“My Number”
from the album This Business of Art
2000
iTunes
Nobody recognizes the originators. Does anyone care The Creation used a violin bow on the electric guitar before Jimmy Page? Does anyone remember the psychedelic ’60s Nirvana who discovered phasing by accident before The Byrds? Does anyone recognize that Jon Spencer started the retro rock revolution back in ’92 almost a decade before The Strokes’ debut? Probably not the majority of music “fans.”
So it’s possible only the same people could care that Tegan and Sara predated the release of Avril’s Let Go and teeny girl-punk by over two years but with the glaringly obvious and crucial difference that they’ve always written their own songs and lyrics and that their sound, different on each album, has none of the stagnant homogeny that blankets major label lip-synching sell-outs like Ashlee Simpson. While the twin sisters, Tegan and Sara Quinn, were getting signed to Vapor Records, the label of Neil Young whom they would later tour with, on the strength of essentially a full-length demo, 1999’s rare Under Feet Like Ours, Avril was still doing the country bar circuit perfecting the Shania Twain covers, no joke, that would see her picked up by RIAA tumor label Arista.
Like most originators, the Calgary duo’s debut album This Business of Art was released in mid-2000 to relatively little fanfare despite being produced by Canadian icon, singer-songwriter Hawksley Workman. At the ripe age of 19, the twins’ songs read with a heavy diary vibe, each overflowing with lyrics often wise beyond their years, yet at times naïve, leading to more adult situation descriptions and a more precise form two years later on If It Was You. At the same time, their voices matured to their now signature graveled timbre. The groundwork was laid and elements of what Tegan and Sara are now naturally shines throughout various aspects of This Business, but they didn’t really grow into themselves as artists until they started touring heavily (they are pretty wicked live) and messing around in the studio more. The much simpler approach to If It Was You allowed the fragility of their voices and the unique harmonies they could create to fully come through, the subtleties that were somewhat lost behind Workman’s professional but ultimately out of place production.
As they gain more experience and exposure and learn to take more control over the creative process, Tegan and Sara can only continue to grow. It’s up to us not to blame them for Fefe Dobson or for the sheepherding trends they helped create and to truly listen to their music as, like George Harrison said, the songs will continue to outlive the style in which they were recorded. The catchiness of all pop music fades over time, but the substance of the Quinn character will see their music remembered long after Avril is doing Old Navy commercials — at least by those of us who like to remember these things.