Tegan and Sara's
If It Was You can quickly be summed up by using a few terms from music land that everyone should be familiar with: Lilith Fair,
Alanis Morissette, power pop, and hooks. Combine all the ideas and you have
Tegan and Sara. There are acoustic moments on
If It Was You; there are also full-on pop/ rock moments. The singing is the primary focus of the album, with both sisters carrying the weight of the vocal work. Going back to their punk roots seems to have helped, as many of the songs seem more raw than what one might expect from a formerly acoustic duo. It seems that success is almost guaranteed for an act such as this, seeing as they've played with
Ryan Adams,
Neil Young, and
Rufus Wainwright, and also appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. Not a bad offering that is sure to catch on -- as long as it can get noticed in that large bin of music labeled "lots of talent and commercial potential...we just need the right people to hear us." ~ Kurt Morris