34 — North Shore News -— Friday, September 15, 2000 No identity crisis for Tegan and Jan-Chiristian Sorensen News Reporter Jsorensen@usncws.coi IT’S never easy being a twin. When you've got this much musical talent: shared by nwo siblings, however, it just might not be as bad as you think. Tegan and Sara Quin, Calgary natives newly settled in Vancouver's West End, have just released their firsr CD — This Business of Art — under the Universal label. So far, they've shared stages with Paula Cole, Juliana Hartfield, Havden and per- formed at Lilith Fair. Their first official tour -— which ended last week — takes the cake though: opening for the West Coast swing of the Neil Young and The Pretenders double bill. “Both artists and their bands are amazing,” said Sara, calling from a cellphone in Boise, Idaho last week. “They've been really support- ive and friendly.” And yeah, when you're stuck in Idaho, packed into a van with your twin. sister, nerves can get a little frayed. “We ger as sick of each other as much as any other group of people stuck in a van together,” said Sara, “but we're pretty cool with each other.” The duo has loaded This Business of Art — an acoustic masterstroke — with a smat- tering of offbeat and quirky lyrics that will encourage their listeners to investigate the liner notes for a deeper read. The first track released off the album is titled, appropri- photo Universal Music MULTI-TALENTED Calgary singer-songwriters Tegan and Sara recently released their first CD, This Business of Art, under the Universal label. The twins will perform at Richard's on Richards in Vancouver next Friday. ately, “The First.” It sets the tone for the rest of an album that shines a brilliant spotlight on the duo’s clever lyrical style — a more upbeat, rhythmic sound that soars above the typical bouillabaisse of teen grunge pessimism: “Wasting time in the fast food line/l decide to walk the fine line and/celebrate life, cel- ebrate death/1 chovse to cele- brate the first ...” PRIZE DRAW TICKETS WHERE YOU SEE QUAKEFAIR POSTERS SAVE-ON-FOODS i RE VOTE PE NANEOERTES, 3 6 ak Rady SOIREE: ieidodacbesReksasaundsan Believe it. Pak & Tilford piome Builders (behind Capilano Mail) Pearsons Hardware - Lonsdale The entire album stands as a well-paced selection of subtle life lessons that are thought- provoking yet never in-your- face. The “teen angst” typecast is something Sara said the twins — who turn 20 next week — are constantly striving, to shake off. “My reaction is ‘what's not teen angst?” Whether you're Britney Spears or whoever ... if you weren't looking at my age, would you consider it angst or would you. consider it. teen angst?” They've got more impor- tant aims for their music, she said. “We want people to feel empowered by our music. it’s not sad, it’s not ‘I give up’ music. It’s definitely. like ‘Yeah, this sucks, bur you know what? Who | cares.” It’s moving-on music.” The next single off This Business of Art is likely to be the — stellar = third = track, A project of the City of North Vancouver in partnership with — Shore Hews, ) the NES, industry, government, and leading response erganizations: . “Frozen”. — a helter-skelter song that highlights the deep vocal and instrumental range of the pair. The peppery vocal delivery, rock-solid guitar stylings and romping back- beats will have you scrambling _for the repeat button on your CD player. Some of the cuts on the album were taken from an indie record the Quin sisters released in 1999 entitled Under Fret Like Ours, And bid goodbye to record company-meddling on this album: the sisters were in the middle of signing their distrib- ution deal with Universal when they dropped a_pre- made studio CD onto the- desk. Universal, recognizing that you can’t do much to improve something so flawless in the first place, slapped their label on it and Tegan and Sara’s first CD was on the shelves. “The final product was the final product,” said Sara. “Nothing was Kicked off the album. There was no cri- tiquing, really.” Tegan and Sara will play a show at Richard's on Richards next Friday night as part of a Canada-wide club and theatre tour. While the sisters have pack- aged themselves as a unit, they still maintain their own indi- siduality while writing and performing. “We think of our- selves as completely separate songwriters. We just sort of bring them together at the end. and then we stare brainstorm- © ing and find out what we think. is cool or what we think we could add to it,” said Sara. On the album, as well, the sisters trade off on vocal duties - — while one takes the lead, the other adds her own dis- tinct voice to the backup. And when it comes to their - working relationship, Sara is > keen subscriber to a variation : on an old maxim: “keep your friends close.and your sister ° closer.” “That's the benefit of being a family member,” she said, half-joking. “I "don’t think (Tegan) would ever screw me because Id tefl mom: on her.” Armoury, 1 1813 Fores Aue. Gity af Moxth Vancoumer AR Foti Armoury QUAKEFAIR Marine Brive Capilano Malt Keith Road. 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