

Listen to “Hell” on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. “Hell” still rips, its dueling riffs complimenting Tegan and Sara’s quick-trigger declarations, which still inspire raised fists a decade-plus later. Listen to “Alligator” on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.Ĭhris Walla, best known for his Death Cab For Cutie tenure, produced Tegan and Sara’s 2007 album The Con, but his work on 2009 follow-up Sainthood - and specifically lead single “Hell” - more clearly adopted his brand of tight, muscular indie-rock, and the twins ran with it. The clipped lyrics tell a story in puzzle pieces without ever zooming out to reveal the whole picture, playing like an emotionally overwhelmed memory and belying Sara’s claim of “My motormouth runs over you.” But the sublimely harmonized and hip-swaying central refrain (“O-ver you, o-ver you“) is positively Motown-worthy, and the song’s centering of piano over guitar - Sara says it was the first song she wrote for the duo without even considering the six-string - points to the synth-heavy direction of the twins’ 2010s. - ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Billboard is here to help in that exercise - below, Billboard staff members take a look back at the 15 songs (in no particular order) that best exemplify the breadth of work Tegan and Sara have given their fans since 1999.Īt once, one of Tegan and Sara’s most accessible and most inscrutable pop songs. With their new show, a new record and years of experience under their belt, it would be only natural that the twins start thinking about their legacy as pioneering performers. The project blends elements of punk, pop and folk music to create yet another new sonic landscape that feels uniquely suited for Tegan and Sara Look no further than the pair’s upcoming tenth studio album Crybaby, due out on Friday, Oct. Their decade-spanning career has seen the Quin sisters take on whatever mantle best suited them in the moment, constantly adapting to the kind of art they were interested in making. Not only is the show a fascinating look into life as a misunderstood teen in the ’90s it’s a testament to the pair’s staying power as a musical duo. High School, the new Amazon Freevee television adaptation of the sisters’ 2019 memoir of the same name (out Friday), follows the lives of teenage Tegan and Sara (played by TikTok stars Railey and Seazynn Gilliland) as they come to grips with their sexualities, learn to live with one another, start their careers and survive the “universally sh–ty” experience of being teenagers, as Tegan told Billboard. After more than 20 years in the spotlight, queer indie pop duo Tegan and Sara Quin are taking a moment to reflect on their humble origins.
