If there is one thing that can be said about the Quin sisters, it’s that they are damn cute. On Saturday, that cuteness rocked a sold out crowd at the Cat’s Cradle. Maybe it’s because they are probably some of the most unattainable women to a guy like me (rockstars AND lesbians? FUCK!), but these ladies are probably number one and number two on my hottest-ladies-in-the-music-biz list. The fact that they almost assuredly aren’t worried about their position on this list only cements their standing.

The most impressive thing about seeing Tegan and Sara play is that after releasing five albums and signing with a major label, there’s not a hint of selling out (which is more than can be said for some of their label-mates – bladow!). All the heart and vulnerability that characterize their albums is multiplied a hundred fold in their live set. Even though they were most certainly not singing to me -- or any other man in the audience, for that matter -- I couldn’t help feeling and hoping that they were. It’s too bad I wasn’t emotionally unstable at the time; Tegan and Sara could save anyone from their sorrows.

Tegan’s unique, gravelly vocals are absolutely stunning to hear coming from the stacked cabinets. That’s not to say that Sara’s voice and electric guitar stylings don’t contribute a huge amount to the performance. Besides, a band just called Tegan is just silly. Songs from their newest album, The Con, dominated the set, but personal favorites from 2004’s So Jealous made welcomed appearances. Switching between acoustic guitar and the synthesizer for songs like “So Jealous” and “Back in Your Head”, Tegan excelled as frontwoman. Sara’s vocals were mostly limited to melodic accentuation of Tegan’s lead, but her guitar work intensified those choruses at exactly the places where loud electric guitar is indispensable. The rest of the band, expectedly, took demured to the pair. Even the lights on the back 60 percent of the stage remained low and red. Tegan and Sara did nod their heads to their rhythmic foundation, but the three unintroduced men remained as unacknowledged as our sexual frustration for the duration of the show, unless I was buying beer at the wrong time.

Tegan and Sara peppered their set with a few anecdotes that tempered but did not dilute the potency of the show. The most memorable of these involved Tegan petrified in her living room in the middle of the night while trying to go to the bathroom. Though a non-musical interlude, the story slotted nicely into the flow of the night, and if you can’t see instantly how it relates emotionally to the rest of the set, then you’ve got some serious Tegan and Sara homework to do. Myself and the rest of the Cat’s Cradle’s capacity crowd will meet you when you’re done.

So Jealous

Speak Slow