It has been a full decade since Tegan and Sara broke onto the indie scene with So Jealous. Ten years later, Tegan Quin discussed the album with SPIN.
"When Sara sent me So Jealous, I was shocked," Tegan said. "The demo is really interesting to listen to. It was so dark. She moved away from Vancouver [to Montreal] a year prior to that, she was going through a massive break-up, she moved to a city where she knew no one, and she didn't know the language. It was hard."
The twin sisters were on the fringes of stardom in an indie world that included Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and several others.
"She was obsessed with the idea that we were outcasts, we were outsiders, we weren't a part of any group, everybody was cooler than us," Tegan said. "It was nonstop. It drove me crazy because I thought we were so cool."
That envy and resentment embedded itself into the core of their fourth record.
"I can remember being in the studio, finishing up the record, and going back and forth about what to call the record and her saying, 'I think it would be really funny to call the record So Jealous.' Because people say it in jest or in joke, right?" Tegan said. "Like, I'm so jealous of your burrito. And she's like, 'It's not a joke to me. I am jealous, I am so jealous.'"
So, there you have it: The classic no-one-respects-us-so-let's-shock-the-world attitude that often breeds classic records. Not completely familiar with So Jealous? "Walking with a Ghost" was by far the biggest hit, and still gets plenty of play on indie stations.
Readers: Do you own a copy of the album? What's your favorite track from it? Let us know what you think down in the comments section.
