Being as band-loyal as I am, I’ve over-acquainted myself with the fact that every now and then one of my favorite artists will fall short of producing an album quite as well as their first, or at least the one that I’ve fallen in love with… but that in itself is an outcome of “growth,” and “change” and subsequently personalizing my taste in music. I see it more as an artist giving me… say, options.
How can I say no to that?
Where some might agree that Sainthood is lacking, I feel the need to defend Tegan and Sara’s sole objective to develop a technically professional sound, moving from that acoustic set in your bedroom to the sound booth of their studio. It’s always a win-win situation with these girls. Granted, the lyricism is much more straight-forward and simplistic than familiarly metrical and didactic… but that leaves less room for the story-making and more opportunities to really see these girls eye-to-eye in these true-life black-and-white situations.
In opposition to the desperation and longing found on So Jealous and The Con, Sainthood refreshes the brokenhearted and defeated with the satisfaction of not necessarily letting go but truly accepting things with that much needed arrogance. Dustier riffs, less chord variations and more bridging… indeed, another collaboration with Chris Walla has amounted to a very alternative slash punk feel, as heard in tracks like “Don’t Rush, “The Cure,” “Northshore,” and “The Ocean”… yet the twins remain to be youthful and cunningly pop. Not much can be distinguished between the “old” Tegan & Sara and these newly saints. The album is arranged in a seamless order that plays all the way through.
Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good 
i actually really like sainthood. i picked it up about three days ago and i have been listening to it a lot. tegan and sara may not have the lyrical genius or anything, but their songs are catchy as hell. i loved the con and while sainthood is not quite as good, it is growing on me. “someday” and “on directing” are great songs
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I wholeheartedly agree. There is nothing that I don’t like about Sainthood, I just prefer their other albums over it. I mean, if I had to choose.
I love how you named 4 Tegan songs to illustrate the “alternative slash punk feel”. 😉
Both sisters have a very distinctive sound and while I tend to prefer T’s, it always makes me happy to see how both “styles” (it’s more of a musical vision) really balance each other out.
Sainthood definitely sounds different from their previous works but so did So Jealous back in the day and The Con after it. They’re evolving with every album and their sound is getting bigger yet still catchy as Hell.
I pre-ordered this album because I loved The Con and So Jealous so much. So far, Sainthood isn’t catching on with me – I am a sucker for melody and lyrics and most of these songs seem to be lacking one or the other. The one song I really like is “Someday”..”Hell” is another catchy song, but other than that, none of them are sticking with me..
The album grows on you, fizzles out, then comes back later and punches you in the face begging to be replayed. It takes time.