tales of relationship trials and woes. On "heartthrob", these woes sound artificial, concocted for a quick, freeze-dried plastic packaging to mass market to teenagers and your mom alike. I can't hear their personalities well, if at all on some songs. ("drove me wild" is one of the exceptions.) Most of these songs could be sung by anyone. And that's the danger of converting to dance music (and auto-tune, for that matter) -- your sound is instantly synthesized into a form where the performers and personalities don't matter as much as simply feeling good, having a good time and dancing. Without the organic feel of HUMANS making music and a proper palette for expressing human concerns, heartbreak and other subjects of the human heart, then such emotive topics, even if they're still being expressed, are lost.

That's the main problem i have with "heartthrob". Instead of hearing the heart throbbing and aching for men in their lives, i instead imagine a poster of a male heartthrob on tegan and sara's wall and they're singing to a dance soundtrack songs they think that hunky paper doll might want to hear. It's that detachment from real emotions that keeps me from liking this album as much as their others. It's that reality of life and love that i hope they bring back on their next album, while abandoning the artificial sound which subtracts from a warmth of personality that i know they have, which i've seen first-hand nearly 13 years ago.

From junodog4 TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/07/2013 18:39 | #64390 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I have mixed feelings. So what if Tegan and Sara wanted to release a poppier album? They are rooted in pop after all, so it's not like it's a huge departure. If they want to do it, great - they probably do a better job than most. There are some standout moments on this album. However, there are times on this album where they lose their identity and sound a bit contrived. It's not as consistent as The Con. Basically, I'm glad they did this album, but they could have done it a bit better.

A fine album, safe and easy to swallow but catchy and casually intelligent. I think they're past their songwriting peak, though. Or at least there seems to be less of a distinction between the two sisters compositions, which made their best albums particulary fascinating. Perhaps a more in-unison style could be dynamic, but the full potential of that approach isn't nearly met in Heartthrob.

From RockyRaccoon TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/09/2013 19:50 | #80720 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Meh. Whatever. Just a couple words that pretty much sum up my reaction to this album. It’s not bad, sure, it’s got its moments, some of the songs are kinda catchy, but for the most part, the album is pretty unspectacular. Like I said, a couple good songs here and there (like “I Was A Fool" and “Closer"), but for the most part, the whole album sounds the same, there’s very little variety, and the songs aren’t anything terribly spectacular. It’s decent, but underwhelming to say the least.

Just slightly better than the everyday manufactured pop sound. If you're into this kind of music then you'll probably have a good time, though honestly it succeeds most when it is at least catchy but this album doesn't even have that going for it very often.