Girl Power Pop: Tegan & Sara

CANADIAN TWIN-SISTER song duo Tegan and Sara Quin spend a lot of time in the United States. They cite their Calgary, Alberta, music scene and cool, concert-going parents as primary musical influences, but extensive tours of post-grunge America have impacted the pair's pop palette considerably.

Initially tagged as folk-rock, Tegan and Sara have been turning it up a notch lately; their music decidedly more edgy and their lyrics slightly more anguished.

The two started making music together in high school and mostly performed for friends, but eventually it developed into a good reason to stave off the beckoning call of college.

"At first, I don't think anyone thought the band would turn into anything," Tegan admitted. "But we thought our music was just as good as what we heard being played around town or anywhere else."

So did Neil Young, who, after hearing some of the girls' self-produced recordings, signed them to his label, Vapor Records, in 2000.

Fast-forward a few years and Tegan and Sara would become a staple of the music industry, successfully completing tours of Canada, Japan and Australia and releasing a string of discs.

The long-running studio partnership the siblings had with fellow Canadians John Collins and David Carswell (of The New Pornographers and The Smugglers, respectively) peaked in 2004 with "So Jealous" — the girls' Juno-nominated fourth album featuring the breakout single "Walking With a Ghost" — and soon the pair were looking for a new creative team to help them capitalize on their quickening musical pulse and maturing image.

For their next record, they chose to work with Chris Walla, guitarist and producer for popular indie-rock group Death Cab for Cutie.

"We wanted to try and capture the rawness of our demo tapes, and Chris was particularly appreciative of that," Tegan said.

Tegan and Sara temporarily relocated to Portland, Ore., and settled in to record what would become "The Con" — a feisty full-length replete with catchy keyboard melodies and vivacious vocals.

Their friend and filmmaker Angela Kendall documented the making of the new record, and even helped them stage a daily call-in show in the basement of their rental house when they weren't busy recording.

"My mom called, Ronnie from The Killers called — we even had a therapist call in once a week just to check in on us," Tegan said.

Kendall's footage will be compiled and made into a film for fan consumption soon, and between that and their "Trailer Talk" video blog, the two have a lock on the media. But it's just their way of staying connected to a fast-growing fan base.

"We had a real intense connection with our fans when there were only five of them," Tegan said. "The videos help us to stay connected … plus, we find ourselves fascinating."

» GW Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Sat., 8 p.m., $25; 202-994-6800. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)

Written by Express contributor Johnathan Rickman

Photos by Autumn DeWilde