Tegan and Sara [3] have a quirky combo of high-concept modifiers to grab your attention—they’re lesbian twin sisters from Calgary—but their strengths are much more mundane and potent than that. Their latest, The Con, retains a handcrafted, DIY spirit, but the vocals are less girlish and the arrangements less cheesy than their 2004 breakthrough, So Jealous. In terms of songwriting, Sara’s tunes are more brainy and assertive, Tegan’s more emo and introspective. Their confessions are vague—“I’m not unfaithful/but I’ll stray,” and “Nobody likes to/But I really like to cry,” for examples—but the sincerity is straightforward enough to carry such lyrics past preciousness, where they become verbal hooks that are as catchy as Tegan and Sara’s spare but memorable melodies. Some people call it folk-punk, but it’s really a couple of impish Canucks flying by the seat of their considerable intuitions.
8 p.m., Pantages Theater [4], 710 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-339-7007; $25-$27.50.
