Heartthrob

After loving the previous two Tegan and Sara albums, I was eager to get their latest release, Heartthrob. And I was disappointed. It's not a bad record, it's just...ordinary.

I reminded myself of the ingenuity of the other albums in my possession: The Con and Sainthood, and they are just as I remember them--infectiously rhythmic, with obscure but intriguing lyrics. The songs on Heartthrob are again about relationships, but are the kind of ballads you hear sung on American Idol. Who knew that these sisters longed to be like Destiny's Child?

As the title suggests, the songs are about love. It opens with "Closer," a nice love song that was the first single. I thought it was okay, but didn't dream it would be one of the best songs on the album. It's standard stuff, but has a nice lyric: "All I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me."

The album continues in this vain, with trite ideas expressed in titles such as "I Was a Fool," "How Come You Don't Want Me," and "Love They Say." They all kind of blend together, and don't require close attention, as their previous work did.

The best song on the record and the only one that could have fit in on a previous album is the last--"Shock to the System," which has a ferocious drum beat and a line that is repeated often, with genuine feeling: "What you are is lonely."

Again, not a bad collection, but not up to the Tegan and Sara's standards. They break no ground here and sound like a hundred other artists. It really bummed me.